Charles George Davis, Miller at New Hall Mill, 1929-1946

Charles George Davis was born in Bradfield, Berkshire, in 1876. He was in service as a young man, firstly as a page-boy, then as a groom. Finally he became a domestic coachman. When he was 27 years old he married Phoebe Styles - the youngest daughter of the previous miller, Ben Styles.

It is a mystery how they could have met, but perhaps they had been in service together. In 1901 when the census was taken, Phoebe was a kitchen maid in Westminster, London, and Charles was a visitor elsewhere, away from his usual address, so we don't know where he lived or worked - maybe it was near Phoebe. At the time of their marriage, the certificate shows that Phoebe was living in Chipping Norton, and Charles was living in Summertown. This is a suburb of Oxford, 18 miles away. (I wonder whether the clerk meant Somerton in Oxfordshire, which is nearer to Chipping Norton, 12 miles away).

By 1908, Charles had found a new position as a domestic coachman at Tickwood Hall in Much Wenlock, Shropshire. The couple lived at the Stables at the Hall, and their two children were born there: Mary Davis in 1908, and Thomas Ben Davis, our future miller, on 8th December 1910. They were still at the Hall in 1911.

By 1921, Charles and Phoebe had moved to the Bothy, at New Hall, and Charles was working for Walter Wilkinson, the owner of New Hall, as a domestic gardener.

Phoebe's father, Ben Styles, died in 1927, at the age of 79. He had bought the freehold of the mill in 1923, but curiously, in 1928 the freehold was sold back to the New Hall estate. This could have been because there were no obvious heirs to the mill. Ben had five daughters, but only one son, Thomas William Styles. I have not found him in any formal records after 1891, so he may have died or emigrated.

1929 - Charles took over the Mill

The following year, 1929, Charles took up the tenancy of the mill. I wonder whether he had received any training from his aging father-in-law, Ben Styles? Charles was already 53 - quite an age to take up a demanding new career.

He may have had staff to help him, and he probably hoped that his son Ben Davis would soon take over the Mill, but Ben had his own career as a motor driver.

Then, before anything else could happen, the war interrupted their lives. Ben joined the Army in 1939, and Charles kept the Mill running. You can read more about the Mill in WW2 on another page.

On 29 September 1939 when the national Register was taken, Charles George Davis was recorded as 63 years old, working at the mill as a grist miller.

When Charles's son Ben Davis returned from the War, Charles turned the Mill over to him and retired. Unfortunately we do not know anything of his life from 1939 onwards.

Charles died in 1972, and his death was registered in the Banbury district in Oxfordshire.

Notes

Research by Sheridan Parsons