CHARLES KNIGHT
The oldest almsman is possibly Charles Knight, 95, an inmate of Raymond's Almshouses, who is still hale and hearty, and his faculties have so far been preserved to him that he can read his daily paper without spectacles, and recounts his remembrances of Old Newbury with great gusto.

He was born in 1809, a year of great floods in Newbury, when the water ran in a stream down Northbrook -street, and people had to navigate it in punts. Mr Shaw, the seedsman of West-fields, and his family, living where now the Servants' Training Home, were confined to the upper floors of their house for three weeks. Knight was a boy of six when Waterloo was fought, but recollects the incidents of the great battle as retailed afterwards in Newbury. The Oxford Blues, now the Royal Horse Guards Blue were quartered in Newbury for a winter shortly after the war, and on their shifting quarters, their horses were sold by auction in Northbrook-street, being drawn up in line outside the “Jack”.

The old man's father was Stephen Knight, a name still in the family, who drove the first mail from London to Bristol, and was killed by being thrown off his seat owing to the vehicle colliding with a heap of stones on the road. Knight was a butcher by trade, and was in the employ of Mr. Jonathan Farrow, then in business in premises now occupied by the People’s Stores. He went to Bath, and subsequently returned to Newbury, where he set up in business for himself. He recollects when a large timber yard occupied the site of the present Beedon House, and is the only man living who saw the charred stakes, the chains and iron, found in Enbourn Gate Gravel-pits, which there can little doubt were relics of the Newbury martyrs. Many interesting stories he tells about the old times.

Newspaper:            Newbury Weekly News

Date:                       29 March 1906, page 8

LOCAL CHIT-CHAT

Old Charles Knight, who died in Raymond’s Almshouses on Tuesday, was probably the “oldest inhabitant” for he would have been ninety-seven had he lived to April 14^th.  He had been an inmate of the almshouse for no less than twenty three years, and probably owed his long life to the peaceful seclusion and means he had enjoyed during that long period.  He was a cheerful old chap, deeply grateful for the very comfortable manner in which he was allowed to spend his last years.  He had hopes  of celebrating his centenary, and certainly looked forward to the future, for he had manured his garden and laid in a stock of seed potatoes ready for planting.  He was very fond of his garden, and an enthusiastic observer of nature.

When one recollects that he dated from 1809, one can realise the extraordinary length of his life, and the many historical events that have happened in his time.  He lived in five reigns, and was a boy when Waterloo was fought, and was in middle age when the Crimean Campaign was in progress.  He had taken part in most of the local celebrations in Newbury when Kings and Queens were crowned or married, when peace was proclaimed or war declared. 

His father was a driver of one of the old coaches along the famous Bath Road, and Charles used to relate many incidents of his boyhood days, when Newbury was the principal stopping place between London and Bath.   It was at the latter place that he was apprenticed to a butcher, and came to Newbury to carry on the trade.  He was in business for himself by the time he was seventeen, so he began early.  He had a family of six sons and one daughter.  He had shops in three different parts of Newbury, and each of the shops have now disappeared in improvements.

The old man was an inveterate smoker, and never happier than when his pipe was in full blast, but in the manner of intoxicants exercised great abstemiousness.  The end came rather suddenly, and he retained full possession of his powers right to the last.

Obituaries and Newspaper Announcements:

Newspaper:            Newbury Weekly News

Date:                       29 March 1906, page 5

DEATHS:

KNIGHT – March 27, at 5, Raymond’s Almshouses, Charles Knight, aged 96. “His end was peace.”  -  Funeral on Saturday afternoon at Newbury Cemetery.

GRAVE OF THE MONTH

Charles Knight (1809 – 1906)

Master Butcher and  Elder Almsman

His long life spanned five reigns from George III to Edward VII.  He was the third son of Hannah and Stephen Knight, a coachman who drove on the famous old Bath Road from London to Bath and Bristol.  He grew up in Speenhamland, amidst the bustling complex of coaching inns and stabling -  a hive of activity with travellers bringing news from abroad. Later he would narrate his recollections to an eager audience.

Charles was apprenticed to a butcher in Bath and after his father’s sudden death leaving his mother with a large family, he returned to Newbury. He was employed by Jonathan Farrow, a butcher who traded in Northbrook Street.  Aged 17, he set up his own business in St. Mary’s Hill. 

He married twice, first to Eliza Kent and they had 6 sons and a daughter. Widowed in 1858 he married again in 1866 to Charlotte Taylor,  a widow and a nurse.  He prospered with 3 shops in Newbury, and he bought “Coombe View” in the Enborne Road.  Charlotte died in 1880 and having sold his home in 1882 he was elected to a vacancy at the Raymond’s Almshouses where he spent 23 years “deeply grateful for the very comfortable manner in which he was allowed to spend his last years”.

During this period, two nephews became Mayors of Newbury – George Mitchell Knight (1888) and Stephen Knight (1890) – the sons of his brother William. He enjoyed a pipe, loved his garden and an enthusiastic observer of nature. He was hale and hearty, cheerful to the last and probably the “oldest inhabitant” when he died just before his 97^th birthday.

His grave is located by the west wall towards the north-west corner.