| Charles Edward Lay
Gunner
From his uniform, below left, it is clear that Charles served in the Victorian Navy as well as in the Victorian Naval Brigade. Charles possibly joined the Victorian Navy in July 1890 after having previously served in the Naval Brigade. source
Charles in the 1890s |
From a group photo of the Naval Brigade Band in 1899 courtesy of Ada Ackerly.
"Queenscliff has sentimental value for me also as my grandparents brought their children to Queenscliff every January for a holiday - by boat from Melbourne. Also Grandad was in the Victorian Navy at one time working on a torpedo boat they say.
I was given a letter from my grandfather Charles Lay to his girl in Melbourne, Francis. November 1893 probably when he was in the Victorian Navy. Signed 'hotheaded lover'! They did marry and my father George Lay was one of their children."
http://geelong-visual-diary.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/queenscliff-and-fish-and-chips.html
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Charles' father was William Davey Lay born in 1832 in England and came out to Australia in the 1850s as a widower and left two sons in England. He became an upholsterer in Castlemaine and then ran a General Store. In 1864 he married Isabel King in Bendigo. She had been born in 1841 in Banff, Scotland, her father a banker. They had come to Australia in the 'Loch Torridon'. Isabel died in 1880 and William in 1883. Their children were George, William, Charles, Maude and Beatrice.
Charles was born in 1869 in The Loddon, Victoria. When Charles was a lad he was mad to go to sea so his Uncle apprenticed him to the 'Loch Torridon' when he was fourteen. He had become friendly with Captain Patman on the voyage to Australia.
When Charles was seventeen he and another apprentice managed to escape from the captain's eagle eye in San Francisco and although there was a hue and cry for them. They managed to hide until the boat finally put to sea. They did odd jobs in America but the call of the sea was too strong and he sailed again before the mast this time. He was able in later years to make his peace with Captain Patman who had been so good to him. After a few years he joined the Victorian Navy until he felt it was unfair to his wife and young family. He played clarinet in the Naval band and was in charge of a picket boat from Williamstown to Port Melbourne.
Charles Edward Lay married Francis Mary Helen Hillman, a piano teacher in 1894. She had been born Christchurch, Middlesex, England. Their children were Jessie Isabel born in 1895, Charles Edward, born in 1896, Norma Malvina born in 1899, George Francis born in 1901, Harold Kingston born in 1906.
They made their home in Richmond, South Melbourne and then Coburg. In 1899 Charles retired from the Merchant Navy and for two years worked in the Victorian Navy stationed at Williamstown. When he got a teaching job - rope-knotting and knotting - to prisoners at Pentridge the family moved to Coburg. The home was new, weatherboard, three bedroom and built through the State Savings Bank, and in Victoria Street. The children went to Coburg Primary to Grade 6 and some to Higher Elementary and Coburg High School which was just starting then.
Charles left his job in Pentridge in 1908 and did an exam for the Public Service and came top of the exam. At that time he and he family were living at 36 Victoria Street Coburg. He worked in the Immigration Department meeting the ships outside the heads to give information to the new immigrants.
Francis' occupation was listed as concert pianist and she sometimes accompanied Nellie Melba as they had been at the same Model School.
Charles and Frances moved to Hampton to retire building a new home at 77 Holyrood Street and lived there until he died. He died on July 8th 1940 and Frances in 19th November 1947 at Alexander staying with her daughter Norma not long after leaving Swan Hill where she had stayed with a George and Linda. He was apparently still considered to be a British subject. He was buried 9 July 1941 at the Cheltenham Cemetery and his occupation was listed as civil servant, merchant navy, First Mate.
A story told to his son George Lay was embellished a bit perhaps, but here it is:
Extract from the Log of the 4 masted Barque Loch Torridon
Running her easting down off South Africa, date 5ath June 1891. Longitude 21 degrees 30 East. Latitude 45 degrees 10 South. The weather fair, wind light from S.W.
Coming off watch it noon I entered the chart room to write up the log. To my surprise I saw sitting at the chart table a big man with a red beard and alongside him was a ginger cat. The man appeared to be writing something on the slate. I immediately called the Captain but on our return found no trace of the man or his cat. But written on the slate were these words. Steer S.E. half East. Thinking it was some sort of a joke the Captain ordered enquiries to be made a thorough search of the ship was made for stowaways but to no avail. I was baffled and so was the captain but he looked at me in a strange sort of way as if he didn't quite believe my story.
However a little later when he had occasion to go into the chart room he saw the same red headed man and his cat. He normally would have strode forward and accosted the man but there was something uncanny about the whole business and so he turned around and yelled for the mate.
When I arrived we both went into the chartroom but the man had once more disappeared and again written on the slate was the message Steer S.E. half E. This was strange indeed and the Captain called a conference of the mates, and as our course was S.East and we had the wind on our quarter, it was not much trouble to alter course half a point to the East which we did.
Just on sundown the lookout sighted an object on the starboard bow and when we closed in we could see that it was an ice flow and lying on it, frozen stiff was a red bearded man and a ginger cat.
C. E. Lay
First Mate
The only known copy of the Manual of Torpedo Instructions & Electric Lighting, which belonged to Charles Lay was donated to Friends of the Cerberus in 2012 by Charles' grand-daughter, Wendy Ratawa. A digitised copy is available as a free download from the Manuals webpage.
More details on this person can be found in the Victorian Navy Certificates of Service This is a very large pdf file of 119 mb and takes 13 minutes to download with a 1.5 mbps internet connection.
This person may have a second entry in this Muster Database. |
