Charles's Story.
EARLY LIFE
Charles Stafford was born in Macclesfield in 1896, the son of Frederick Stafford, a silk finisher, and Eva Maria (née Pike), and was baptised at St Michael's Church, Macclesfield, on 9th May 1896.
In 1901, five-year-old Charles was living at 237 Crompton Road, Macclesfield with his parents, six-year-old brother Fred and widowed grandmother Jane Pike.
On 12th October 1906, the Staffords emigrated to New Zealand, embarking from Liverpool for the long voyage to Wellington. By the time war broke out, the family had settled at Mangatiki Landing, Wanganui River.
WW1 SERVICE
Charles enlisted at Trentham Military Camp, Upper Hutt, near Wellington, on 1st May 1915.
COMMEMORATION
Private Charles Stafford has no known grave and is commemorated on Panel ref. 16 of the Chunuk Bair (New Zealand) Memorial in Turkey. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission holds casualty details for Private Charles Stafford, and he is listed on the Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War website.
In Macclesfield, Private Charles Stafford is commemorated on the Park Green and St Andrew’s (now All Saints) Church war memorials. Elsewhere, he is commemorated on the New Zealand War Graves Project website.
Research by Rosie Rowley, Congleton.