Eleventh child, sixth daughter of Edward VIZARD 1810 – 1888 and Ann FOLEY 1815 – 1902

Born 28th October 1859, Scarborough, Yorkshire

Died 28th March 1940, Littledean, Gloucestershire

Married Arthur John HUBBARD MD 1856 – 1935. Married 10 July 1888 at St Paul's Church, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, by the Rev E. J. GALLOP.

Link to their marriage press reports

Arthur and Charlotte had five children -

1, Mary Waddington HUBBARD b+d 27 April 1889

2, John Waddington HUBBARD 15 January 1896 - 8 December 1988

3, George Edward HUBBARD 31 July 1897 - 3 March 1977

4, Frances Ann HUBBARD 6 December 1899 - 24 February 1985

5, Arthur Benoni HUBBARD 20 January 1902 - 8 February 1946

Charlotte Marian, my mother, was born on the 28th of October 1859. My grandfather (Edward VIZARD 1810 – 1888) had always treated all his older children with the true Victorian severity, but he relaxed his methods very much with my mother who was his youngest and favourite and she was always devoted to her father. My Mother was a very strange character. I believe she was by nature hot tempered and intensely emotional, but she had such a stern sense of duty to God the Church and the Bible, that she repressed all her natural impulses with a will of iron. She was small and quiet, though with a good sense of humour. She had a much stronger character than my father or brothers and ruled her family with an iron hand, though always in a velvet glove.

She died 30th March 1940.

My parents were married in 1888. Mother was Assistant Matron at the Hemel Hempstead Convalescent Home where her eldest sister (Anne Elizabeth VIZARD 1837-1899) was Matron and my father, Arthur John Hubbard. M.D. was the visiting consultant. They became engaged on Tuesday, 10th Jan. 1888, and married on Tuesday 10th July 1888. Mother has told me that during the whole period of their married life, those two dates have never again coincided on Tuesdays. While my Father was proposing to Mother in the Dispensary at the Hospital, he was exceedingly nervous and was fidgeting all the time with one of the drug jars. Later on, Mother annexed this jar, and it is still in my possession, holding a collection of precious and semi-precious stones which she brought back with her from South Africa, from the Vaal River.

Their first child was a daughter, born 27th April 1889. She was to have been called Mary Waddington, but the birth was so difficult and protracted that she was stillborn. Mother contracted the dreaded puerperal fever, and her life hung in the balance for months. Despite Father’s best efforts, and it must be remembered that by this time anaesthetics and antiseptics were in common use, though penicillin and the antibiotics were still unknown, she was desperately ill for a very long time, and it was feared that she would never be able to have any more children.

However, my eldest brother, the Rev. John Waddington Hubbard was born on 15th Jan. 1896, amid much rejoicing. He (Jack) was a gentle amenable boy, extremely brainy and intellectual, and he and I were always, and have always remained, the greatest of friends.

My second brother, the Rev. George Edward Hubbard was born the 31st July 1897. George was not put too fine a point on it a perfect little devil, disobedient and utterly perverse, and how Mother ever coped with him I cannot imagine.

The only living daughter (myself) Frances Ann Hubbard, was born on the 6th of Dec. 1899.

My youngest brother, Arthur Benoni Hubbard, was born on the 20th January 1901. Ben had Downs Syndrome. I spent a great deal of my childhood in looking after him and eventually taught him to read and write. When I eventually went to boarding school at the age of 13, Mother could no longer cope with him, and they flatly refused to send him into an Institution. He was sent to live with the widow of a clergyman, and Mother would only have him home during my school holidays, so that I could look after him. He died at the age of 44.

All the Vizard sisters had the most glorious heads of hair. As a child my mother’s hair was so thick that she often had chinks cut out of it, as it was believed at the time that too much hair “took your strength”. The Vizard hair has the curious property of never going grey. Mother’s hair was much darker than mine, but even at her death at the age of 80 it hardly had more than a sprinkling of grey.

Mother was extremely musical and an excellent pianist, though she had never been professionally trained. She started to teach me the piano while I was still so small that the piano stool had to be turned to its highest limit, and a very thick book placed on top, in order that my tiny hands could be in the right position. I had to do five finger exercises with a penny on the back of my hand, and it must be remembered that these were the real old, large pennies, not the miserable little metric "pence" in use today.

I loved the piano as much as Mother did, and inherited much of her gift, and was never tired of practising while at home. In fact, I became so good that I was nearly up to Concert Standard by the time I was in my early twenties.

1861 Charlotte is one year old, living at St Nicholas Street, Scarborough. Father Edward is a Dentist.

1871 The family is now living in Cranbrook, a small town near Sissinghurst, Kent. Edward is now recorded as Dental Surgeon. (Retired using 14 acres of land with 1 labourer.) Charlotte is eleven years old.

1881 missing

1891 Charlotte is now thirty-one years old; has married and is living at 54 The Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead.

1901 Charlotte, together with husband Dr Arthur J Hubbard and three children, John, George and Frances are living at 69 Barrowgate Road, Chiswick. Interestingly, Charlotte’s widowed mother Ann, is also living at no. 69, but the house must be divided as she is head of her own household.

1901 Census Chiswick

1911 The family are now living at Hill House Littledean, Gloucestershire. Charlotte is fifty-two. Her employment is recorded as ‘Education of two children.’ (This was Frances Ann aged 11 and Arthur Benoni aged 9.) George Edward aged 14, is at home the night of the census but was still attending school in Ealing as was his brother John Waddington. Arthur John Hubbard aged 56, is recorded as ‘Medical man, at present engaged on literary work.’ We know that when WWI broke out he was soon employed as full time local doctor.

Charlotte continued to live at Littledean until her death in 1940 when she was eighty years old.

Charlotte was known as ‘Lottie’ by members of her own generation in the family and amongst close friends. In outlooks and way of life she remained a ‘Victorian’ right until her death in 1940. She wore long old-fashioned skirts and used the old-style double ‘s’ in her writings.

Read more about Charlotte Marian Vizard in -

“Victorian Hangover” (Amazon) ISBN 9781513631165 by Frances Ann Roper

The date of this letter is unknown, but a guess would be c.1869 when Charlotte was ten years old.