Born at Dewsbury, Yorkshire, and christened at Hartshead, near Dewsbury, on the 23rd of April 1809, the son of Samuel Avison, a farmer from Thornhills.
Enlisted at Leeds on the 22nd of May 1830.
Age: 21 years 2 months.
Height: 5' 8".
Trade: Smith and Farrier.
Appearance: Fresh complexion. Grey eyes. Dk. brown hair.
Embarked for India from the Maidstone Depot on the 3rd of March 1831.
The India Office records show a boy, George Charles, was born at Cawnpore, India, on the 23rd of May 1837, to Farrier Charles Avison of the 11th Dragoons and his wife Elizabeth. He was christened on the 18th of July 1837.
Another of their children, Samuel, was born at Canterbury in 1839, the certificate registering his birth showing that he was "born at 9.30 a.m. on the 13th of June 1839 at the Artillery Barracks, Northgate, Canterbury, the son of Charles Avison and his wife, Elizabeth, nee Hard."
They also had a son Charles, born c. 1852 in Nottingham.
[PB, June 2014: records suggest Charles Avison was married to Elizabeth nee Hard, born c.1820. According to the 1851 Census, she was born in Downpatrick, Ireland, and was 11 years younger than he. This means she would have been about 17 when their son George was born in 1837. But since she would have been only 11 or so when Charles went to India in 1831, when and where did they meet and marry? Was she born into a military family that was living in India in the 1830s?]
From Private to Corporal: 2nd of October 1841.
1851 Census
5, Spitalfields, Hamlet of Thorpe, Norwich, Norfolk.
Charles Avison, aged 42, Farrier-Major 11th Hussars, born Thornhills, Yorkshire.
Elizabeth Avison, 31 [?], Soldier's Wife, Downpatrick, Ireland.
George Avison, 13, Soldier's Son, Cawnpore, East Indies.
Samuel Avison, 11, Soldier's Son, Canterbury, Kent.
From Corporal to Farrier-Major (as Staff-Sergeant) on the 8th of August 1852.
Invalided from Scutari to England on the 11th of June 1855.
Discharged from Chatham Invalid Depot on the 11th of September 1855: "Unfit for further service. Has chronic rheumatism."
Served 25 years 89 days.
Aged 46 years 3 months on discharge.
Awarded a pension of 1/8d. per day.
A letter regarding him was sent to the Patriotic Fund "for information". [PB: Content of this letter?]
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman [PB: and Sebastopol?], and the Turkish medal.
Awarded the Long Service & Good Conduct medal on the 11th of June 1854.
1861 Census
(Yard attached to) 28, Shepherd St, Mayfair, London.
The 1861 Census shows him as a Farrier, aged 52, living with his wife Elizabeth, 41, born Ireland, and their son Charles, 9, a Scholar born Nottingham. There was also a visitor, Pretelia [?] Pasley, 14, born Ireland. [RM]
Died in the No. 1 London Pension District on the 14th of May 1865.
Death registration
St. Catherine's House records his death in the St. George's, Hanover Square, district during the April-June Quarter of 1865.
According to his death certificate he died, aged 56 years, on the 14th of May 1865 at 8, Belgrave Mews East, Belgravia, from "Phthisis" [i.e. presumably pulmonary tuberculosis]. His occupation was given as Foreman to Veterinary Surgeon.
An F. Crockford, of 8, Belgrave Mews East, Halkin Street, Pimlico, was present at, and the informant of, his death. (There is a copy of this in the "Certificates" file.)
[PB: No information about his burial.]
1891 Census
174 New North Road, Islington, London.
Elizabeth Avison, Widow, 70, [no occupation], born Ireland.
Charles Avison, Son, 39, Kelub [?] Steward, Nottingham.
There were 5 others in the building.