Charles Henry Cannon was born on 30 October 1881 in Brompton, London, one of the six children of Caleb Cannon (1850-1919) and Mary Louisa Cannon née James (1853-1936). His birth was registered in the 4th quarter of 1881 in the Kensington registration district and he was baptised on the 13th November 1881 at Holy Trinity Brompton Church, Brompton Road, London, SW7. The baptismal register shows the family were living at 10 Grove Place, Brompton and that his father was a butler.
In the 1891 census he is shown as aged 9 years and a scholar living at 10 Margaret Street, Marylebone, London, with his parents, three siblings: Christopher George Cannon (1883-1962), Amelia Cleaver Cannon (1885-1971), Catherine Louisa Cannon (1887-1969) and his maternal aunt Catherine Margaret James (b.1872). His father was now recorded as a lodging house keeper.
Postal Service Appointment Books show that in December 1899 he was appointed as an Assistant Postman in West London and the 1901 census confirms that he was a postman still residing at 10 Margaret Street with his parents and four siblings: Christopher, Amelia, Catherine and Thomas Arthur Cannon (1893-1974).
On the 16th September 1905 he married Harriet Elona Leverett (1883-1959) at St Matthew’s Church, Marylebone and the marriage register confirms he was still a postman living at 10 Margaret Street, whilst his wife's address was recorded as Hardwick, Norfolk.
The 1911 census shows that he was a Postman Division 1 living at 2 Wembley Park Road, Wembley, Middlesex (now Greater London), with his wife and two daughters, Nellie Louisa Cannon (1906-1975) and Vera Matilda Cannon (b.1908). Electoral registers for 1911 and 1912 give the address as 2 Hope Cottages, Wembley Park Road, Wembley.
He joined the 1st/8th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Post Office Rifles), service number 2686, and entered France on 18th March 1915. Rising to the rank of Lance Corporal he was killed in action, aged 33 years, on the 27th September 1915 in the Battle of Loos and as he has no known grave he is commemorated on Panel 131 of the Loos Memorial at Dud Corner Cemetery, Loos-en-Gohelle, Pas-de-Calais, France.
Probate records show that his home address had been 26 Park Road, Wembley and that administration of his estate was granted to his widow on 4 December 1916 with his effects totalling £143. His army effects totalling £1-11s-4d were sent to his widow on 22 November 1916 and she received his £3-10s-0d war gratuity on 17 September 1919. He was posthumously awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal 1914-1918 and the Victory Medal.
He is shown as 'CANNON, C. H.' on the Western District Office war memorial in Mount Pleasant, London, WC1. He is also commemorated on the war memorial panel inside St John the Evangelist Church, Crawford Avenue, Wembley, HA0 2HX, on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website, on the Imperial War Museum's Lives of the First World War website, on the A Street Near You website and on page 61 of the Post Office Fellowship of Remembrance's Book of Remembrance 1914-1920.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
