Charles, best known to friends and family as Charlie, was born on the 11th of October 1917 in Gladesville, Sydney, the second son of William Alexander Hannah and Charlotte Martha Cox, and brother to William Cox Hannah. He was named for an uncle, Charles Sutton Cox, who had recently been killed on the western front in Belgium.
Charlotte’s father had built the house in Gladesville for the newly married couple, but in time it became difficult for William to get to his employment on the other side of the city. In 1923 the family moved to a new home in Garden Street, Maroubra. One of Sydney’s new eastern suburbs, Maroubra at the time was largely undeveloped sandhills and swamps. Charles and brother Bill and their mates grew up in a time of austerity after WWI. However, they were wide-eyed kids enthralled by emerging technologies and the early aviators, their planes, wireless, and automobiles.
Charles attended Maroubra Junction Public School and later Ultimo Technical College for his third year and sat the Intermediate Certificate exam. While he possessed a keen and enquiring mind, he was never one for academia. He left school when he was 15 and looked for work but it was hard to find in the depression years. Eventually, he commenced as an apprentice glass cutter with Australian Glass Manufacturers in Waterloo.
He was still with AGM when WWII was declared. He joined the army, was assigned Service No. N25762, and underwent basic training at the Ingleburn Army Camp in western Sydney. However, he was recalled to civilian life after 9 months by the glassworks to help in the war effort.
For Charles, the need to participate on the front line was greater than cutting glass and he joined the Air Force (Service No. 66981) and trained as a radio mechanic. He saw active duty with 12 R.S.U. (Repair and Salvage Unit) in New Guinea, particularly at Noemfoor, Kiriwina, Aitape, and Wewak. He was involved in building the Kiriwina Coral Cathedral on the Trobriand Islands.
When the war ended he returned to civilian life, married his true love Sylvia and lived at Harris Park. While there, twins Robert and Charles were born. Twins were unexpected, and sadly little Charles didn’t survive more than a few days.
Despite the austerity measures in place, they managed to buy some land at Peakhurst on what was then the outskirts of Sydney and built a house in Bungalow Rd. This was home for the next four years and saw the arrival of Bruce and Susan. Charles started work in customer support for Electrolux.
The Cold War and the growing conflict in Korea convinced Charles and Sylvia that they should find a safer place to live away from Sydney. In 1951, they sold up and moved their family to a 2500 acre bush block 30 km northwest of Emmaville in the NSW Northern Tablelands. It featured a bad gravel road, no electricity, no communications, and a hut with cracks in the floor and tin walls that served as a residence. They set about rebuilding, naming the property “Cherrywood”, and for the next eleven years, they both worked their hearts out trying to make a living from 1000 sheep. All the while schooling the children with the help of the Blackfriars Correspondence School.
Charles involved himself in the community, such as it was. He became the mailman, running a weekly trip between Emmaville and the few graziers and tin miners who lived along the Gulf Rd. While the Post Office paid him to deliver the mail, he always collected orders for bread, meat, and groceries; picked those up in town and delivered them. That was a service he never charged for.
He planned and built with help from neighbours and family a 40 km telephone line bringing “modern” communication to the community along Gulf Road.
His mother Charlotte died in April 1956 after suffering a stroke at home shortly after returning from a visit to Cherrywood.
Another daughter born to Charles and Sylvia, and named for his mother, was born in 1958.
Wool prices were falling as competition from synthetic materials rose. Making ends meet became more difficult and isolation was taking its toll on the young family. The farm was sold, and Charles moved to Sydney to find work and help care for his failing father. Leaving the property with Sylvia and the children to manage until the new owners took over, little knowing that settlement wouldn’t happen for another nine months due to obfuscation on the part of the buyer.
Life in the bush finally came to an end in 1962 with a move back to the family home in Maroubra; a decision that ensured stable employment and secondary education and opportunity for the children.
His father William died in December of the same year.
Charles took work in the stores at ICIANZ in Botany. True to form, his job was a background for his community work. Before long he was involved in many aspects of employee welfare, was a founding member and secretary of the first Credit Union at Botany, and an active Union member where he often took in a conciliatory approach to workplace relations.
The return to Maroubra meant Charles could also reconnect with his old friends at Maroubra Baptist Church. He was the Superintendent of the Christian Education program for some time.
Taking early retirement in 1978, Charles and Sylvia moved to a small acreage in Meerschaum Vale on the NSW North Coast. They built a generous new home and named the property Rosemont. Settling in quickly, they became part of the local community and church. Sylvia was busy with her new garden. Charles made the most of new fishing opportunities and joined the local tennis and VET golf association. He planned and planted a kiwi fruit orchard when such fruit was a novelty and prices high. He also planted an orange orchard and many tropical fruit trees, alongside vegetables and looking after a small number of cattle. His brother Bill was a frequent visitor, keen to help out with the fishing and horticulture.
In 2001 they sold the farm, which by now needed a lot of maintenance, and moved into 1 Solara Court, Alstonville. This allowed Charles to spend more time with his sport, his friends and do some travelling.
Over the next ten years, he was physically restricted by his gradual loss of mobility, which he accepted with characteristic grace and patience. He passed away on the 8th December 2012 and was interred in the Alstonville cemetery.
So how do his children remember him?
He was an optimist…. A kind of “glass half full” man. He always saw the good in other people and in most situations. He wasn’t one to judge others or put them down, even where their opinions and life choices conflicted with his own. He was always ready and willing to give the benefit of the doubt to others, rather than go on the offensive. It was rare for him to “spit the dummy”, or “do his block”. Maybe he bottled up his frustrations and sat on them long enough for the heat to subside.
He was gracious. Even during those last tough years, there were never any sharp or angry words, although he was frustrated with his failing body.
He loved his family. His “girl” as he affectionately referred to Sylvia, his kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids all had a unique place in his heart.
He was fiercely competitive, but only on the golf course or tennis court. Otherwise, he was secure in himself and his faith and didn’t feel the need to prove or “big note” himself or impress others. He didn’t reach for status or try to accumulate “stuff” for the sake of having the latest and greatest. He was content with what he had and who he was. If people weren’t prepared to take him as he was, that was OK.
He loved his golf, tennis, and fishing. He always supported the Balmain Tigers, and Aussie cricket and tennis when it was on the television.
In earlier times at the end of a hard day, he could sit and read stories to his children in the quiet light of the open fire. Or he could spend one-on-one time showing how to drive a car or a nail. Or he would lend advice on the latest carpentry project. His wise counsel to “Check, check, and double-check” saved junior carpenters from ruining many a piece of timber.
He was a man of quiet faith. He came to know Jesus as a young man, and the strength of his faith carried him through some tough times including war, and the circumstances thrown at him through life. While not outwardly evangelistic, he was always ready to honor his Lord when the occasion arose, and it is doubtful that anyone who knew him closely would be unsure of where he stood.
Thanks to Robyn, Charlotte and Bruce Hannah for this contribution.
June 2021
