Charles, who was more often called Charlie by his friends and family, was born on 21st October, 1885 in St. Joseph, Trinidad.  He was the second child in a family of five children.  His parents were Alfred Sheppard, an Englishman from Sussex, and Virginia de Freitas - daughter of immigrants from Madeira.

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Little is known of Grandpa Charlie's early childhood, other than he was the son of a police sergeant with the  Colonial Police Force in Trinidad, who was in active duty at a time when there were at least three violent social uprisings in Trinidad.  The year before Charles was born, The Hosay Massacre (also known as the Hosay riots or the Jahaji massacre) took place on 30 October 1884 in San Fernando, Trinidad when the British colonial authorities fired on participants in the annual Hosay procession.

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Charles' first years were spent in St. Joseph, where his father was working as a policeman and where his sister Amalia was also born. The family moved to Princes Town where Sergeant Alfred Sheppard had been posted after the riots, and where his two younger siblings were born.  Charlie experienced the sad loss of both of his baby brothers when he was a 9 year old boy.  Both little brothers were buried side by side in the Presbyterian section of the Paradise Cemetery, San Fernando.

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Next, we know for sure that Grandpa Charlie was living in Port of Spain as a 20 year old. By then he had already caught sight of the strikingly beautiful, blue-eyed brunette Elsie Gomez, a young lady whose grandparents were Portuguese.   A courtship had started and Elsie's description of their rendezvous and first kiss at Carnival time recalls all the excitement and romance of the moment.  Grandma Elsie wrote in her memoirs:

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"The wall was high, so a contrivance was made by placing a barrel and a box raised to the height of the barrel that my family and friends could stand on so that the masqueraders could be seen from over the wall. I was just sixteen years old and no one could stop me from being first to be standing there because I knew that my dear boyfriend would also be coming.

 

I lived with my grandmother so naturally had my chores to do even though it was the Carnival Day, so early I got up and finished everything in time. Much too early for the crowds but not too soon for him to come. He and I sat on the board and talked so shyly to each other, then we would jump up to see some foolish disguised person or band of revelers go by.

 

After a while I was tired and the heat of the sun was fiercely burning on the wall, so I decided to jump off the wall, stand and found myself right in the arms of my darling who immediately kissed me for the first time.

 

I was so astonished and too excited for words so what do you think? I just flew into the house and rushed like mad to the piano and played as I never did before. He sat on a chair next to me and accompanied me with chords. My grandmother and sister came out of their rooms and made signs to each other. From then I knew that no obstacle could ever separate my darling from me.

 

Two young lovers with a long journey to go.

 

My story goes on to say that the happy boy and girl always loved each other until a marriage took place among a very happy home and family and continued happiness reigned with the young people enjoying the many good wishes of so many friends and relatives."

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At the time of their marriage in 1909, Charlie was employed as a clerk at the department store Wilsons Limited in Port of Spain, Trinidad. In 1930 Wilsons was taken over by Salvatori, Scott & Co. Ltd. Charles became a partner and Accountant in that firm where he worked for the rest of his life. 

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Elsie wrote in her memoirs that her husband's business was going well, and as their family increased, he was able to purchase a beautiful, large home at #30 Richmond Street, Port of Spain.  Charlie played the mandolin and piano, and there was always a piano in their home.  Elsie's memoirs describe a happy home and holidays spent by the seaside where "the children enjoyed to their fullest all the bathing, fishing, etc. Their father always saw that other children joined his in their happiness."

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"The home in which my children grew up was very beautiful and surrounded by a setting of golden Buttercups, Bougainvillea bursting out its glorious branches of purple and red and even rusty shades, Poinsettias, and the gracious plumes of the Queen of Flowers.

 

Music pervaded the air, father and children being the musicians."

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According to oral history, Charles and Elsie traveled to England on holiday regularly.  Sadly, on the last trip they made, they were to get the heartbreaking news that their baby son Arthur had died on 1st September, 1928.  He was just four months old. According to my cousin, George Gonsalves:

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"Grandpa used to take Grandma to England every other year as soon as the latest baby was weaned.  That year, Jessie, who was in her 19th year, was included in the travel plans. My mother (Madge) was left in charge and was assisted by Bertha.

Diphtheria was rampant in Port of Spain at the time. One had to be careful and to avoid families where it was present.  Mum said the disease would take out whole lots of siblings. It was not unusual to see the names of four or five children on the gravestones in the cemetery, the result of an infestation of diphtheria. 

Not long after the travellers left, Arthur began exhibiting signs of an illness.  The doctor was called and after awhile it was determined that he had diphtheria. It is not certain where he got it from, but they used to go out for walks with the baby in the pram."

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Sadly, our dear Grandpa Charlie's health deteriorated in the years that followed.  He passed away  three years after the death of baby Arthur, when he was just 45 years old.  Their union lasted 23 years, during which they had produced a family of thirteen children.   Elsie never remarried, but continued bravely to successfully raise their large family. She lived to be 80 years old, and enjoyed a full life, surrounded by her children and grandchildren.

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