Charles George

Charles George was born in England in January 1825 at the height of the industrial revolution. The son of an English father, also called Charles, he married Emma Bulmer Bonsall (1828-1896) on 13 February 1848 at the Kennington Parish Church. They lived in Northfleet (Kent), where he worked as a boilermaker in the local shipyards.

At that time, steam engines were becoming essential. By 1856 Queen Victoria’s Navy consisted of 247 steamships out of a total of 254 vessels. Portugal had been slow to adapt to the steam age and needed to make up for lost time. Suffering a shortage of steam power specialists, it offered opportunities for British engineers to move to Lisbon through a cooperation agreement between the two countries. With the Thames shipbuilding industry beginning to decline from 1843 onwards, being replaced by shipbuilding in the north of England and in Scotland, Charles applied to the Royal Navy Arsenal in Lisbon, which maintained and repaired ships in the Ribeira das Naus, between Terreiro do Paço and Cais do Sodré. Despite receiving offers to join local shipbuilding companies or to return to the UK, he stayed with the Arsenal for the rest of his working life. The Arsenal’s documents attest to his dedication.

Charles and Emma had fourteen children: Elizabeth, Charles, Maria, John, Thomas, Emma, ​​Helen, Edmond, Alfred, Henry, William, Frederick, Marta and Albert. Some were born in Kent and others in Lisbon. They clearly adapted to the Lisbon way of life and integrated into Portuguese culture. In honour of Henry the Navigator, the second name of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren became Henrique.

Nevertheless, while their children were marrying into Portuguese families, Charles and Emma continued to maintain ties with the English community. They were members of the St. George’s congregation. Charles died in 1889 and was buried in the British Cemetery. Emma was buried in the same plot in 1896. The impressive gravestone reads, “Charles George, Master of the Boilermakers of the Royal Marine Arsenal Lisbon”. Our Chairman, Edward Godfrey, who guides visitors around the cemetery points the grave out as a classic example of a British family that became Portuguese. Their children Henry, Albert, and Helen were also buried there, as were some members of subsequent generations.

Main Source: Dossier de Lutas, written by Francisco Henrique George, great-grandson of Charles and Emma. Francisco is a former Director-General of Health of Portugal and former President of the Portuguese Red Cross.