Hi there,
Charles was a groom at the Commercial Stables in High St, Christchurch in Sep 1876. On 24 Dec 1878 a man was charged with being illegally on the premises of Clara Debenham in Christchurch. This was VERY unusual for the day. They would have said home of Mr Charles Debenham had Charles been living there at the time. Is it possible he was already dead by then? Had he done a runner and/or returned to England? His death is not found in NZ (under that name spelling)

Charles & Clara arrived with 4 children, 3 daughters and a son, Charles William Debenham (1872-1944)
* Son Herbert was born in New Zealand 2 Sep 1877
* Son Frederick (whose marriage you refer to) was born in Christchurch 26 June 1879. If anything had happened to Charles by Dec 1878 (dead or disappeared) Clara would have been 3 months pregnant with Frederick.

Clara died in Christchurch, 16 March 1940 aged 90, at the home of her son, Arthur Debenham (1883-1948) and is buried Plot 73, Block 31A at Linwood cemetery. Her sons buried in Christchurch; Charles (Bromley), Herbert (Ruru Lawn) & Arthur (Sydenham, written Arthur Joseph on his headstone)

MY NOTES ..
I'm not convinced son Arthur was the son of Charles. He was born to Clara 13 Aug 1883, but may have been base born (Charles not around), or he may have been adopted. Though he was registered in Charles' name. OR the birth year at BDM of 1938 may just be a misprint.
Again, Charles may have been deceased around 1878.
Having said that, there was a C. Debenham on the Westcoast in 1900, but could have been son Charles

When son Frederick served with the 8th Contingent, H Squadron, Mounted Rifles, in the South African War, he left Feb 1902 and his mother Clara was his only NOK. No father.

Arthur & Frederick married McGrath sisters
It needs a lot more research

Thanks for this information, there are definitely some inconsistancies regarding Charles. According to information I have received from the Debenham family Arthur was born 13th August 1883 so probably a misprint as you say.

I have most of this information but not about Charles being a groom in High Street. Do you have a copy of the document?

I´m going to continue to research in Pastpapers to see if I can find anything.

Are you related to the Debenham family? My great grandfather was Arthur so it would be good to resolve some of the missing information. I just got in touch with one of my cousins...waiting for a reply..so hopefully they will be able to shed some light on the mystery.

Thanks so much for your help and interest.
Kind Regards

Hi hope this is him

Record set Essex Baptism Index 1538-1920
First name(s) Charles William
Last name Debenham
Baptism year 1843
Birth year 1842
County Essex
Country England
Place Langley
Mother's first name(s) Elizabeth
Father's first name(s) Thomas
Father's last name Debenham
Birth date 23 Aug 1842
Baptism date 30 Apr 1843
Father's occupation Labourer
Residence Langley Lower Green
Archive
Essex Record Office
Archive reference D/P 335/1/3
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Baptisms
Collections from England, Great Britain

also 1851 census

Name: Charles Debnam
Age: 8
Estimated birth year: abt 1843
Relation: Son
Father's name: Thomas Debnam
Mother's name: Elizabeth Debnam
Gender: Male
Where born: Langley
Civil Parish: Langley
Phillimore Ecclesiastical Parish Maps:
View related Ecclesiastical Parish
County/Island: Essex
Country: England
Street address:
Occupation:
Condition as to marriage:
Disability:
View image
Registration district: Saffron Walden
Sub-registration district: Newport
ED, institution, or vessel: 9c
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 91
Piece: 1786
Folio: 174
Page Number: 23
Household Members:
Name Age
Thomas Debnam 45
Elizabeth Debnam 40
Benjamin Debnam 14
Elizabeth Debnam 11
Charles Debnam 8
Margaret Debnam 6
John Debnam 2o


Name: Charles William Debenham
Gender: Male
Record Type: Marriage
Marriage Date: 25 Dec 1869
Marriage Place: St Marylebone, Westminster, England
Father: Thomas Debenham
Spouse: Clara Bright
Register Type: Parish Register

Charles was of full age a Coach Man and his father Thomas a Farm Labourer
Clara was a minor and her father Henry/Harvey (difficult to read) was also a Farm labourer

Will keep looking

Thank you Markav, It looks promising. I´m wondering if his father Thomas was one of William Debenham´s brothers. (he was the founder of Debenham stores in the Uk)

I wonder if it would be possible to search death records for Charles in the Uk. I am wondering since we can´t find any record of his death in NZ that perhaps he returned to the Uk as ngairedith suggested?

It´s interesting how Clara managed to support all her children over the years by herself or perhaps she had some help from a family member.

Thanks again so much, this is very useful for me.

If Charles returned to the UK then I imagine there would be a passenger list with his name. I will try to locate outbound NZ passengers lists or inbound to the Uk from 1876 to 1905 to see what comes up