Charles Cobley was a son of Matthew and Elizabeth Cobley.
He was born in South Wales and most likely gained skills there as an underground coal
miner. However, he was reputed to have sought adventure and fortune overseas. He returned
to Wales frequently and married Sarah Jane Richardson when she was sixteen years old. He would
work overseas while she remained in Wales as a dutiful wife, giving birth to and raising
four daughters in absentia. Their home village was Bedwas in
Monmouthshire, South Wales
Charles Cobley was apparently not in England or Wales during the 1881 census. His
elder brother Thomas was by that time in the USA, and perhaps Charles was also
adventuring overseas.
Charles and Sarah Jane Richards were the parents of Charles's grandmother,
Elizabeth Jane Compton. They were both from Bedwas in South Wales.
Charles Cobley was born on 13 February, 1857 and they married on
June 14, 1884 in Newport in South Wales. They had five daughters:-
Sarah Hannah Cobley b. 14 May 1886 m. William Hodgins 22 Dec 1903 - two boys
Elizabeth Jane Cobley b. 9 March 1890 m. G.Spencer Compton - 4 children
Catherine Mary Cobley b. 6 June 1893 m. George Potter no children
Gertrude Cobley b. 19 November 1896
Gwyneth Cobley b. 11 December 1901 m. Bill Green - one child (Susan)
Charles Cobley was a coal miner, but left the mines of South Wales
for the goldfields of Western Australia in about 1897. He was apparently
a trade unionist, and was reputedly blacklisted by mines in Wales. His wife remained
in Wales until 1901, where she gave birth to a daughter after each
of Charles Cobley's home visits. Finally, in 1901, at an expense of
£500, he brought his family to Australia where they settled
near his work at Gwalia, a mining town in the semi-desert of Western Australia.
Three years later, Sarah Jane died in childbirth on a hot summer's
day. The five daughters were orphaned, the eldest being only about
fifteen years old. In 1909, Charles Cobley died of lung disease, most likely related
to his work as an underground miner.
The younger girls were sent to stay with one of Charles Cobley's brothers who was
a publican in Newcastle, New South Wales. Later Elizabeth
was working as a maid in the Sandstone Hotel, where she met G.Spencer Compton.
The grave of Charles and Sarah Jane Cobley is to be found in the Leonora
Cemetery. It is in the Methodist section of the ground and is one
of the best-kept graves, close to the central pathway.
Go back to Ailsa Compton.
