CHARLES THE BUILDER
Updated: Feb 18, 2023
CHARLES EMBERSON (1856-1945)
ANNIE EMBERSON (1859-1909)
Charles Emberson was a man of many talents: a plasterer, a builder and a fruit farmer. He built our home, Corio Bay Villa, in 1890. He was born and raised near Corio Bay in Geelong, and the story goes that he had many happy memories sailing in Corio Bay, which is why he named the house Corio Bay Villa and created a bas-relief sail boat on the front of the house.
Charles was born around 1956, the third or fourth child to William Pepper Emberson (1832-1887) and Emily Lawrence (1830-1890) in Geelong. He had nine siblings and they grew up near Western Beach, on the shore of Corio Bay. Aged 19, Charles voluntarily served with the UK Royal Navy Reserve for the year of 1876, on the ship called Nymphe.[1] He then returned home and married Ann Louise Daltera in 1882, when he was approximately 26 years old, and listed his occupation as 'Plasterer of Geelong.'[2]
Image: Charles Emberson (left) with his father (back) and his two brothers William John (centre) and Henry (right) on 29 December 1881. Source: Emberson family.
Both Charles and Ann came from big families, as Ann was one of seven siblings. Ann, who preferred to be called Annie, was born to William and Frances around 1859. Annie was also from the area of Geelong, and after marrying Charles, the couple moved to Richmond. Together they had two children, William Charles (1882-1917) and Lily Robiteen (1885-1962) in before buying land and moving to Surrey Hills.
Charles bought the land from a real estate conglomerate in August 1889, again listing his occupation as plasterer.[3] The property was part of the Windsor Park Estate, the owners of which went bust in the 1982 economic crash.
Charles Emberson built the double-brick house most likely with the help of his elder brother William John, as Charles’ nephew Alfred Charles Emberson was born at the house in 1890. Charles named his newly built home Corio Bay Villa, even though it was nothing more than a cottage on a small parcel of land. Posters advertising blocks of land for sale from the period, refer to them as 'Villas', as shown below. Perhaps that is where the inspiration for the title of 'Villa' came from.
Image: Batten & Percy (Firm) [Melbourne] : Kemp & Boyce, Lith, 1887
Source: State Library of Victoria, viewed 13 April 2022, http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/173794
Corio Bay Villa was built in the Victorian Italianate style and was particularly ornate for it's time and size. Inside, the high ceilings display intricate cornice designs and ceiling roses believed to be created by Charles. The largest and most intricate ceiling is identical to ones found in the Supreme Court library, which was completed in 1884 (see comparison below).
Image left: Main room of Corio Bay Villa, 2023
Image right: Ceiling rose, Supreme Court Library, 2022
Unfortunately there are no records linking Charles to the construction of the Supreme Court Library, which is not unusual considering many of the craftsmen involved are not recorded. Regardless, there is no doubt that Charles was a master plasterer and craftsman based on his work at Corio Bay Villa.
Charles and his wife Annie lived in the villa with their children from 1890 to 1894, after which time they moved to South Sassafras, a town in the Dandenong Ranges, where they had purchased another larger property.[4] Perhaps to facilitate this purchase, Charles had transferred ownership of Corio Bay Villa to Annie in 1893, and the little cottage was leased to a number of short-term tenants. Over the proceeding years, when Corio Bay Villa was vacant, Charles and Annie seemed to move between their two properties. It is said that Annie walked their cow from Corio Bay Villa to Sassafras in one day.
Charles and his wife Annie were some of the first settlers to live in Sassafras (now known as Kallista). They named their property Charlesville. Their first home on this land was typical of early settlers' huts with bark walls, fern floor and calico in place of window. Like other early settlers in this area, Charles would spend the week working in Melbourne and return each weekend with the weekly provisions. These men were known as ‘sugar-bag' farmers. During these years Charles listed his profession as either a plaster or fruit grower on electoral roles.
Annie died in 1909, aged 49 years, after which Corio bay Villa remained in her estate until Charles' death 37 years later. Charles returned to live at Corio Bay Villa as a widower from from 1913 to 1919. We know Charles owned at least one pony during this time, as it was reported both lost and the found in the Police Gazette.[5]
In 1913, two of Charles's grandchildren were born at Corio Bay Villa. Firstly, Lily's son, Leo Robert Charman (1913-1980), was born on 22 April 1913 at Corio Bay Villa in Surrey Hills, which is unusual considering Lily's normal residence was in Emerald. Lily's husband may have been away at this time, and Lily most likely travelled to be with her father at Corio Bay Villa for the birth of her son.
A few month's later, on 12 July 1913, William's third son Edward George Emberson was also born at Corio Bay Villa, with Charles listed as a witness. William and his wife Rosina were most likely living with Charles at the time.
In 1917, Charles' son William was killed in France during the First World War. Perhaps for this reason Charles left Surrey Hills again and Corio Bay Villa continued to be leased to tenants. Charles returned to South Sassafras (now Kallista) where his older brother William John Emberson (1851-1928) and his daughter were living.
Image above: Charles and his brother William John Emberson at Sassafras. Date unknown. Source: Monbulk Historical Society.
Charles' son William left behind his young wife and four children aged under ten. His wife took them back to New Zealand. Charles may have lost contact with them because he did not end up providing for them in his will as earlier indicated.[6] He left everything to his daughter Lily who looked after him in his old age.[7]
In 1923, Charles built a memorial to his son William at the entry to his property in Kallista, which was officially unveiled in 1924. You can read more about the memorial and William Emberson in another blog post: The Emberson Memorial.
Lily, having married Leopold Edgar Baker Charman (1879-1956) in 1909, was known as Mrs Charman. However by 1934 Lily and her husband had separated and Lily probably lived with her father in his final years. You can read more about the Lily Emberson and her life in another blog post: Lily Roberteen.
In 1933 Charles, along with other remaining original settlers, were invited to accept honorary life membership of the Kallista and Sherbrooke Progress Association. There is a street named after him called Emberson Street, which is off Monbulk Road, near the Emberson memorial and the local primary school. The primary school has also named one of the school team houses after Charles.
Charles did not remarry. He lived out the rest of his life in Kallista, near his daughter and his son's memorial. In his 1934 will he listed his occupation as a fruit grower. Corio Bay Villa, along with everything else, went to his daughter Lily upon Charles' death.[7] His death notice in the Age on Tuesday 31 July, 1945, read:
"EMBERSON - On July 28, Charles Emberson of “Charlesville", Kallista, loved father of William Charles (deceased) and Lilian (Mrs Charman, Kallista) aged 88 years old."
Charles Emberson seems to have been close to his family throughout this life. After marrying and leaving Geelong, he soon returned to baptise his children. He then built a house in Surrey Hills, perhaps with the assistance of his older brother William, which he dedicated to this childhood home. In his later years he had both his children's families living with him at one time or another and he witnessed the birth of at least two of his grandchildren. He again lived with his older brother William in Kallista where he also built a memorial to his deceased son by the same name. In 1939 he left his tools to a nephew on his deceased wife's side in his will, although this was overlooked in a later will written closer to his death.[8] At the last his daughter took care of him, which is a further indication of Charles' strong connection to his family.
In Surrey Hills, local lore has Charles as a sea captain who named the house after his vessel. An alternative theory has him as the master of a merchant ship that docked at Corio Bay, hence the name of the house. To date, I have found nothing to support the claims that Charles captained any ship before building Corio Bay Villa in 1890. Further, while there have been ships called 'Corio Bay,' they existed when Charles was either too young or too deceased to captain them. However, I will continue to search for clues.
At the time Charles built the house in 1890, he was already a master plasterer, at just 33 years of age. It is difficult to imagine he had time to advance his seafaring career, whilst simultaneously working as a plasterer. Moreover, Charles listed his occupation as plasterer in both 1882 and 1890, and he came from a family of plasterers. At most Charles may have been a captain during his one year stint in the UK Navy, which seems unlikely. More likely, in the intervening years, a link has been made between the bas-relief sail boat on the house and Charles' service in the Royal Navy Reserve. The most plausible theory is that Charles named the house after his beloved childhood home.
Charles Emberson still remains relatively unknown in Surrey Hills, but is more renown in Kallista, where he was one of the first white settlers. Having lived his life in Corio Bay, then Surrey Hills and finally Kallista, his life-story is told through his works. He built Corio Bay Villa in Surrey Hills as a tribute to his childhood home and then made his mark on Kallista in the form of a memorial to his son. His life is just one small story in the big scheme of things, but it is the story of an ordinary man who built lasting monuments to the things he loved.
REFERENCES:
[1] Charles' UK Royal Navy service record. Source: UK, Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services, 1848-1939, courtesy of Ancestry Library.
[2] Charles and Annie's marriage record, dated 16 November 1882. Sourced via Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria, https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/
[3] Corio Bay Villa land titles 1889 - 1964. Sourced via Landata, https://www.landata.vic.gov.au/
[4] Corio Bay Villa by O.S Green and Julia Morant, 1978, Box Hill Sketchbook, pp. 42-43.
[5] Excerpts from the Victorian Police Gazette. Left: 12 February 1903. Right: 16 July 1914.
[6] William Charles Emberson service record.
Source: Monbulk RSL, William Charles Emberson, viewed 11 April 2022, https://www.monbulkrsl.org.au/images/WWI_PDFs/EMBERSON_William_Charles.pdf.
[7] Charles Emberson's last will dated 27 March 1943. Source: Public Record Office Victoria, http://www.prov.vic.gov.au.
[8] Charles Emberson's will dated 23 April 1939. Source: Public Record Office Victoria, http://www.prov.vic.gov.au.
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