Charles Lambert Hanbury - Lest We Forget

Charles Lambert Hanbury was born July 19, 1902 in Revelstoke.  He was the son of Herbert John and Maggie Brock Hanbury. Herbert Hanbury was born February 1857 in England.  He came to Canada in 1889. Margaret Hanbury was born June 1868 in Scotland and came to Canada in 1891. Herbert and Margaret were married in Revelstoke on July 13, 1898. Charles, their eldest son, lived in Revelstoke until 1910 when he moved with his parents to Victoria. He also had a younger brother, Herbert, and a sister Isabella. Isabella married Edward James Kelly on September 5, 1923 in Victoria. They were living in Revelstoke at the time of the death of Maggie Hanbury in 1938. Herbert and Maggie Hanbury are buried in the Mountain View Cemetery here. Mr. Hanbury built the Windsor Hotel, now known as the Regent

Charles Hanbury joined the Naval Reserve on January 2, 1917 at the age of 14 ½ years. His service number was VR/1247. He served on the Rainbow for 9 months before transferring to the H.M.C.S. Galiano. In October 1918 the Galiano was replacing her sister ship, the Malaspina, tasked to resupply West Coast lighthouses and wireless stations.The Galiano was also shorthanded as a result of the Spanish flu epidemic that eventually killed more people than the Great War. On the evening of October 29, 1918 the Galiano, just south of the Queen Charlotte Islands, began to take on water and sank with all hands. 39 sailors and one female civilian were lost. The Galiano was the only Canadian vessel lost in the First World War.

Charles Hanbury died on October 30, 1918 at the age of 16. At the time of his death he was a Stoker First Class with the Royal Canadian Volunteer Reserve. His name is memorialized on the Victoria Memorial, Ross Bay Cemetery, Vancouver Island. His name is not inscribed on either the Courthouse or Cenotaph plaques. He is believed to be the youngest man from Revelstoke to die in the Great War. Although he was not living in Revelstoke at the time he enlisted, he was born in Revelstoke and spent his early years here, and for this reason we have included him in this memorial.