Charles Harvey and Elizabeth Frost were both born and bred in Cullompton in Devon. The couple married in 1840, and raised their children in the same town. Charles was a grocer and tea dealer by trade, able to hire one or two servants at a time. Charles originally worked as part of his father's (Richard Harvey) grocery franchise in Collumpton High Street, and many of his sons followed him in the profession.
Collumption High Street, 1851
The couple's first child was born in 1843; they named him Lucien Gustavus Charles Harvey. Like his father, he also joined the grocery trade, married, and lived to the grand old age of 87. He and his wife, Sarah Mary, had two children: Winifred and Gerald Charles.
The second child was another son, Dionysius Richard Harvey, born in 1845 who similarly became a grocer and spirit merchant, employing two shop hands and domestic servant, and also lived to his 87th year. He and his wife Mary had children Charles Henry, Flora, William Richard, Gilbert, Godfrey James, Lucy and Arthur Frederick.
The first daughter was born in 1848 and named Lucinda Mary Toogood Harvey. She died at the age of 6, and was the couple's only child not to make it to adulthood.
Miriam Salome Pearce Harvey was born in 1850 and lived to the age of 76. By 1881, at the (then) matronly age of 30, she had moved to London to live with her cousins, William (a "Provisions dealer"), Julia and Bessie Frost in Portobello Road, and was working as a Housekeeper. It was here that she met her husband, Hermann Bernhard Ferdinand Garcke, who hailed from Saxony and together they ran a coffee refreshment house. Their children were Ernest Bernhard, Horace Bernhard and Douglas Hermann.
Marionette Elizabeth Harvey was born in 1852. She worked as a shop assistant while in her 20s and by 1901, aged 48, she was working in the kitchens of the Castle Hotel in Taunton St Mary Magdalen Within. She never married.
The couple's youngest child was born in 1855. They named him Mozart James Harvey. Like his brothers, he also became a grocer and he and his wife Mary Grace had children Eulalie Mary, William Mozart, Ermyntrude Ann, Trevor William, Austin Mozart, Oswald, Sylvia and Christine Grace.
Dionysius appears to have preferred being called "Richard". Several census records list him as such, as did his son Godfrey's army records. Miriam and Lucien were listed as "Salome" and "Charles" just once (though this may have been in error) and Marionette and Mozart were called exclusively by their first names.
It is interesting to note that Dionysius, opting to go by his more common middle name, chose popular names for his children, while Mozart, who kept his unconventional given name, chose more unusual names for his children.
