Charles Alexander Billings, 1895-1975

Fourth Generation

Charles Alexander Billings was the eldest son of Hugh Braddish and Eliza Billings.

 

CA-000499 MG002-22-102 Hugh Braddish Billings I and Charles Alexander Billings, ca.1920.

TITLE Hugh Braddish Billings I and Charles Alexander Billings
DATE ca. 1920
ITEM NUMBER CA-000499 MG002-22-102
DESCRIPTION Formal full length portrait of Hugh Braddish Billings I (left) and Charles Alexander Billings (right) taken by Topley, Ottawa.

He enlisted in the army on September 25, 1914, and became a Captain. Charles carried out administrative duties, but he didn’t see any action on the European Front during the First World War because he contracted cerebrospinal meningitis while stationed in London. The doctors told him would never walk again but Charles recovered after much rehabilitation.

 

CA-000734 MG002-22-110 Charles Alexander Billings, ca.1915.

TITLE Charles Alexander Billings
DATE ca.1915
ITEM NUMBER CA-000734 MG002-22-110
DESCRIPTION Formal portrait of Charles Alexander Billings in his Staff Officer Captain uniform, First World War. Photograph by Topley of Ottawa.

In 1916, the army transferred Charles A. to Kingston, Ontario, where he worked as part of the Audit Staff and helped form a branch of the Great War Veterans Association. When the war ended, he moved back to the family home.

Charles A. got another office job and worked as a commercial traveller during the 1920s. At the same time, he and his brother John Roger took over the Old Billings Farm, which their father had started, and renamed it the “Billings Brothers Farm.” They were the last descendents to run a farming operation on the family estate.

In 1933, Charles A. married his fiancée of 17 years, Beatrice Lindsay. They had two children together: Jane Alexandra, born in 1936 and Hugh Braddish III, 1939.

 

CA-016411 Charles Alexander Billings and Beatrice Lindsay Billings, 1930s.

TITLE Charles Alexander Billings and Beatrice Lindsay Billings
DATE 1930s
ITEM NUMBER CA-016411
DESCRIPTION Candid photograph of Charles Alexander Billings and his wife, Beatrice, in formal attire.

During the 1930s, Charles A. divided his time between personal interests and a new career. In 1930 and 1931, he established Ottawa’s International Dog Derbies during the winter carnival. Around the same time, he channelled his interest in geology and became a mining engineer.

In 1936, after his uncle C.M. Billings left the Billings manor house, Charles A. renovated the building, installed indoor plumbing, a new furnace, and electricity. He also remodelled the kitchen.

 

CA-000525 Charles Alexander Billings and Beatrice Lindsay Billings, 1960.

TITLE Charles Alexander Billings and Beatrice Lindsay Billings
DATE 1960
ITEM NUMBER CA-000525
DESCRIPTION Candid photograph of Charles Alexander Billings and his wife Beatrice Lindsay Billings.

Charles A. sold the house and 17.4 acres of land to the City of Ottawa in 1975 for $500,000. He passed away shortly after, at the age of 80.

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