Charlie Kinder

Charles “Charlie” Kinder was born on 23 February 1889 at Newington, London, the son of Charles and Ann Kinder. He was baptised at St. Stephen, Walworth, Surrey, the following month.

Kinder emigrated to Australia in 1909, and worked as an optician once he arrived. He served in the First World War, enlisting at Liverpool, New South Wales, and serving with fellow Lightning Ridge opal miner Jack Souter.

By 1920 he was at Lightning Ridge, where he held a Miner’s Right and had a registered claim. He appears in the sales ledger of Regan’s store that same year. He spoke at Constable Adams’s farewell in July 1923.

On 5 February 1927 Charles Kinder married Margaret Ann Davis at Newtown, Sydney. Their daughter, Helen, was born in 1934.

Kinder travelled regularly between Sydney and Lightning Ridge from the 1920s into the 1950s.

In later years Kinder lived at Ryde, Sydney, where he worked in real estate. He continued to cut and sell opal as a hobby.

Charlie Kinder died at Concord West, Sydney on 18 February 1970, aged 81.

Article: Research by Russell Gawthorpe and Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: Australian Military Forces, doc. no. 1520; Marriage record, 1927/3414, Australian Electoral Rolls, 1943, Warringa (Narrabeen), p. 44; The Lightning Ridge Book, Stuart Lloyd, 1967, p. 79.