| Description | Introduction
A biography of C J Fèret and his work on Fulham Old and New can be found in Fulham's Historian: A Biographical Sketch of Charles James Fèret, by Michael Dewe (London: Fulham & Hammersmith Historical Society, 1972).
Charles James Fèret (1854-1921), born in Clerkenwell, a clerk in the India Office, moved to Fulham with his widowed mother, Marie, and sister, Cordelia Adele, in June 1880 when Mrs Fèret took up the occupancy of the newly built 49 Edith Road (ref: PAF/1/222 p.238E).
After the death of their mother in 1892 the brother and sister, neither of whom married, lived at 49 Edith Road until the end of March 1900 when they moved to 11 Churchfield Mansions, New Kings Road. A year later, in March 1901, they moved again to 97 Hurlingham Road, where, along with C J Fèret's adopted daughter, they were listed in the census (ref: RG 13/67 f.55 p.37).
Fèret retired from the civil service on the grounds of ill-health in 1900. At the end of September 1901 he left Fulham to become an antiques dealer in Margate where he died in 1921.
C J Fèret was the first editor and possibly one of the founders of the Fulham Chronicle, the first published on 6 April 1888. In the newspaper he wrote articles on and invited questions about local history.
On 7 July 1900 Fèret's book Fulham Old and New: Being an Exhaustive History of the Ancient Parish of Fulham was published by the Leadenhall Press. Its three Volumes comprised nearly one thousand pages containing almost 500 illustrations |