​Charles's grandfather was William Hewitt of Ringway. William was the brother of the James Hewitt in Heyhead (my 2xG grandfather).

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William had a son, also James, he was the father of Charles. James married Mary Smith in Northwich in 1876 and Charles was born the following year. Mary died in 1880. By 1881 James, who had been working as a pork butcher in Northwich, had moved back to Ringway with his son Charles. They lived with James's widowed mother Elizabeth.

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In 1891 Charles was working as a milk youth in Ringway, aged 14.

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In 1900 Charles married Sarah Ann Bailey, daughter of Obadiah Bailey of Heyhead. They had one daughter, Phyllis, born towards the end of 1900.

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In the 1901 census, Charles was a butcher in Knutsford, where his uncle George Hewitt had been a butcher in 1891.

Charles was listed as a milkman at Ringway in the 1906 Slater's Directory for Altrincham.

In December 1906 Phyllis enrolled at Shadow Moss school.

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Given this and his wife's connections to Heyhead, and that he had distant family of his own there, this will be the Charles Hewitt who had taken over The Bottom Shop, as listed in the Slater’s Directory for 1909.

By 1911, the census shows Charles was a butcher in Ashton upon Mersey.

It looks like Charles Hewitt and family had left by 1908.

In November 1908, three children from the Norcott family enrolled at Shadow Moss School. Their address was Rose View Cottage, i.e. The Bottom Shop. The Norcott family were living at Rose View Cottage at the time of the 1911 census. The children left Shadow Moss School in January 1912 to move to Northenden. This must have been when Abel Bailey took over.

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The 1929 Slater’s Directory shows Mrs Bloor (later Mrs Gibbons) as running The Bottom Shop.

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Fig. 3 Extract of the 1929 Slaters Directory for Heyhead
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