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Charles March’s mother was a passionate fan of horse racing, being known in later years as ‘the grand old lady of Riccarton Racecourse’. She wanted her son to be apprenticed as a jockey but he grew to be six feet tall.
Charles’ education, like that of many of his generation, ended at Standard 6. He worked at the Grigg stables at Longbeach, had a window-cleaning business, and was an advertising agent and publicity man for overseas theatres groups. He and David Low, who was to become a famous cartoonist, were associates and friends in the advertising field.
Charles was chosen by a consortium to manage the Premier Theatre, a picture palace in Seaview Road, New Brighton. At home he was known as a grower and lover of roses, ‘his garden containing many choice varieties’. Alas, on 12 November 1918, the Influenza Epidemic carried off Charlie March, a 42 year old man ‘of tireless energy and genial temperament’.

With three young children to bring up, Mary March worked in the theatre with partners Fred Gobbe and Bill Farland, eventually leaving when the directors put the rent up by a substantial amount. She then had a ‘quite lovely’ teas garden in the seaside suburb. The property had been top-dressed with good loam and was ideal for development by a garden lover. Macrocarpa trees were purchased from Rawhiti Domain, the bigger branches being used for rustic trellises and, in the summer, there was a blaze of climbing roses. This was a place where weddings and other festivities could take place. Although not a great success, the tea gardens did provide Mrs. March with a modest income.
Mary, 69, died 19 August 1952:
The wording on the gravestone shows that the two March daughters died as young women. Only the son, Conroy or Roy, lived to old age:
Maisie Eleanor Laird (nee March) died 8 October 1930; interred at Wanganui:
Daphne Elizabeth died 7 January 1936. ‘Mizpah’.