Charles Edward Keyser

Charles Keyser was born in Paddington, London, to financier Charles Keyser (d. 1892) and Margaret Blore (daughter of Edward Blore).{{harvtxt|Stock|Stock|2011}} Keyser attended Eton College, before studying law at Trinity College, Cambridge. He gained his B.A. in 1870 and his MA in 1873. Keyser joined Colne Valley Water, becoming the chairman.{{harvtxt|Baker|1976|p=99}} At this time, he lived at Warren House in Stanmore with his sister, Agnes. Leaving Warren House in approximately 1890, Keyser bought Merry Hill House in Bushey. While living in Hertfordshire, he captained the Hertfordshire County Cricket Club for eight years.

After his studies, Keyser worked in the City of London as a stockbroker, building great wealth.{{harvtxt|Sermon|2005}}

In 1879, Keyser was appointed as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries due to his writings and lectures on English church architecture. In 1883, he wrote for the South Kensington Museum about buildings in Great Britain with mural paintings. He became president of the British Archaeological Association in 1906, a post he held until his death. In his obituary in the Association's Journal, he was credited with reviving the Association's fortunate and he was an extraordinarily active president, publishing many papers in the Association's Journal.

In 1893, Keyser purchased Aldermaston Court, a neoclassical mansion and estate in the Berkshire village of Aldermaston. The manor house was built in the mid-19th century by Philip Charles Hardwick,{{harvtxt|Fawcett|1977|p=44}} a student of Keyser's maternal grandfather.{{harvtxt|Allinson|2008|p=125}} Keyser had been told of the estate's sale by his sister, Agnes, who said that it reminded her of her stay at Sandringham House. He was the benefactor of numerous projects in the village, including the renovation of the church, establishment of a water supply and drainage system, and building of a parish hall. While in Aldermaston, Keyser was involved with the South African Wars, establishing a convalescent home for wounded soldiers. He later equipped the parish hall for the same purpose if its use was necessary.

Keyser served as a justice of the peace in both Hertfordshire and Berkshire, and sat on both county councils. He was, at various times, deputy lieutenant{{London Gazette | issue=27315 |page=3468 | date=21 May 1901}} and High Sheriff of Berkshire.

Keyser was a freemason and Knight Templar.{{harvtxt|Anonymous|1913|p=99}} He was initiated into Isaac Newton University Lodge,{{Cite web|url=https://www.cambridgeshirefreemasons.org.uk/col-robert-caldwell-1891-1914|title = Provincial Grand Lodge of Cambridgeshire – Col. Robert Caldwell (1891 – 1914)}} later rising to Grand Warden of England and Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Hertfordshire. He was also chairman of the Harrow and Reading divisions of the Conservative Association, and was treasurer of the west Hertfordshire association.

Keyser married Mary Emma Bagnall on 29 November 1871. They had one son, Charles Norman (1885–1964),{{harvtxt|Anonymous|1913|p=100}} and three daughters: Dorothy Margaret (1884–1963), Muriel Agnes (1886–1977) and Sybil Violet (1889–1966). In the 1891 census, all four Keyser children were listed as living at St George Hanover Square. In the following census, Keyser's daughters were recorded at 37 Portman Square.

• Aldermaston Court

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• {{citation|last=Allinson|first=K|title=Architects and Architecture of London|year=2008|publisher=Architectural Press|place=Oxford, Oxfordshire|isbn=978-0-7506-8337-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QlhOYVSG-FQC|access-date=23 May 2011}}
• {{citation|author=Anonymous|title=Representative British Freemasons (REPRINT)|year=1913|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn=9780766135895|place=London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6DtvwH_Dfl8C|access-date=23 May 2011}}
• {{citation|last=Baker|first=T F T|title=The Grove, Great Stanmore – Extracts from a History of the County of Middlesex|volume=5|year=1976|publisher=Ancestry.com|place=Provo, Utah|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cbye/ftweb/von%20mayersbach/alexander%20ferdinand/grove_vch.htm|access-date=24 May 2011}}
• {{citation|last=Fawcett|first=J|title=Seven Victorian Architects|year=1977|publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press|isbn=9780271005003|place=University Park, Pennsylvania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wScRAQAAMAAJ|access-date=23 May 2011}}
• {{citation |last=Sermon |first=D |title=Masonic Paintings in a Berkshire Church |year=2005 |publisher=Grand Lodge Publications |place=London |url=http://www.freemasonrytoday.com/34/p11.php |access-date=23 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618112104/http://www.freemasonrytoday.com/34/p11.php |archive-date=18 June 2010 }}
• {{citation|author=Society of Antiquaries of London|title=Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London|year=1920|publisher=The Society|place=London}}
• {{citation|last1=Stock|first1=J|last2=Stock|first2=R|title=Ancestors of the Kay, Star, Steel(e) and Stock Families|year=2011|place=Milton Keynes|url=http://www.stockfamily.me.uk/p60.htm|access-date=11 September 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402101722/http://www.stockfamily.me.uk/p60.htm|archive-date=2 April 2012}}

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{{s-bef | before=Henry Gold}}

{{s-ttl | title=High Sheriff of Berkshire | years=1898–1899}}

{{s-aft | after=Charles Thomas Daniell Crews}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Keyser, Charles Edward}}

Category:1929 deaths

Category:1847 births

Category:Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London

Category:People from Aldermaston

Category:Stockbrokers

Category:19th-century English businesspeople

Category:Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England

Category:Deputy lieutenants of Berkshire

Category:High sheriffs of Berkshire

Category:British Freemasons

Category:Members of Isaac Newton University Lodge

Category:Burials in Berkshire