Charles Cravos died in 1936 at the age of 81. He began his business career with the firm of R. W. James and Co., and later served for some time with Loveridge and Co., Ltd. When he was about 35, in partnership with his brothers, Stephen and Joseph (whose grave we passed about 100m back), he opened a ship's stores business at the docks under the style of Cravos Bros. In 1914 they became shipowners. For many years he was a leading personality at Cardiff Docks and had a large house in Cathedral Road. As a shipowner, in his office he would have a liqueur from every country in the world so if you were a Portuguese ship owner he would give you the best Port, if you were from Brazil etc. The problem was that occasionally he drank the lot.
But he is best remembered for another reason. When he was 13, he got hit by a cricket ball and, many years later, it went gangrenous. According to family history, they didn't have any anaesthetic so they gave him a bottle of rum, knocked him out, put him on the kitchen table and sawed his leg off. When he came around they realised they hadn't taken off enough so they knocked him out again and took more off. The leg is buried, unmarked, about 25m away! in 1906 (E244). He took on a chauffeur and also bought 4 Rolls Royce's one for each season: he had a black one for winter, brown for autumn and a pink topless one for summer. It is said that every time he saw another one-legged man on the street he would stop the car and challenge him to a race.
Reserch: Gordon Hindess