Charles Shirley

Bank: London County & Westminster Bank

Place of work: London Aldersgate Street branch

Died: 10 October 1917

Charles Harold Shirley, originally named Carl Hermann Schüle, was born in Fulham, Middlesex, on 2 December 1895. His parents were Karl Hermann Schüle, a German waiter, and his English wife Rhoda Jane.

In July 1914 Schüle went to work for London County & Westminster Bank at its London Aldersgate Street branch. The following year, amid a surge of anti-German sentiment prompted by the war, the Schüle family changed their surname to Shirley, and Carl Hermann became Charles Harold.

In February 1916 Shirley left the bank to go on military service, becoming a Lance Corporal in The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). He was killed in action in Flanders on 10 October 1917. He was 21 years old.

Charles Shirley is commemorated on a bank war memorial at NatWest London Barbican branch where his name is given as Carl Shirley.