Charles Frederick Wilkinson from Moda

I paused with an obituary, and my sadness took me back to memories of Charles Frederick Wilkinson, who possessed a remarkably gentle, kind, and profound family culture.

Charles Frederick Wilkinson, who served as a Board Member of VDA for 32 years and was the founder and Chairman of Merkez Deniz Acenteliği ve Tic.A.Ş, had passed away.

The funeral ceremony took place on Sunday, July 5, 2026, after a service at the Feriköy Protestant Church, and he was laid to rest at the Feriköy Protestant Cemetery.

And I suppose I imagined the Kabataş Setüstü Ömer Avni Neighborhood, Inebolu Street, from 40 years ago. I remembered my dear friend Aldo Campaner, who was at the forefront during those years, and his sons, Gino Campaner and Mario Campaner, who were symbols of unique nobility and later continued their work at Ekemen Han, following the Near East Maritime Agency located at Veli Alemdar Han in Karaköy.

Further along, I recalled Omur Marin, founded by Captain Emre Omur in the Palanduz Apartment (now successfully managed by his son-in-law Recep Hakan Şen under Med Marin Holding A.Ş).

As I walked a bit more, I remembered Captain Oktay Sönmez's "Sönmez Denizcilik" before the Aktan Business Center, and later on, Uğur Mengenecioğlu's Um Denizcilik at Poyraz Apt. No. 45, and Captain Ferit Biren's Yedi Deniz Evi, which was located on a possible steep hill turning left.

After the passing of Nuri Cerrahoğlu, the founder of Cerrahoğulları Deniz Nakliyatı TAŞ, the Cerrahoğulları company had moved to the buildings at the top of that hill, and the company was managed by his sons-in-law, Saed Raab.

At the end of the road, under the presidency of Süleyman Bursalıoğlu, was Bursalıoğlu Denizcilik. I would climb that steep hill and turn left at the end to reach the building where Charles Frederick Wilkinson's Merkez Deniz Acentesi was located. I read the current address as "Şişli, Esentepe Mah., Yüzbaşı Kaya Aldoğan Sok."

However, I remember Charles Frederick Wilkinson from many years ago and wish to commemorate him once again with his narratives.

The Charles Frederick Wilkinson I knew was from Moda. The stone building on Moda Street that served as the Lausanne Club for a while has long been demolished and replaced by an apartment building (Moda Residence).

The owners of this building were the La Fontaine family. The La Fontaine family previously lived in a four-story wooden house on Şükran Street (now Osman Zeki Üngör Street) that faced Fazıl Paşa Street in Moda. The house number was 13. An apartment now stands in its place.

At the end of Inebolu Street, which turns left, was Captain Ferit Biren's "Yedi Deniz Evi," and on the right was once Cerrahoğulları TAŞ. If you climbed up and turned left, you would reach the address of Charles Frederick Wilkinson.

I had asked our friend Charles Frederick Wilkinson about the familial ties between the La Fontaine and Wilkinson families for many years. His company was located at Kabataş Setüstü. He was the founder and president of Merkez Deniz Acentesi. Charles Wilkinson was born in 1933 in Bornova, İzmir. His father, Richard A. Wilkinson, served as the British Consul General in İzmir. To introduce the Wilkinson family, I will draw a picture by going back to the roots:

The story of the Wilkinsons in Turkey goes back to the marriage of Jane Whittall, born in 1842, and Richard Wilkinson. Jane Whittall was the third daughter of James Whittall and Magdelen Giraud. She passed away in Bornova in 1928.

This family had six children. The first son was named after his father. His son, Richard Wilkinson, later emigrated to Sierra Leone instead of İzmir and became the governor there. His wife's name was Edith Baird. The second son, James Wilkinson, married Jane Whittall, the daughter of Charlton Whittall and Helen La Fontaine. However, a tragic fate awaited them. He passed away during their honeymoon.

The third son is Charles Wilkinson, who is the grandfather of Charles Frederick Wilkinson. He married Madeleine La Fontaine. The fourth son, Frederick Edgar Wilkinson, was born in 1891 in Bornova. He married Margeret Williams, the daughter of Robert Williams, who had settled in Shanghai. This family had five children.

The fifth child was a girl; Helen Wilkinson married Frederick Whittall, the son of Charlton Whittall and Helen La Fontaine, in 1902.

Charles Wilkinson and Madeleine La Fontaine, contrary to the tradition of having many children, had only one child.

Thus, their only son, Richard Edward Wilkinson, married Thelma de Cramer, and Richard A. Wilkinson and Charles Frederick Wilkinson were born. From the time of his father Richard A. Wilkinson, he was a member of the Chamber Maritime Pour Etrangers - the Maritime Trade Chamber for Foreigners.

Charles Frederick Wilkinson was sent to England for his education and returned to İzmir in 1951. A year later, he came to Istanbul to stay with the Giraud family, who were his relatives. The Girauds in Moda were related to the Giraud family in İzmir, who are the grandparents of Caroline (Giraud) Koç today.

He initially started working for British European Airways. However, his employment there lasted only a few months. He would take a side-wheeled steamer that departed from Moda at eight every morning to go to Karaköy.

This steamer, which had been built in Glasgow in 1890, was still operational after sixty years and was greatly admired by many foreign families. The business figures of Moda would travel on the upper deck of the steamer, where everyone had their accustomed seat, and everyone adhered to this custom. In the evenings, they would return to Moda from Kadıköy by tram. In the mid-1952, Charles Frederick Wilkinson joined Gilchrist Walker & Co., which was established in 1887. After working there for nearly five years, he left with extensive agency experience gained from this company. However, he had taken on roles in the Black Sea, Marmara, and Aegean ports at the Gilchrist Walker & Co. ship agency, each of which could be considered a life experience.

He also gained his first experience in tourist passenger shipping by swiftly handling customs and port operations for a tourist passenger ship they represented in Çanakkale. This ship continued its journey from Çanakkale to Istanbul.

In 1958, he married Denise Giraud, the daughter of Edmond Giraud. They named their child, born in 1959, Alan Charles Wilkinson. Since the family union was dissolved in 1965, a separation occurred.

Later, Charles Frederick Wilkinson married Seta Tabekoğlu, and they named their daughter, born on June 9, 1971, Carol Ann Wilkinson. Charles Frederick Wilkinson, who said that life in Moda always revolved around friends and familiar faces, recounted his youthful memories as follows: "Moda meant care, friendship, and beauty.

Each of the buildings was an aesthetic symbol, and there were never any concrete buildings leaning against each other in Moda. I have always been saddened by the disappearance of the Moda tram. Among the names I was closer to were Hazel Whittall and her husband Zeki Rıza Sporel.

Zeki Rıza Sporel was a close friend during the years when Celal Bayar was President. Whenever Celal Bayar came to Istanbul, a reason would be created, and they would come to our house with Hazel and Zeki Sporel's family. In 1957, Gilchrist Walker & Co. merged with Edward La Fontaine's company. I served as the assistant general manager alongside my great uncle Hugh La Fontaine at this company. Edward La Fontaine had been a board member of the Shipowners and Agents Association for many years. I also served as a treasurer member from 1969 to 2002. Until 1960, cargo ships traveling to Istanbul would be moored stern-to at the Sirkeci pier, and cargo would be unloaded from the ships onto lighters or transferred from the lighters to the ships.

If the ships did not stay at the piers, they would tie up to buoys in the Golden Horn, and the same operations would continue there. I would start my work early every morning. I would go by boat to the ship in the port belonging to the Ellerman company we represented and chase after cargo and documents until the evening.

Often, there could be three or four ships belonging to the companies we represented in the port. However, the unloading of cargo was done in such a primitive way that it would take three or four weeks for a ship that could be unloaded in a maximum of one day to remain in the Istanbul port. Especially during those years, due to the very high import regime applied in Turkey, there were bottlenecks at the ports. I will never forget that a Scottish captain, with whom we were very close, would get extremely bored with this waiting and would go ashore every evening, walk from Tünel to Beyoğlu, go to Le Bon patisserie, have his tea, and while tasting the exquisite Le Bon pastries, he would enjoy watching the elegantly dressed Beyoğlu girls, taking great pleasure in the lively scenery before his eyes.

By 1975, following the death of my great uncle Hugh La Fontaine, Gilchrist Walker & Edward La Fontaine Shipping Agency ceased operations. The name of this company was changed to Merkez Deniz Acenteliği, and I took on the roles of the largest shareholder, president, and general manager. Merkez Deniz Acentesi had been the general agent for BP, P&O Cruises Co., and Ellerman companies since the 1930s. By 1996, we convinced the authorities to repair the general warehouses No. 1 and 2 at the Salıpazarı docks owned by the Turkish Maritime Enterprises to at least partially respond to tourist passenger traffic.

At these docks, there were old general cargo cranes mounted on railway tracks that had not been used in any way. However, luxury tourist passenger ships were docking at these docks, and the overall scene even at that point gave the impression of a primitive dock against Turkey. Our efforts eventually yielded positive results, and the cranes that had been standing idle at those docks were finally removed.

By increasing the sea depth in front of these docks from ten meters to thirteen meters, the Princess Cruises ship, a symbol of luxury in global tourist passenger shipping, began making voyages to Istanbul with thousands of wealthy tourists.

The Charles Wilkinson family; Edward La Fontaine and Lydia Maltass's son Edward Augustus John La Fontaine (1848-1899), daughter of James Whittall, Blanche Magdalen, and their children. Among the parents, the young girl was Charles Wilkinson's grandmother Madeline La Fontaine (Birth date- 1879), who married Charles Wilkinson in 1910.

Source: Charles Wilkinson archive, Levantine Heritage Foundation, Craig Encer archive.

The roots of our family:

My mother, Thelma Mary "Thelma de Cramer," was the daughter of Frederick de Cramer and Mary Whittall. They migrated to İzmir in 1921. My father met Richard Edward Wilkinson in İzmir, and they married in 1924, settling in Bornova.

My mother lived in a mansion resembling a thirty-room palace in Bornova until her death in 1985. This mansion was next to the Protestant Church. My father's greatest interest was archaeology. He donated his library, consisting of thousands of books on archaeology that he had collected throughout his life, to Ege University. The head of the Archaeology Institute at Ege University was Ord. Prof. Dr. Ekrem Akurgal. The university honored him as an honorary member and presented him with the university's golden key. My father, Richard Edward Wilkinson, retired from his position at the British Consulate, which lasted from 1960 to 70, and passed away in İzmir. My mother's family came to İzmir from the town of Crondon near London in 1921. My grandfather, Charles Wilkinson, worked as an accountant at the Whittall company in London. I cannot know the exact date of his arrival in İzmir, but it could be 1891.

Memories of our family's life in İzmir:

I would like to repeat a memory related to life in İzmir here: - During the War of Independence, as Mustafa Kemal Pasha's armies approached İzmir, the Greek army, which had occupied Anatolia, was retreating in disarray towards İzmir, and as they got closer to İzmir, many villages and towns along their way were set on fire.

The colony in İzmir had gathered, and a decision was made to evacuate, starting with the wives. Some buried some of their very valuable belongings and even their gold in their gardens. However, others fled with only what they were wearing, as there was no time left.

Abandoned houses were subjected to looting. My grandfather was the first to return to İzmir. When he saw the looting of the houses, he was greatly astonished. However, while wandering around the Bedesten in İzmir, he saw that almost all the looted items were being sold there. Many valuable items that had fallen into the displays due to the war conditions were being offered for sale at a pittance. My grandfather bought almost all of these items at that pittance and brought them home. Later, when the returns to İzmir began, he would invite his neighbors and return to them any of their belongings that he had saved, at the price he had bought them.

My grandmother, Madeline La Fontaine, is the daughter of Edward Augustus John La Fontaine and Blanche Magdelen Whittall. We lived in a house numbered 13 on Şükran Street in Moda. It was a four-story wooden house. There is no way to forget our life in Moda. Most members of the La Fontaine and Whittall families lived in Moda. The houses were surrounded by very large gardens. I remember a forest made up of trees as well as the flowering of the gardens. The Whittalls' mansions were like palaces with gardens extending to the sea. Yachts would be tied up along the shore towards the Marmara...

In 2011, he narrated his life story to the Levantine Heritage Foundation.

I had listened to the memories of Charles Frederick Wilkinson from him. In 2011, he sent a message recounting his life story to the Levantine Heritage Foundation again. He said the following with some details; “I, Charles Wilkinson, at 77 years old (2011), residing in Istanbul, am the last surviving member of the Wilkinson family in Turkey.

I received my early education from my aunt, Mrs. Estelle de Cramer, and my French lessons from Mrs. Maringle in Bornova.

I received this education until I was 12 years old, after which, like most children from Bornova at that time, I went to an English boarding school (Hurstpierpoint College, Hassocks, Sussex). Mrs. Maringle was French; she came to İzmir to visit her friends in Bornova, liked the village and the Levantine community, and decided to stay.

She made her living by giving private French lessons and making French pastries to order for all the families there.

Her house was next to the house my father rented before my grandfather passed away. Later, we moved to the Wilkinson house to take care of my sick grandmother. We had Jewish servants, Palomba and Rosa, and our Greek gardener, Yorgo; I learned Greek from them, as they would take me to Mrs. Estelle's school every day.

I speak English, French, and Turkish fluently, and I have a lifelong friendship with other writers contributing to this site, Lorin Washburn and Desmond Whittall. Among the other children in my aunt's school were Olivia Edwards (who later married Renso Solari), Gwyneth Giraud's sister, whose name I cannot remember, Betty Charnaud (now married), Sonia Mattheysz (who married Harold Whittall - both have passed away), Lorin Washburn, and Zoe Rees, along with two others who were not connected to the Whittall and other Bournabat families. My grandfather, Charles C. Wilkinson, who passed away in 1948, was the son of Jane Whittall, the daughter of İzmir's James Whittall, and the third son of Richard Wilkinson.

James had built an 18-room house in 1865 (near Bournabat Church) on the occasion of his daughter's marriage; I grew up in this house, which now serves as the Art Gallery of Ege University in İzmir - popularly known as "Wilkinson House."

The house was declared an 'antique' by the authorities, making its maintenance difficult, and we sold it in 1985. My great-great-grandfather Richard Wilkinson served in the Consular Service between 1860 and 1890. He was the eldest son of another Richard Wilkinson, who married Mrs. Magastre, and was a first cousin of Desiree Clary, who married Marshal Bernadotte when her husband was king of Sweden.

Thus, he had a connection to the Swedish Royal Family, and when Richard Wilkinson visited Stockholm in the first half of the 19th century, he was received at the palace as a cousin.

Richard Wilkinson was the son of Robert Wilkinson, who was born in Harwich around 1750 and was a seafaring family that had been established in this port for centuries. My great uncle Dick (the brother of Charles Wilkinson's grandfather Richard James Wilkinson (1867-1941)) served in the Colonial Service and became the Governor of Sierra Leone, having previously worked as a clerk in the Colonial Malay Civil Service stationed in Singapore.

There is still a street named after him in Singapore, and I visited it years ago. The standard reference Malay-English dictionary still in use today was also written by him. I was only 8 years old when my great uncle died, but I remember his wife (Edith, maiden name Baird) very well; she had beautiful jewelry and was referred to as Lady Singapore by the family in Bournabat. My father, Richard E. Wilkinson, OBE and CBE, joined the Consular Service in 1934 and served as the British Consul in İzmir from 1960 to 70.

He was the last British citizen to leave İzmir during the Great İzmir Fire in 1922; he swam to the King George V warship, which took him to Malta. My grandparents had left İzmir, and when my father saw the soldiers looting the other European houses in the village, he decided at the last moment to bury the family silver in their garden; some of these are still with me today.

However, our house was looted of pictures and other

Source: SeaNews Türkiye