Charles Bainbridge Harrop was born at Sheffield in Yorkshire, England, on 22 November 1883 and baptised on 21 April 1886. His parents were Charles Bainbridge Harrop and Jane Harrop (Dockery) who had married in Sheffield on 2 May 1881. In his will, his mother Jane states that "the father of the said Charles Bainbridge Harrop my lawful husband Charles Bainbridge Harrop deserted me over thirty years ago and I have heard nothing of or concerning my said husband Charles Bainbridge Harrop since the 24th day of November 1886 and I verily believe my said husband is now dead." By this time Jane was living in Australia. Charles had moved to New Zealand. During World War I was wounded in action in the abdomen in France and invalided home as no longer fit for war service. He died in the Auckland Hospital on 2 August 1917 (reg. 1917/2861) from cystic disease (kidney's) and uremia. At the time of his death, his mother Jane lived at 'Totley', Lower Clifton Tce, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Charles was buried in the Waikumete Cemetery. His headstone was restored by CWGC in 2011.

Sheffield and Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1923
Name Charles Bainbridge Harrop
Baptism Age 2
Birth Date 22 Nov. 1883
Baptism Date 21 Apr. 1886
Baptism Place Sheffield, St Peter and St Paul Cathedral, Yorkshire, England
Father Charles Bainbridge Harrop
Mother Jane Harrop

MILITARY FUNERAL TO-DAY. The death occurred in the Public Hospital of a returned soldier, Rifleman Charles Harrop, at midnight on Thursday. Rifleman Harrop was invalided back to New Zealand last April, and was discharged as medically unfit on June 18. His mother resides in Bondi. New South Wales, having previously resided in Sheffield, England. As the late soldier had no relatives in Auckland, the Returned Soldiers' Association is making arrangements for, and bearing the expenses of, the interment. He will be accorded a military funeral this afternoon at Waikumete cemetery. The firing party will be detailed from the Maori reinforcement camp at Narrow Neck. Source: New Zealand Herald (4 August 1917, p. 8).

Will at Archives New Zealand
"That the father of the said Charles Bainbridge Harrop my lawful husband Charles Bainbridge Harrop deserted me over thirty years ago and I have heard nothing of or concerning my said husband Charles Bainbridge Harrop since the 24th day of November 1886 and I verily believe my said husband is now dead"... " That I was born in Sheffield in England of British parents." - Jane Harrop.

Sources

1. 1891 England Census
2. 1901 England Census
3. Archives New Zealand: Will
4. Cenotaph: https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/...
5. New Zealand and World War One Roll of Honour: http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~sooty/genealogy/nzefrohHA-HE.html / Ref 9.4.2021
6. New Zealand Herald (4 August 1917, p. 8).
7. Sheffield and Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1923