Very little is known about the early life of Charles James Card. The 1881 Census of England indicates that he was then 48 years of age and unmarried. Card appears to have joined the Royal Navy in 1846. He served on Her Majesty's Surveying Ship Rattlesnake as a midshipman and later as a clerk between October 1846 and October 1850. According to a brass tablet in Wareham Church, Dorset he served in the Royal Navy for 40 years. 22 of these years were spent at sea on the Rattlesnake, Calliom, Spitfire, Rosario, Blanche, Euryatus and Hercules. The last position Card held in the Royal Navy was that of Paymaster-in-Chief. He died in Wareham, Dorset on 18 January 1903, where he had been a resident for 17 years.
From the description of 2770 Charles James Card Diaries, 1847-1850. (Libraries Australia). WorldCat record id: 755772415
