[4] The family left India in 1877, settling at first in Cannes, then for twenty years spent their summers in Switzerland and winters in Rome, and visiting to England annually.
[9] From 1898 to 1905 Ethel and Bessie Charles lived and worked together in Marylebone, London, which provided accommodation for single professional women.
[6] Ethel Charles' orthographic projections of labourers' cottages from 1895 are presented by RIBA as an example of how the Old English style began to evolve towards the Arts and Crafts and Garden City movements.
[4] Charles stated publicly that the best opportunities for architects were in commercial commissions but the only reference to her work on large-scale designs is an untraced prize-winning church in Germany in 1909.
[4] After the First World War, Charles does not appear to have practiced but kept house for her younger brother, army officer Ronald, who was for a time commandant of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich (1924-1926).