Charles was born in Liverpool England in 1945 and emigrated to Australia with his parents in 1950 aboard the steamship Asturius. He lived in Sydney for the next eleven years and then his father signed him up for twelve years in the Royal Australian Navy. Charles served three tours of duty as a code breaker during the Vietnam war and left the service in 1973. He attended university and graduated as a secondary Art and English teacher in 1978 and served in the Education Department of Western Australia for thirty one years. After his teaching career Charles went back to university and graduated as a Naturopath in 2007, and after continued studies graduated as a psychotherapist in 2010. Charles is now retired and lives by the sea in Perth Western Australia, close to his two daughters.