Charles Brand entered the Royal Navy aged 13, at the time of the serious threat of invasion by the French under Napoleon Bonaparte. After an adventurous life as a midshipman, he became a lieutenant but was then forced to seek employment ashore at the end of hostilities. He led a possible government-sponsored expedition to Peru in 1828 and crossed the Andes on foot in the winter. On his return to the UK, he found employment with the Kennet and Avon Canal company, married a fashionable London bride and went to live in Bath. Regrettably, the marriage was to fail after some 14 years, but with the help of his elder sister, he was able to rear his four children, whose lives were to mirror that of their adventurous father.