Charlie's maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Clarke (nee McGregor). By 1903 she was the only one of Charlie' grandparents still alive. Her husband, the former Detective Chief Inspector George Clarke, had died in January 1891. Charlie's other grandparents, Henry Payne and Mary Payne (nee Stableforth), had died in 1882 and 1899, respectively.
Elizabeth was born on 13 November 1824 at Chipping Barnet, and was the eldest daughter of John and Elizabeth McGregor (nee Hemmings). She had at least five brothers and sisters, including John, Mary Ann, Daniel, William and Louisa. Her father was an agricultural labourer and the family must have been close to the poverty-line. Elizabeth's father died in 1855, and her mother's death followed in the same year, at the Union Workhouse, Chipping Barnet. By that time, Elizabeth had married Police Constable George Clarke on 18 November 1843 at Islington parish church. The couple went on to have at least five children, George Leonard Clarke (1845-1899), Henry John Clarke (b. 1846; "Uncle Harry" in Charlie's diaries), Emily Bent Clarke (1853-1932; Charlie's mother), Herbert Edwin Clarke (1855-1927; "Uncle Bob") and Catherine Louisa Clarke (b. 1859; "Aunt Loo"). Elizabeth and George Clarke lived initially in Hornsey, before moving to Marylebone and, later in the 1860s, to 20 Great College Street, Westminster where she remained until the mid-late 1890s.
Although the early years of her marriage must have been tough financially (as police constables were poorly, albeit regularly, paid) things must have improved from about 1869 by which time George Clarke had been promoted to Detective Chief Inspector. Nonetheless, the couple took in a lodger to make ends meet. In 1877 Elizabeth must have faced considerable stress when her husband was arrested and tried at the Old Bailey for perverting the course of justice. His acquittal was followed within weeks by his retirement from the police force. Accounts at that time, suggest that Elizabeth was, and had previously been, in poor health. Nonetheless she outlived her husband and survived to the age of 82, dying at the Payne family home at Ferris Road, East Dulwich on 13 April 1907.
Elizabeth's sister, Mary Ann McGregor, married a London letter-carrier, William Burgess. One of their children, Louisa Elizabeth Burgess (generally referred to as "Cousin Loo" in Charlie's diaries) had married a Westminster cutler, George Payne; amongst their children was Ida Muriel Payne, Charlie's future wife. Thus, through their McGregor ancestry, Charlie and Ida were related; in fact they were second cousins. They also, coincidentally, shared the same surname ('Payne') before marriage, but the Payne ancestor's of Charlie's father, Henry Stableforth Payne, and of Ida's father, George Payne, appear to have come from different parts of the country; Hampshire and Cambridgeshire, respectively, at least as far back as the 18th Century.
In Charlie's diaries for 1903 and 1904, he mentions his Grandma on many occasions. From these accounts it is clear that she kept in touch with the family of her husband, several of whom were based in the Royston area of North-Hertfordshire. In addition, there is mention of her visiting 'the Mcgregors', an undoubted reference to members of her brother William's family, probably based in the Hendon area.
When Elizabeth died in 1907 she left £413 9s 5d in her will to be distributed between her daughter-in-law Louisa Clarke ('Aunt Louisa' in Charlie's diaries), and all her surviving children, with the exception of her son Harry. Presumably she had not been impressed by his conviction in 1895 which had led to him receiving a prison sentence of two years hard labour. It appears that Harry challenged the will but came away empty-handed.