Charles Sargeant Jagger, the eldest son of Enoch Jagger, a colliery manager, was born in Kilnhurst, South Yorkshire on 17th December, 1885. He left school aged fourteen to learn the craft of engraving on silver with the Sheffield firm of Mappin and Webb. He also studied at the Sheffield School of Art in the evenings.

In 1907 Jagger he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, South Kensington. According to Ann Compton: "After four years there as student and assistant to Professor Edward Lantéri, a traveling bursary enabled him to study for some months in Rome and Venice."

In 1914 he won the Rome scholarship in sculpture. However, on the outbreak of the First World War he decided to to enlist in the Artists' Rifles instea...