On this day - 6th July

1712 - Abraham Rodriques-Ribera married Paloma Mizrahi at Bevis Marks Synagogue. He was born in 1690 He was Diane's 6 x great grandfather on her mother's maternal side.

COINCIDENCE

Looking in the diary, I noticed that a year ago (or to be precise 52 weeks ago on Sunday) we attended the wedding of the daughter of close friends.

The wedding ceremony (Chupa) took place in an Orthodox Synagogue in North West London. The Chupa was a wonderful occasion and the Rabbi in his speech to the newlyweds managed to bring in the disappointment the whole country felt at England being knocked out of the World Cup by Germany.

After the Chupa we then had to drive to the outskirts of North London to a restaurant where the reception and dinner and dance were being held.

It was a very hot day and the reception was held in the open air.

Following the reception we all (about 120) went to the function room which was above the restaurant. 

We were seated at round tables of 10, and all those on our table were friends we had known for over 30 years. Unfortunately one couple couldn’t make it because of illness so the table was only set for 8.

We were having our starter, when the head waiter came over and asked my wife Diane if she minded if they put someone next her as we had room on our table. Obviously Diane said to was ok.

We were then joined by, to me, a young woman in her early 40’s named Lisa. She explained to Diane that she lived in Brighton, and that a friend of hers, who was a friend of the bridegroom, had been invited with her son. The son couldn’t make it, and she had asked Lisa to go with her so that she wouldn’t have to travel on her own. It so happened that the son was supposed to sit on the children’s table and that’s why Lisa ended up next to Diane.

My wife, always on the look out to matchmake, although our 3 sons are all married, asked Lisa about herself. She said that she was a widow with 2 teenage daughters and found it very hard to meet Jewish men in Brighton. She stayed in Brighton only because her parents lived there.

Hearing part of the conversation, a sudden thought passed my mind. I leaned across and asked Lisa what her surname was. The answer she gave meant nothing to me. I then asked what her maiden name was. The answer was Feinson, and I replied that her dad Paul was my first cousin and that Paul’s dad and my mum were brother and sister. Lisa immediately phoned her dad, who I hadn’t seen for a few years.

I  know it’s a long story, but the amazing think is that she could have been put on any table and anywhere on our table.

On this day – 21st June

In 1857 Joshua Bittan was born in Stepney to Abraham Bittan and Miriam Solomons. He was a Cigar Maker and later a General Dealer in Clothing.

Joshua married Esther Martin at Bevis Marks Synagogue on 8^th August 1876.

In 1883 Joshua and his family moved to New York and 2 of his 8 children were born in New York. By 1901 the family was back in London.

Joshua’s uncle Benjamin is Diane’s Great Grandfather on her mother’s maternal side.

On this day – 4th June

In 1861 Sarah Betan (Bittan) was born in Whitechapel to Joshua Betan (Bittan) and Phoebe Martin (Nunes Martinez). She was the youngest of 11 children and was the sister of Benjamin Bittan who is my wife Diane’s maternal great grandfather.

She married Abraham (Alfred) Levy on 9^th March 1880 at the Princes Street Synagogue, London. They had 7 children

In the 1891 & 1901 census’s she is shown as living with husband and children at 84 Oxford Street, Whitechapel and in 1911 living at 20 Alderney Road, Mile End. London.

Sarah died on 15^th January 1912, aged 51, in London. 

Jewish Chronicle Announcements on her death-

Levy -- In ever loving memory of our darling wife and mother Sarah Levy who departed this life on Jan 15th 1912. Gone but not forgotten. G-d rest her dear soul in peace. Amen. From her ever loving husband, Abraham, daughter and son, Fanny and Sam 20 Alderney road, Mile End E.

Levy - in ever loving and lasting memory of my darling mother Sarah Levy who passed away on Jan 15th 1912. Sadly missed by her son, daughter in law and grandchildren. May G-d rest her dear soul in peace. Amen - Mr. Ralph Levy 77 Harford street, Mile End, E.

Levy - In ever loving memory of my dearly beloved mother Sarah Levy who departed this life on Jan 15th 1912, Sadly missed by her daughter, son in law and grandchildren. May G-d rest her dear soul in peace amen - Mrs. N. Crabb 44 Great Queen St. Kingsway WC.

Levy - in ever loving memory of my dearly beloved mother Sarah Levy who departed this life on Jan 15th 1912. Sadly missed by her daughter Dinah. May G-d rest her dear soul in peace Amen, Mrs. G. Cohn 148 W. 143rd street NYC USA. American papers please copy.

Levy - in ever loving memory of my darling mother Sarah Levy who passed away Jan 15th 1912, Deeply mourned by her loving daughter and son in law, Mr. and Mrs, Lawrence Lazarus, 35 British Street, Bow

With many thanks to Brian Whipp and his family history website which can be found at http://www.whippfamily.co.uk/

NOSTALGIA and the WEDDING

My wife Diane and I thought we would have a clear out of the garage this week. The first box we came across was marked “Barmitzvahs, Weddings, Anniversaries, Special Birthdays etc”.

In it was all the details from our 3 sons barmitzvahs, their weddings, birth announcements, engagement announcements, our first grandsons Pidyon Haben, our 25^th, our 40^th, my 60^th and 70^th and Diane’s 70^th. Diane’s 21^st birthday cards. Also the menu from our wedding in 1962.

We also found a copy of our Synagogue magazine from when our youngest son Stephen was married at Northwood United Synagogue in 1998. Northwood is on the North West outskirts of London, bordering onto Hertfordshire.

In the magazine was an article we wrote following Stephen’s wedding, which I think still holds true so far as we are concerned. So I thought I would share it with my readers:

THE PARENTS OF THE BRIDEGROOM

The Wedding from a different perspective

Our youngest son Stephen married Michelle Waxman on Sunday 1^st November in Northwood Synagogue, following in the footsteps of his brothers Richard and Robert.

When it comes to a wedding, the general assumption seems to be that the boy’s parents don’t have the same feelings as the girl’s parents.

Why!!!!!!

What is the difference. We are all parents and I am sure don’t love our children any less. Do we not all stand together under the Chupa and participate in the joining together of our children. So, why do people apparently feel this way?

The pleasures and emotions of seeing your child standing under the Chupa are the same for all parents.

When the couple get engaged, the talk very soon turns to what the Bride and the Bride’s mother will wear, and how important it is they both look their best on the day. Which obviously it is. In addition, we hear how proud the Bride’s father will be when walking her into Shul. Again this is obvious.

What needs to be remembered is that this is the joining together of two families, and everyone wants and needs to look their best, especially under the Chupa. All the parents will be proud to see their child married in Shul under a Chupa.

We were very lucky when it came to the arrangements for each of our sons’ weddings. Each of our daughters’-in-law parents has involved us in the arrangements from day one.

Generally, however, people tend to forget, when it comes to organising a Wedding that the Bridegroom’s parents have had previous experience in organising a function – the barmitzvah.

Well the Bridegroom’s parents don’t have to organise the Wedding reception and dinner, but they do have to rely on others to let them know how many they can invite. Something you don’t have to worry about when organising a Barmitzvah. Luckily again this was not a problem for us, but you do hear horror stories.

So what do the Bridegroom’s parents do?

Well!!!!!!

Firstly there’s the Shul to organise, and the officiants – Rabbi, Chazan, Choir etc. Then there are the cars, photography, video and flowers for the Shul.

Then there’s the Aufruf. Kosher catering can be arranged at home on a Shabbat, but it takes a lot of organising and a lot of moving of furniture. Who do we call up in Shul without upsetting the family – not always easy.

What about the men. Well there are morning suits to hire for bridegroom, ushers, best man, brothers, nephews, father of the bride and to pay for it all – the father of the bridegroom. In our case there were 12 suits to organise – make sure everyone went for a fitting, collect the suits, sort them out after the Wedding and then return them.

Comes the big day! Will everything go to plan?

Will the caretaker remember all the instructions from the Wardens on how to lay out the seating in Shul and erect the Chupa? The cars, photographer, florist – will they all turn up on time? Will the ushers and best man be on time? No worry about the best man Richard, Stephen’s oldest brother, or his other brother Robert who is an usher. They have both been through it before.

You still worry.

All the careful planning, however, means that the answer to all these questions is yes.

We arrive at Shul. Rabbi Brawer takes charge, everything goes like a dream and two families become one.

Jewish Genealogical Resources in England (K to Z)

Moving Here

 

http://www.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/roots/jewish/jewish.htm

Many people mistakenly believe that they cannot trace their Jewish heritage because records do not exist. They are unaware of what is available, where and how to find it, and of issues such as surname changes, patterns of migration and changes in country borders.

Port Cities

 

http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.134/chapte

For many thousands of Jewish immigrants fleeing Russian oppression, the port of London was the point of entry into Britain. For thousands of transmigrants, London was a stopping-off point before moving on to other countries.

Southampton University

 

http://www.archives.soton.ac.uk/jewish/

The Survey of Jewish archives in the UK and Ireland

Synagogue Scribes

http://synagoguescribes.com/

Your one-stop gateway to Anglo-Jewish community records:  Synagogue Scribes offers a unique and fully searchable database of  London Ashkenazi Synagogue records, with the emphasis on pre UK civil registration, which began on 1st July 1837.

United Synagogue

 

http://www.theus.org.uk/support_services/find_your_family/marriage_records/

Marriage Authorisation Certificate Records

Jewish Genealogical Resources in England (D to J)

Couldn't think of any from D to I but here goes with J

JCR-UK (Jewish Communities and Records - United Kingdom)

http://www.jewishgen.org/JCR-UK/

This website contains some 5,000 pages including details of more than 1,200 congregations and includes current communities and those that no longer exist.

A joint project between the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain and JewishGen

JEWISH EAST END CELEBRATION SOCIETY

http://www.jeecs.org.uk/index.html

Their aim is to raise awareness of the history and culture of London's Jewish East End, to preserve what remains and record what has now gone.

JEWISH EAST END OF LONDON PHOTO GALLERY

http://www.jewisheastend.com/london.html

London's East End Synagogues, cemeteries and more. 

JEWISH GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN

http://www.jgsgb.org.uk/

The JGSGB promotes and encourages the study of Jewish genealogy. It assists all those tracing the family history of their Jewish ancestors. It encourages Jewish genealogical education and research and promote the indexing, transcription and preservation of old records.

The first thing I want to say is that I am very lazy. I think I should rename my blog “The Lazy Genealogist”. Jennifer Shoer at The Scrappy Genealogist very kindly sent me the Ancestor Approved Award, which was begun by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here. She did this on 15^th January and it has taken me till now to respond.

I must admit that I had not come across this award before but it is a great idea. So firstly thanks to Leslie Ann for coming up with the idea and secondly thanks to Jennifer Shoer for thinking of my blog. I know that “An English Jewish Family’s quest for their roots” is a bit of a mouthful but it seemed a good idea at the time and I hope you find it interesting.

The award asks the recipient to list ten things learnt about any of their ancestors that have surprised, humbled or enlightened them. It also asks the recipient to pass the award along to ten other bloggers who they feel are doing their ancestors proud.

So firstly my ancestors and I include my wife Diane’s ancestors in this:

1. I have found that I know nothing about my ancestors prior to them coming to England in the late 19^th century from what was then Russia and is now Poland.
2. Similarly we know nothing about Diane’s father’s family prior to them coming to England about the same time and from the same area.
3. Diane’s maternal grandmother Dinah was Sephardi.
4. Diane’s Sephardi line has been in England for over 300 years.
5. The first recorded marriage in Diane’s family in England was in 1697 in Bevis Marks Synagogue.
6. Diane is distantly related to the actor Peter Sellers, to the first “scientific” boxer Daniel Mendoza and to Rufus Isaacs, first Marquess of Reading and Viceroy of India. 
7. My oldest grandson is a firstborn child as is his father, as I am, as my father was and his father was. Not sure if it means anything but we had a Pidyon Haben for my oldest son and for my oldest grandson.
8. I found that I had a brother who died at the age of 10 months when I was 4 years old.
9. Diane has ancestors from Italy, Spain, Gibraltar, Holland, Argentina, Morocco, Russia and of course England.
10. Diane and I have found cousins so far in Australia and the USA.

Secondly bloggers that I respect. Jennifer obviously has very similar tastes in blogging to me, since 4 of her awards are to blogs on my reading list. So here goes:

1. dearmyrtles-genealogy-blog at http://blog.dearmyrtle.com/
2. Dick Eastmans online genealogy blog and newsletter at http://blog.eogn.com/
3. Geneamusings at http://www.geneamusings.com/
4. Geneabloggers at http://www.geneabloggers.com/
5. Genealogy Blog at http://www.genealogyblog.com/
6. Genealogy Star at http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/
7. Ancestry Insider at http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/
8. Blundering Blindly Backwards at http://blunderingblindlybackwards.blogspot.com/. I wish that I had thought of this name. It sums up everything I do.
9. You Don’t Choose Your Family at http://mikeydawson.wordpress.com/
10. The Wandering Genealogist at http://wanderinggenealogist.wordpress.com/