AUSTRALIAN Gillian Cohen believes her great-grandfather had another family whom she knows nothing about.

She had discovered that Barnet Frieze, who was an Orthodox Jew, was a widower when he remarried.

The address shown on Gillian's grandfather's birth certificate is 2 Lower Templar Street, Leeds.

Her grandfather was known as Joseph Frieze. He married Annie Barkman and they had three children - Fay (Pollack), Racia (Cohen) and Berrol.

Joseph's older brother was Samuel Frieze and his sisters were Dora and Sara Frieze.

Neither of the sisters married. The brothers established a tailoring business in Melbourne.

They all moved to Australia in the early years of the 20th century.

Email cohen_gillian@yahoo.com.au or write to Gillian Cohen 1/64 Guildford Road, Surrey Hills, Victoria 3127, Australia

New information

JUDI Smith wants information about her grandmother Jean Beatrice Lea, who was born in 1905 and died in 1988.

Judi, of Brighton, recently came across some new information.

Although her maternal grandmother was known as 'Jean Beatrice Lea' she was born Beatrice Levy in Manchester.

Her father was Max Levy, born in 1874 in Russia, and her mother was Fanny Levy, nee Ardman/Ordman, also from Russia.

They lived in Cheetham, Manchester.

The 1911 census recorded that she had three siblings - Solomon born 1901, Simon born 1902 and Golda born 1910. A further sister, Annie, was born in 1913.

Write to jigglypuff7@googlemail.com or 3 Henge Way, Portslade BN41 2EP, telephone 01273 439444.

Updated story

Chaim Freedman, of Israel, is updating his database of descendants of the Vilna Gaon and siblings, published in his book Eliyahu's Branches - the Descendants of the Vilna Gaon and His Family.

"In the light of additional material received from many families and with resource to new archival records which were not available when my book was published, I am re-assessing the data," Chaim said.

"I invite those, whose families appear in my book, to send updates of children born since the book's publication 12 years ago, and any corrections.

"I would also like to hear from all families who hold a tradition of a relationship with the Gaon."

Send family trees in a gedcom file, if possible, to chaimjan@zahav.net.il

Missing cousins

Margaret Griffiths of Flint wants information about her cousins Sidney and Rene Sumner.

Sidney and his sister Rene were born in Liverpool between 1930-1934. Their parents were Zelda Poretsky and Joseph Sumner, who were married in the Jone Quarter, Liverpool 1930.

Zelda's parents were Solomon and Rachael Poretsky.

Zelda's brothers were Harry, Victor, Wolf and Louis. The 1911 census showed the family in west Derby (Liverpool) and it would seem Solomon had died sometime between 1930-1934.

Both Zelda and Joseph died within a year of each other.

For a short time Sidney and Rene were cared for by Joseph's mother's family Mr and Mrs William Hendrick.

The children then passed back to Zelda's family who were in a better position to care for them. From here, they cannot be traced.

A Harry Poretsky died in America in December 1966 - the same age as Zelda's brother.

"My mum adored her sister-in-law, niece and nephew," Margaret said.

Contact 01352 734474.

Ring again

HILARY THOMAS, of Cheshire, was contacted by an Israeli woman called Miriam after her appeal appeared in Roots Directory.

Unfortunately, she said in her answer machine message that she would call again . . . but didn't. Hilary was looking for information on her grandmother's family, in particular Hilda Marks who married Harry Jacobson and her sister Miriam who married Albert Rosenberg.

Hilda and Miriam were the daughters of Israel and Sarah Marks, who lived in Salford.

Write to 13 Edgemoor, Bowdon, Cheshire WA14 3JN, telephone 0161 928 6242 or email hiltone@talktalk.net

Mother's silence

Diane Addie wants to hear from anyone who knows her mother, Rose, who was born in May 1926.

She was adopted by people called Silverstone and lived in Glasgow in her 20s. She married George Addie in 1956.

She had relatives who changed their names to Arthur Callaghan (Callahan), who moved to Canada, and Nathan Black (who lived in London).

She knew Barbara (nee Morris), Gerald and Jeremy Silverstone who lived in Sale in Cheshire.

Rose refused to speak of her origins, even to her own children.

Email draddie@btinternet.com

Tragic family

Pauline Hawkes of Hants wants to find out more about her father Charles Edward Cohen.

He was born on October 27, 1915 into a large family in Liverpool.

His father was Maurice and mother Edith. His siblings were Jack (killed in 1st World War), Maisie, Irene (Rene), Dolly, Betty, Manny and Connie.

In the early 1950s, Edith and Betty were living in Brighton/Shoreham where Maurice was killed in a motorcyle accident.

Dolly at one time was living in Lomond House, Lomond Street, London. She had two children, Alex and Pam.

Telephone 01420 511428 or email phawkes@farnhamcastle.com

Settled in Preston

Naidia Woolf of San Francisco is searching for living descendants of her maternal ancestors from Karczew, Poland, named Safirstein (Szafirstejn).

The 1901 UK Census includes a family named Saperstein living in West Derby, Lancashire - Annie and Isaac, both born in 1866, and Morris, born 1892.

Safirstein was the maiden name of Naidia's maternal grandmother, Sarah Rachel Drozdiasz, who, with her husband Israel and two young daughters (Annie and Rita), emigrated from Poland to England around 1900.

For a while they lived in London and Northampton, before settling in Preston, Lancashire, where Israel had a tailoring business.

My mother - Flora (Hebrew name Frumit) was born there in 1905.

Write to 1600 Fell Street, #305 San Francisco, CA 94117, USA, telephone 0014159239956 or email rnwoolf@earthlink.net

Hannah's family

Alan Harris Hertzberg, of the Wirral, wants information about the family of his grandmother Hannah (Gela Henna) Yaffe.

She came from Dvinsk, Latvia, in about 1900 and was married to Tevel Rach, later Davis/Davies.

Their children were Abraham (married Leah Rosen), Leah (married Maurice Quasky, later Quest), Annie (married Frank Guratsky) and Toiby (married Ben Hertzberg, later Harris).

Contact Quarry Bank, 48 Shalmarsh Road, Prospect Hill, Higher Bebington, Wirral, Cheshire, CH63 2JZ.

Any connection?

IAN JOHNSON of Bury says his late mother always used to say there was a connection between the Goldman and Chalefsky families of Manchester.

The Chalefsky family also went by the name Kaye.

Ian wants to hear from anyone who knows of the connection between the period of 1880 and 1920.

Write to 14 Langdale Drive, Sunnybank, Bury BL9 8HP, telephone 0161-766-4604 or email linian58@yahoo.co.uk

PICTURE THIS: Elizabeth Sloutsky of Peabody in America wants to identify these pictures taken in Leeds. They were sent to her grandfather around the start of the Second World War and were mostly taken at the Leeds Cinema Portrait Studios. During the war, her maternal grandfather's side of the family got split up. She said: "My grandfather died three months before my mother was born. She knows very little about him and wants to meet his relatives. We do not know their English names or surname." Her grandfather was from Vienna and moved to the former USSR shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution. Contact Elizabeth at geneology80@comcast.net