ROOTS
6/3/2015

Geraldine's last chance to find Rosie's family

GERALDINE Courtney, of Fleet, is making one last attempt to trace any descendants of her husband's aunt by marriage, Rosie Courtney (nee Zeiderman).

Rosie died last year at the age of 107. Her stone setting is to take place at Plymouth Synagogue in May and Geraldine would like descendants to be at the ceremony.

The family she is interested in lived in the Whitechapel area of the East End of London in the late 1800s to mid-1900s.

Their youngest child, Rosie, married Leslie William Courtney.

Rosie's parents were (Abraham) Joseph Zeiderman and Miriam Fox, who married on October 27, 1889 at Sandy's Row Synagogue.

Her siblings were Jack (Jakob), Sarah, Sam, Louis, and Eva. Geraldine has discovered she had another brother, Emanuel, born 1899-1900, and listed in the 1911 Census as an 'inmate' of the Jews Orphanage and Arnold and Jane Gabriel Home, Knights Hill, West Norwood SE.

Eva was also at Norwood.

There may have been another daughter, Esther, but Geraldine can't verify this information.

In the 1911 Census, the family lived at 28 Anthony St, Commercial Rd E, St George in the East [currently Tower Hamlets].

Geraldine has found a record for a Mendel Zeiderman, who could be Emanuel, marrying a Leah Price in 1924 in the West Ham area.

Leah's parents were Abraham and Annie (nee Goldstein) who married at the East London Synagogue.

Abraham is listed in the 1911 Census as a widower, a "beadle and collector at a synagogue" and living in Aldgate-Whitechapel.

Geraldine believes that a Marks Zeiderman and his wife, Millie, were probably relatives of Joseph. They too were living in the Whitechapel area.

Write to Yew Tree Cottage, 31 Albany Road, Fleet, GU51 3PR, telephone 01252-616433 or email gericourtney@btinternet.com


Oldham research

HISTORIAN Hilary Thomas has already written books on the Jewish communities of Bolton and Wigan.

Now she is heading to east Manchester with a book on Oldham's Jewish history.

Hilary, of Cheshire, would like to hear from anyone with information about families,businesses and anything else of Jewish interest.

Names she has found from the late 19th century, include Ruben, Fineberg, Phillips, Foote, Levene, Cossack, Adler, Prag, Asher, Bernstein,Lechinsky, Zacariah Levy, Lewis Levy, Philip Cohen, Eli Cohen, Myer Cohen, Goldberg, Savin, Mendelson, Kopman, Halpern, Strang, Marlow, Rosenbloom, Freedman, Taylor and Kaufman.

The town also had a shul in the 1930s.

Telephone Hilary on 0161-928 6242, email hiltone@taltalk.net or write to 13 Edgemoor, Bowdon, Cheshire WA14 3JN.


Ida didn't marry

THE Administrator General's Office in Jerusalem is looking for members of the Roth family who were in Manchester in the late 1950s.

The office discovered a family reunion took place around 1958 involving Hymie (Chaim) Roth with his sisters Fannie Roth and Dora Shemer, from Israel.

"We are looking for relatives of Ida Roth, who didn't marry and came to Israel in 1959," writes advocate Jonathan Kirsch.

"She was the only daughter, as far as we know, of Fanny Roth, who kept her maiden name."

Hymie's children/descendants may have been called Samuel, Jack, Abraham and Ada and some of the family may have been in Liverpool.

Write to Jonathan Kirsch, Office of the Administrator General and Official Receiver, Bet Shaarei Ha'ir, PO Box 36278, 216 Jaffa St, Jerusalem 9438307, Israel or email jonk@justice.gov.il


Died in childbirth

DEREK Guinness wants to trace members of the Niman family from Leeds.

The patriarch of the family was Levi Niman. His wife, Hannah, died during the birth of Enoch on December 21, 1870. Levi died 10 days later.

They had at that time eight living children while two others had already died.

The eldest child, Marks, was born around 1854 in Gombin, Poland.

In the 1871 Census, five of the children were living with Leah Harris in St John Square, Leeds.

But Derek can't trace where the other three children, Abraham, Lipman and Enoch, were living.

He has found references to them later in life. Abraham became know as Alfred and lived in Wigan. He married Leah Greenbaum. Lipman, who married Betsy Blumtall, remained in Leeds.

Enoch, called Coney on his birth certificate, became known as Harry, married Rebecca Silverman and lived in Leeds.

Telephone 0113-288-6997 or email derek@guinness-online.com


MUM vanished

KEVIN Scrivener, of Camarthen, is trying to find his birth mother Valerie Ann Smitham.

Kevin was born Anthony Paul Smitham in Nottingham to 20-year-old Valerie in June 1960, but given up for adoption four months later.

He discovered that his mother returned to Leeds and, in 1967, married Judah Segal. They had a daughter called Elizabeth.

Kevin has made contact with his mother's sister, but she says no one has heard from his mother since the late 1960s.

Write to Ty Newydd, Travellers Rest, Carmarthen SA313RS or email kevscriv45@gmail.com


LANDSMAN FAMILY

SOUTHPORT-born Fredrica Greenmantle is trying to trace the Landsmans of her mother's generation.

Fredrica's parents, Jack and Sara Green, were from Manchester. Her mother was part of the Landsmans.

She thinks she has relations in Manchester she has never met, including Danielle Landsman, Brian Bloch, Simone and Mark Ogus, Richard and Sue Kay, Edith Kay, Michael Kay and Bernard Landsman.

Write to Flat 17, Trafalgar Court, 201 Withington Rd, Manchester M168JW, telephone 07954-357316 or email freddigreenmantle@btinternet.com


mysterious death

BARRY Winser, of Surrey, is looking for information about his grandfather, Isaac Jacob Ellison.

Isaac was a Romanian Jew born in 1870/80. He was first married to a Russian woman and lived in China. He subsequently moved to Rangoon (Burma) and then on to Singapore where he married Barry's grandmother, Flora.

He died in Vienna in 1928 under strange circumstances.

Write to The River Club, Old Malden Lane, Worcester Park, Surrey KT4 7PX or email barrywinser@btopenworld.com


Emigrated to US

DENISE Harris Ray's great-great grandmother Sarah Rebecca, of Riga, married David Albert Harris in England.

The couple emigrated to America between 1883-1885 with their two sons, Harry Harris and Lewis Walter Harris. Denise would like to know more about Sarah, who was born in either 1858 or 1860.

Many Harris relatives lived in Leeds and Manchester as well as London.

Denise believes the family name may have been Gilalovitch, before changing to Harris, while others may have used Diamond as a surname.

Email gwynnfa@hotmail.com


Camp ended after fight with thugs

GRAHAM Meakin has been researching his family tree and historical events connected to his family.

One event seems to crop up many times, but Graham cannot confirm any details.

His grandfather and great-grandfather owned a farm called 'Greenclough Farm' at Strines, near Marple.

His mother was born on the farm and lived there until she was 12.

During the summers of the 1930s, a train would arrive at Strines station from Manchester and a quantity of tables and tents would be unloaded into the goods shed.

The following weekend, a number of children and staff from the Jewish schools in Manchester would arrive, collect the tables and tents from the goods shed and set up a camp, with Graham's grandfather's permission and blessing, somewhere on the farm.

Graham's mother remembers the children buying milk and eggs from the farm.

Sometime around 1938, the camping activity came to the notice of Oswald Mosley's blackshirt thugs. A fight broke out resulting in the camp ending early - and the children never returning.

Graham would like to hear from anyone who attended the camp or who knows about it.

Contact 07770-283168 or email meakingraham@gmail.com


MEMORIES OF LEFT-WINGER FREDA

Derek Stavrou's mother-in-law, Freda Kay (ne้ Pearl), died last year, aged 97. As a youngster in Manchester in the 1930s, she and many of her friends, especially those on the left-wing in politics, enjoyed rambling in Derbyshire. This picture, which was donated by Martin Bobker to the Manchester Jewish Museum, shows Freda, top right, and Martin's wife Millie, on the left of that group. Derek would like to know who the men are in the picture. "By the same token, if anyone remembers Freda and her husband Max and wants to share their memories, my wife Susan and her brother Bernard would be delighted," Derek added. Email dsandsue@gmail.com or contact Bernard at bskay2@gmail.com


To make an appeal, email MIKE COHEN at roots@jewishtelegraph.com
Please include your home address and contact telephone number.

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