Immigrants from Poland - LEVY; lookup please?

[Bassworm]

Hi All,

I'm trying to track down the Polish origins of, and immigration into Britain of Israel and Eva Levy. They entered  the UK between 1864 and 1867 and settled in east London. The various census records show birthplace of both as Poland, or in one case Russian Poland.  Can anyone assist with an immigration lookup please, or suggest areas where I might search for their origins?

Thanks in advance.
Mike.

[Berlin-Bob]

Hi Mike,

Welcome to RootsChat

Russian-Poland is (roughly) the south-east corner of present day Poland.

http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Russian_Poland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_Poland

Most likely your LEVYs were jews from the former Austro-Hungarian empire.

There probabbly won't be any immigration records for them, but you could check the TNA to see if they became naturalised.
RootsChat Topics - Naturalisation and Internment
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,157691.0.html
and
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/search.asp?j=1


As LEVY is such a common name, you will probably need more information before you can take this further.

Bob

[Berlin-Bob]

ps.

does LURIE ring any bells ??

levy AND naturalisation brings up 370 records in the HO list.
One of them is for an Isaac Lurie Levy from Russia, naturalisation in 1885
There may be more, I haven't looked at them all

[JustinL]

Hello Mike,

Levy (my own surname) can be difficult, but not impossible to research.

Were they living at 2 William Street in 1881?

Do you know whether Sarah married and, if so, whom and when?

Levy was a far more common surname in German-speaking countries, but it did occur in the Russian Pale of Settlement, i.e. Russian Poland. This might make this couple easier to trace.

Justin

[Bassworm]

Bob, many thanks for the advice and the links.

Lurie is not a name that comes up in the family at all at this stage. I'll keep looking.

Mike.

ps.

does LURIE ring any bells ??

levy AND naturalisation brings up 370 records in the HO list.
One of them is for an Isaac Lurie Levy from Russia, naturalisation in 1885
There may be more, I haven't looked at them all

[Bassworm]

Hi Justin,

Yes, that is the same family. They also appear in the other censuses up until 1901.

I don't have any info on Sarah yet. My wife is the great grandaughter of Sarah's brother Charles.

Hopefully we'll get some info when we visit the National Archive soon.

Cheers,
Mike

Hello Mike,

Levy (my own surname) can be difficult, but not impossible to research.

Were they living at 2 William Street in 1881?

Do you know whether Sarah married and, if so, whom and when?

Levy was a far more common surname in German-speaking countries, but it did occur in the Russian Pale of Settlement, i.e. Russian Poland. This might make this couple easier to trace.

Justin

[JustinL]

Mike,

Do you know Eva's maiden name by any chance?

I can a run a search for Levy and the maiden name in the database of Jewish records from Poland.

What do you hope to find at the National Archives?

The documentary proof of Israel's place of birth may well be available from the Rabbinical Court in London. As Sarah was the only one of their children born in Poland, you should concentrate on establishing whether she married or not.

Unfortunately, there were quite a few Sarah Levys who married in the 1880s and '90s.

Was Sarah still living with her parents in 1901? Have you found them in 1911?

Justin

[Bassworm]

Hi Justin,

I've no idea of Eva's maiden name yet. I'm hoping to find it from the birth certificate of one of their children, once payday comes and I can order it from the GRO. I'm also hoping that I can find some kind of immigration record somewhere in TNA if I'm lucky.

Sarah only appears in the family home in the 1881 census, she no longer lives with them in the 1891 or 1901. I've not tried the 1911 census yet. She's in the 1871 census along with her younger brother Morris (Both born in Poland) and their younger brother Benjamin (Born in London) so based on their ages, the window of immigration into the UK must be around 1867/8/9, not 1864 as I said earlier.

I'm not familiar with the Rabbinical court or what records they might keep, so any advice you can give on that would be really helpful.

Correct me if I've misunderstood, but are you a descendant of Sarah?

[JustinL]

Hello,

You are right to obtain the birth cert of one of Israel's and Eva's children, presumbaly Charles.

Specific information on the Levy's immigration will be very difficult to find, even in the NA. The NA provides some very good research guides online. I would do lots of reading before heading to Kew, unless you live nearby.

The most productive thing for you to do is determine whether the daughter Sarah married. Jews were obliged to obtain a marriage authorization from the Rabbinical Court (Beth Din). The certificate issued states the places of origin of both bride and groom.

Follow this link http://www.jgsgb.org.uk/ and then click on the menu option 'United Synagogue Marriage Authorization' on the right hand side.

If she was married by 1891, that at least narrows down the search. I am sure you can get some help from other rootschatters.

I am not in any way related to Sarah. My Levy ancestors were German Jews, who came over from Hamburg in the early 1870s. I had to go through the same research steps as you will have to now. It was somewhat easier for me as I was looking for the marriage of a man.

Did young Morris die in infancy?

Justin