A S ESKILDSEN / Leah ISAACS (ESKILDSEN)

[Tillyboo]

I'm looking for information on my Great Grandparents :

A S Eskildsen & Leah Isaacs

My grandfather fought in WWI for the British army and my grandmother is reputed to have stowed away on a boat to England when she was 14.

I think the name Eskildsen is Scandinavian. Leah was a Dutch Jew apparantly.

In terms of dates I have no idea although Leah had my grandmother, Sarah on 20 June 1906. Sarah was married to Harry Read (found loads out on this side of the family)

Leah married again to Gustav Olsson ? - not sure if A S Eskildsen was killed in WW1 - lived in Woodstock, Oxfordshire upon her death.

- How did A S Eskildsen come to fight for Britain ?
- Where did he come from ?
- Where did Leah come from ? (stories passed down tell of her family perishing in the concentration camps)

Are there any other Eskildsens out there who recognise any of the above names ?
 

[Tillyboo]

I have been helped enormously by fellow Rootschat friends to the extent that I have got a lot of info on my GG in the Aussi archives - he was in the army.

However, I do not have any information regarding my GG other than her name is spelt 'Lear' in most of the documentation related to my GG and her address was :
39 Hooper St.
Custom house
London
E16

Any info on Lear would be fab 

[XPhile2868]

During WW1, the Scandinavian countries, as far as I am aware, were neutral, although there was a lot of people in Norway who were very pro-British (I found this site, which shows postcards depicting European countries during WW1 - http://www.ww1-propaganda-cards.com/emil_dupuis(1).html).

Could AS Eskildsen be a Scandinavian-Canadian, as a lot of Canadians would have fought for Britain in WW1, along with many others from other colonies at the time.

- Stephen

[jorose]

Have you got the second marriage certificate? That would at least give Leah's father's name (and some hints as to her religion as it should tell you where they were married).  And her death certificate would tell you about when she was born.

Second marriage:
Lea Eskildsen, Oct/Nov/Dec q. 1919, W. Ham, Vol 4a Page 459 to Gustaf Olsson.

(I can't spot the birth of Sarah, do you know where she was born?)

[Tillyboo]

Hi & thanks for the replies.

XPhile : It appears my GG was born in Middlesex and recorded as a 'Natural Born British Subject' on his Attestation Paper to enlist for Services Abroad in the Australian Imperial Force.

But, his nationality was recorded as Australian somewhere else (can't remember, some other document I seem to remember - I need to find it again).

My GG enlisted under an assumed name 'Alf Edwards' in 1917 but later retracted it and was recorded from then onwards by his real name 'Alfred Schou Eskildsen'. He died in 1918.

He enlisted in Sydney - BUT why did he leave his wife and daughter in London ? AND why did he asume a false name. It's all a big mystery ??

Jorose : Ooh, thx for finding the 2nd marriage. I hadn't got round to searching for this but knew the 2nd husbands name. I'll have a look now. My mum thinks that Sarah was either born in Belgium or taken to Belgium as a child.
Where would I begin to check this out ?

Leah/ Lea/ Lear (all recorded sp's found) didn't waste much time in getting re-married and is said to have had an eye for the men.

My sister has recently had a medium reading at which the clairvoyant knew we had a dutch grandparent but that they were of Polish Jewish decent - even more intriguing.
Also, that someone took a big secret to their grave, that their father was not really their father. Apparantly there are a lot of secrets .......

[jorose]

As someone else pointed out on one of  , there is someone with the exact name Alf Schou Eskildsen on the IGI, born in Rønne, Bornholm, Denmark.

Danish censuses here:
http://ddd.dda.dk/dddform_uk.asp?sit=4
1880 census, Bornholm, Vester, Rønne Købstad, Matr. nr. 1077, Havnegade, Stuen, 122
Chr. Joh. Theodor Schau Eskildsen, 31, married, Handels Agent, Husfader (businessman's agent, head of household), born Horsens
Dorthea Wilhelmine Eskildsen, f. Møhring, 24, hans Kone, Husmoder (his wife, housewife), born Hamburg
Alf Schau Eskildsen, 1, deres Søn (son), b. Rønne
Udøbt Pigebarn (unbaptised female child), less than one year, deres Datter (daughter) b. Rønne

It would be difficult to look for Sarah if she was born in Belgium and you don't know where in Belgium.  Unless she was registered as a British citizen, she would be in the local records and there are no national indexes.

If you search on the Australian archives, have you also seen the entry in 1916 for Alf Eskildsen, SS Kadina, 1916 into Melbourne?  It looks like a passenger list entry (this record is not available online, but you could order a copy).

[JustinL]

Leah Isaacs was almost certainly born into a Jewish family.

Whether it was Dutch or German, or from a family already established in England is difficult to say. Altough thinking about, German Jewesses would have been given more German-sounding names by the late 19th century. It does not strike me as Polish either.

As Jorose suggested, you need to obtain that 2nd marriage certificate to establish her father's name and profession. I can say with near certainty that she did not marry Gustav 'according to the rites of the Jewish religion', Olsson is not a Jewish surname.

Have you tried to trace naturalization records?

Justin

[aghadowey]

It would be very helpful to link all the postings about Eskildsen family to avoid duplication of effort. I already posted information from IGI and 1880 census with links to Danish website.

[Tillyboo]

Hello,

I'm sorry about posting on several sections but I am new to all this and wasn't sure which was the best place to post so thought I'd post on all relative areas, sorry about any duplication.

The information I have received has been great and I am really grateful.

Leah was definitely Jewish and is told to have stowed away to England on a boat, but from where we do not know. I have ordered her 2nd marriage certificate so hopefully that will shed some light.

Where would I look for 'naturalization records' ?

Looks like Sarah might be the difficult one. We think she was either born or taken to Belgium (when young). Because her father was born in England maybe she was registered as a British citizen. Can you point me in the direction of where to find the Belgium local records.

Leah's brothers went to Australia in the 1800's and one became a Kings Councellor - maybe he will be easier to find as I have two names 'Simon or Herman Isaccs'.

My parents went to see the grave of A S Eskildsen and the names 'Leah and Sarah' were on it. It was very emotional for my mum. So, thanks to all who have worked at finding information out for me.



Moderator Comment:

Topic: A S Eskilsden - WW1 Great Grandfather info needed
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,241089.0.html

Topic: A S Eskildsen - Corrected name NOT Eskilsden - Oops !
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,241090.0.html