Jewish Family History

[JustinL]

Hello Jan,

I think it's a bit unlikely that Sarah married Abraham when she was under 10 years old. Was that a later second marriage?

Presumably, you know from Isaiah's marriage cert that his father was a dairyman.

I forgot to mention Isaiah and Elizabeth married in the Great Synagogue on 12 Dec 1949.

Justin

[paul*]

All the surnames you mention, Marks, Benjamin, Harris, Joseph are extremely common in UK Jewish communities.

[kiwicatz]

Hello Jan,

I think it's a bit unlikely that Sarah married Abraham when she was under 10 years old. Was that a later second marriage?

Presumably, you know from Isaiah's marriage cert that his father was a dairyman.

I forgot to mention Isaiah and Elizabeth married in the Great Synagogue on 12 Dec 1949.

Justin

Justin I think there's something wrong there altogether, If Abraham was actually born in 1809, that means he would be 12 when Isaiah was born - maybe Abraham was Isaiah's older brother rather than father - And Elizabeth unknown was mother of them both - what do you think? If so How do I find their father? And what is the Great Synagogue and where is t
Regards
Jan

[JustinL]

Hello Jan,

I think we can rule out Abraham, b. 1809, and Sarah, b. 1811.

The Jewish Genealogicial Society of Great Britain (JGSGB) speculates that Isaiah was the son of

Abraham Benjamin, b. 1794 Whitechapel, son of Elias. He may also have been the father of the Elias Benjamin recorded in Shadwell High Street, Wapping.

Their mother has not been clearly identified but I would guess that she was called Sarah as both Elias (junior) and Isaiah named their first daughters Sarah.

You really should order the civil marriage cert for Isaiah and Elizabeth to establish the occupations of their fathers.

The Great Synagogue was one of London's oldest (founded 1620, rebuilt 1790), but it was sadly destroyed during WWII. It stood in Duke's Place, Aldgate.

I believe that the Benjamn family were long established members of the GS congregation. Isaiah was recorded as a 'privileged member' of the congregation. You can more about that here http://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/susser/roth/chfive.htm

Elizabeth was the daughter of Philip Harris. Her Hebrew name was Brynah bat Uryeh ha-Levi, i.e. Brynah daughter of Uryeh, the Levite.

What had led you to the Kent and Birmingham connections?

Justin

[kiwicatz]

Hello Justin
I got to the Kent and Birmingham connections by working back from Isaiah and Elizabeth (nee Harris) from the Australian end.
Their oldest son was also Phillip, and they emigrated to Melbourne. I have newspaper reports with results from the Melbourne Jewish School 1876 (just found them tonight) that feature some of their children. My connection is that  their son, Leopold Emmanuel Benjamin married a lady named Emma Gell, who was my grandmother's sister. Emma, by the way was of Scottish descent, and Presbyterian. I would love to know the how, when and why of that relationship. They lived a lot of their lives in Fiji. I have at this stage Isaiah and Elizabeth having between 8 and 12 children, but haven't proved them all yet.

[JustinL]

So was the jump a bit of a poke in the dark?

The only way to proceed back is to obtain that civil certificate.

There were three other Abraham Benjamins of the right age in London alone to have been Isaiah's father.

Who was living in St. Botolph's in 1841?

Justin

[Gaie]

Hi Jan and Justin

There were at least 72 people with the surname Benjamin living in St Botolph in 1841.

Here are the Abrahams of suitable age:

Abraham BENJAMIN b 1787
HO107 725 3 23 40
9 Fire Ball Court, St Botolph, Aldgate, Middlesex
Abraham BENJAMIN 54 Fruiterer
Aemilia 54
Lewis 13
Moses 11
Benjamin 9
All born in county
Abraham and Amelia are still alive in 1851, Fire Ball Court, occupation: General Dealer (HO107 1524 121 58)

Abraham BENJAMIN b1799
HO107 695 3 8 8
Rosemary Lane, St Botolph Aldgate, Middlesex
Abraham BENJAMIN 42 Grocer
Leah 33
Nancy 17
Betsy 15
Fanny 10
Julia 7
Isaac 3
All born in county
This Abraham is listed in Pigot 1836
Abraham & Leah are still alive in 1851, now in 4 Swallow Gardens, occupation: General Dealer (HO107 1546 335 33)

Abraham BENJAMIN b1801 (all ages rounded down on this page so he could have been born 1796-1801)
HO107 716 12 17 27
Swallow Gardens, St Mary, Whitechapel, Middlesex
Abraham BENJAMIN 40 Pencil Maker
Juliet 30 Parasol Maker
Maria 12
Joseph 16mths
All born in county
Abraham & Juliet are still alive in 1851, still in 17 Swallow Gardens, occupation: Pencil Maker (HO107 1546 338 38)

Abraham BENJAMIN b 1809
HO107 725 5 34 4
Gravel Lane, St Botolph Aldgate, Middlesex
Elizabeth BENJAMIN 73 Ind(ependent)
Abraham 32 Dairyman
Margaret Pugh 16 Servant
All born in county.   
Note: no Sarah in the household.  Possibly they did not marry until after 1841; they do not appear to have had any surviving children.
Abraham & Sarah are on their own in 1851 in 29 Turner St, MEOT Upper, Stepney, Middlesex, occupation: Dairyman (HO107 1552 268 19)


Isaiah is difficult to pin down apart from the 1851 census, PO directory for 1849 (outfitter, 47 Shadwell High Street) and Watkins directory (clothier and oilman, 47 Shadwell High Street).  The only Isaiah Benjamin in 1841 of any age anywhere that I could find is a mistranscription of Isaiah BAMFORD in Belper, Derbyshire.  So either he has been mistranscribed, missed off, not in the country or changed his name    Yes, that's really helpful, isn't it? 

Kind regards
Gaie

[kiwicatz]

Thanks for that Gaie.
Maybe forget these till I find out whether the other Benjamin families that emigrated to Australia at the same time as Isaiah and Elizabeth are connected to them - I'm pretty sure some are, but yet to prove it.
Regards
Jan

[JustinL]

Gaie,

Can you find Isaiah's supposed brother, Elias? He was apparently recorded as a servant in the house of Daniel Barnett and his wife Harriett, in Shadwell High Street, in the 1841 census.

Justin