Frederic Ritter Post(e)

[Tabbicat26]

Please can anyone help trace the birth of my grandfather, Frederic Ritter Post(e)?  He claimed to have been born in Alsace Lorraine in 1863/1865 where he lived in the street where Joan of Arc was born.  In 1870/71 the family moved to Quebec subsequent on the Franco-Prussian war.  His brother Joseph married Margarethe Brenner in New York 30/7/1903 when he gave his parents names as Frederic
Post and Catherine Ritter.  Family legend has it that there were also 2 daughters, Katrina and Sofia, who became nuns and possibly another brother, name never mentioned. On his marriage certificate Grandfather stated that his father was "M.D. army" but no indication as to army of which country!

[andrewalston]

There's a marriage in St. Columb district, Cornwall in Q1 of 1893 of Fred Ritter Post and Mary Elizabeth Hambly.

Ancestry show it as 15/01/1893 at Padstow. Fred's age as 29, which fits, father Fred Post. Mary's age 19, father John Thomas Hambley.

[CaroleW]

On his marriage certificate

What was Frederic Ritter Post's occupation on that marriage cert?

Did Frederic and Mary remain in England or emigrate?

[andrewalston]

The 1891 census shows Fred Post in Padstow as a boarder with Loveday Salmon, a grocer at "Institute", which appears to be in the Market Square area. RG12/1818 folio 20 page 4.

He is 27, a seaman, and from Germany, which unfortunately was something of a catch-all at the time.
Padstow was (and I believe still is) a fishing port.

[CaroleW]

Alsace Lorraine was ceded by France to Germany in 1871 after the Franco-German War so he may have used Germany rather than France as his birthplace.

His mother Catherine Ritter was born in Germany as per Family Search


Catherine Ritter
mentioned in the record of Joseph Post
Name    Catherine Ritter
birth_place   Germany
gender   Female
Husband    Friedrich
Son    Joseph Post

Joseph's marriage to Margarette Breuner also on FS shows his birthplace as Germany 1865

[CaroleW]

Joseph died on 2.4.1910 and his father is shown as also born in Germany

[andrewalston]

Alsace & Lorraine have a troubled history of their nationality. Some years ago a met a family in a small village there. "Grandmère" had been born German, become French, then German, and was then French.

She had lived in the same house all her life.

One day a week, all that village spoke German to each other - after all it might come in handy some time.

[Tabbicat26]

Thank you all for these replies but I already have all of this information.  Frederic and Mary nee Hambly weren't together for long as Mary died approximately nine months after their marriage - no sign of a child being born dead or alive, cause of death erateric fever.  According to Royal College of Physicians this is probably a mis-spelling of erratic fever, i.e. a fever which does not follow a known pattern.  Frederic married Sarah Jane Harvey (nee Oldham) in Liverpool in 1895 and settled in her home town of Padstow but subsequently moved to London via Eastleigh in Hampshire.  Frederic came ashore and helped Marconi with the early radio experiments and became one of the first employees of the Marconi company, travelling all over the world erecting masts for the transmission of rubber prices.  He stayed in lodgings in Chelmsford during the week, going home to his family in Southwark at weekends  Grandfather was never naturalised so when the 39/45 war started he was forced to leave the high security zone of Chelmsford and came to live with his daughters in London.  Thanks for trying to help