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Europe / Belgian Refugees to England WW1
« on: Tuesday 24 January 23 16:11 GMT (UK) »
Hi all - I have been researching for some time now my Belgian ancestors (Great Grandad). Alfons Liessens who lived on Schoolstrasse in Temse with his family, prior to WW1.
I know he had brothers who fought and died in Belgium, but I believe my GG left Belgium as a war refugee (Temse bridge was a key tactical landmark in the early days of war during the Siege of Antwerp). He eventually married my Great Grandmother, a war widow, in 1919 and lived the rest of his life in Newcastle and Northumberland.
It is the gap between him leaving Belgium and coming to England that I am trying to fill.
The first indication of his whereabouts in England is a correspondence with a wartime newspaper called "Onze Temschaars", in 1918, in which he listed his address as Saltwell Road, Bensham.
His marriage certificate then has him living at Janet Street in Byker in 1919, before moving in with his new family at St Lawrences Square in Byker.
The family and my grandmother eventually moved to Sunnyside in Cramlington, Northumberland where Alfons lived until his death, in 1939. So I have a gap of 4 years from 1914.
I have done a bit of research on Elisabethville in Birtley, but cannot find lists of residents who were there and I am aware there was an aircraft testing area where Belgians were employed on Newcastle Town Moor - part of me believes he may have been at one, both or either of these places at some point - especially given Benshams proximity to Birtley.
If anyone could help me fill in the blank, it would be much appreciated!
I know he had brothers who fought and died in Belgium, but I believe my GG left Belgium as a war refugee (Temse bridge was a key tactical landmark in the early days of war during the Siege of Antwerp). He eventually married my Great Grandmother, a war widow, in 1919 and lived the rest of his life in Newcastle and Northumberland.
It is the gap between him leaving Belgium and coming to England that I am trying to fill.
The first indication of his whereabouts in England is a correspondence with a wartime newspaper called "Onze Temschaars", in 1918, in which he listed his address as Saltwell Road, Bensham.
His marriage certificate then has him living at Janet Street in Byker in 1919, before moving in with his new family at St Lawrences Square in Byker.
The family and my grandmother eventually moved to Sunnyside in Cramlington, Northumberland where Alfons lived until his death, in 1939. So I have a gap of 4 years from 1914.
I have done a bit of research on Elisabethville in Birtley, but cannot find lists of residents who were there and I am aware there was an aircraft testing area where Belgians were employed on Newcastle Town Moor - part of me believes he may have been at one, both or either of these places at some point - especially given Benshams proximity to Birtley.
If anyone could help me fill in the blank, it would be much appreciated!
