Germany: KNELLER

[Histres]

Hello,

Doing research on German pork butchers in Britain, I looked into my lists of emigrants and found a Gottlob Kneller, born 1841 in Untermassholderbach, district Oehringen-Künzelsau. He became pork butcher in London and was married to Katharina, née Seitz.

Referring to the question: "Was a pork butcher a common German trade?" I would say, it was not more common in Germany than elsewhere or than any other trade. But as they were specialists in pork butchering, they were cornering the market in those fast-growing industrial towns in Britain in the middle of the 19th century, where there was a need for basic, cheap and ready-made food. For more information on that topic see the following link: http://www.surrey.ac.uk/Arts/CRONEM/CRONEM-papers09/Wuestner.pdf

Kind regards
Histres

[kneller1980]

Thank you so much for your reply, i must say the piece you referred me to is amazing and shone a light on what really happened. thanks so much for sharing it with me

I must also hunt out Sue Gibbons' book now, i'd had a little break from this branch of tree as i again hit a brick wall with it-but you have set me on another path with it.

again thank you

[kneller1980]

i have had a reply frm D. Cook in Canada...it would appear we are definately related, her grandmother was my Ottos sister.

She told me that apparently he did go to Canada(Toronto) from Germany aged 15 and hated it...then went on to Chicago in the US and hated it there also and ended up in London with Emma (d.cooks grandmother) and from there he travelled around the uk.

So one mystery over...slightly

Now on to the Heerleins and Knellers further back!

[Histres]

Hello Claire,

When going through the censuses and the BT phonebooks I realized that there are amazingly many Kneller families listed. I always thought that Kneller was just a German name. The striking number of them, however, makes me suspicious and I wonder whether it is also a common English name. Or do all the Knellers descend from German immigrants?

Best regards
Histres

[Berlin-Bob]

My uncle's father married a Caldecott and a family story says that a Caldecott portrait,
painted by Sir Godfrey KNELLER (1646 - 1723) was stolen in New York in the 1950's.

Godfrey Kneller was born Gottfried Kniller in Lübeck, Germany
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfrey_Kneller

It doesn't say anything in the wiki article about any children,
nor (as far as I can make out, in this dutch article )
http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/houb005groo01_01/houb005groo01_01_0391.htm
but  if he did have any male children, then there were KNELLER familes in Britain from the 17th century onwards

Bob


ps. more searching:  he did marry, but still no mention of children:

When Sir Godfrey died he left about 800 pictures in Kneller Hall which were sold by his widow. She continued to live at Kneller Hall until 1729.

http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=62

update:
Gosh, there must be millions of 'em !

An elder brother, John Zachary Kneller, an ornamental painter, had accompanied Godfrey to England, and had died in 1702.

http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Sir_Godfrey_Kneller
and
http://www.answers.com/topic/godfrey-kneller

[Histres]

Hi Berlin-Bob,

Thank you so much for your detailed information. The links you sent me are very interesting, informative and they give a good imagination of how many Knellers there must be around all over Britain. I realize that you must have invested a good deal of time to collect all those connections. Thanks again for that. In addition I now understand your special interest in the Kneller family topics and their family trees much better.
Regards
Histres

[Berlin-Bob]

Hi Histres,

now and again someone posts a name or topic here which catches the imagination.

In this case because I had heard the name before, I got interested.  the links from my previous post came from a search engine; I just entered sir godfrey kneller

Gruß aus Berlin,
Bob

[lydia_amelia]

hi im lydia-amelia my nan is ruby kneller her dad is otto kneller (albert) he was married to edna may smith. ottos dad was called albert kneller and his sister was eliza kneller he had a brother called fredrick kneller were not sure of alberts wifes first name but we know her last name was gunter. otto lived at half penny green(bobbington) with his  family then later on went back to germany leaving granny gunter who remarried a man whos last name was bright in disledorf germany one of the ottos were given the key to the city thre is family history in disledorf.
otto and edna may smith married and edna  became edna may kneller and had nine children: otto (first born), stanley(second born),eileen(third born), geoffrey (who went to australia), wilfred, ruby (my gran), olga, thomas, and denis.   and thats all we know i realy hope that this information has helped you.
                                                                              lydia-amelia.

[lydia_amelia]

we have just found out quite a lot about sir godfrey :Sir Godfrey Kneller (real name Gottfried Kniller) was an Anglo-German artist. He was born in 1646 at Lubeck and died in 1723. He studied in Amsterdam under Ferdinand Bol and received some lessons from Rembrandt. He visited Rome, Venice, and Hamburg, and gained a good reputation for historical paintings as well as portraits. He settled in England in 1684 following the death of his father, and succeeded Sir Peter Lely as court painter to Charles II. He filled the same position under James II, William III., Anne and George I. George I made him a baronet. In addition to all the celebrities of the English court, including the Ten Beauties of the court of William, now at Hampton Court, he painted the 43 members of the Kit-Cat Club, and portraits of ten sovereigns, including Louis XIV. and Peter the Great. He was highly praised by Dryden, Pope, Addison, and Steele, but his works have more value historically than as works of art., Kneller was the greatest master of the English baroque portrait. As Court painter to four sovereigns, he dominated English art for more than thirty years.

Born in Lübeck, Germany, Kneller trained as a painter in Amsterdam under Rembrandt’s pupil, Bol. He visited Rome and Venice probably painting portraits of Venetian nobility before coming to England in about 1676. He was appointed Principal Painter to the Court of William and Mary in 1688. He was knighted in 1692 and made a Baronet in 1715, the first painter to be so honoured.

Kneller acquired a property in Whitton then known as Whitton Hall which he adapted or rebuilt between 1709 and 1711. It has come to be called Kneller Hall.

Kneller Hall was large with a studio where he and a number of assistants worked. His commissions were many and his output prolific. As a member of the Kit-cat Club pledged to support the Protestant succession to the throne, Kneller painted an intriguing set of portraits - the Kit-cat Club portraits, some of which can be seen in the National Portrait Gallery.

 some of his paintings are being sold for over £6,00,000 - £8,00,000     

                                                   lydia-amelia