Germany: wagner came from germany to uk

[pixiechick]

Thanks for the information Sue I will start searching for wills etc.
Yes if you could let me have the details of the historian in WS Mare I would be grateful although I would like to see how far I can get first and then call on him to fill in the blanks.
Many thanks again

[pixiechick]

Found Christopher Wagner's Arrival Certificates:  He arrived with his group on 30th April, 1842 at Dover via Belgium. Native of Germany.  The 1840 one is the same with the arrival date being 1st May. There is no mention of the ship's name or the port in Belgium.

Does anyone know where I go from here???

[jorose]

The most likely port of departure would be Antwerp; unfortunately I don't know that there are records back that early.

If you have a list of all the people who arrived with him, you could see if any of them became citizens, thus getting an idea of where they came from. Or if there's unusual

http://www.felixarchief.be/ - has some documents indexed supposedly something to do with registers of aliens but they seem to start at 1840. Not sure if these would involve those just passing through or those who settled down in Antwerp but there are some Wagners, if not your Christopher.

1861 census: 7 New Westgate Bldgs, Bath
Christopher Wagner, 40, musician, b. Germany Naturalised Subject
Emma, 36, dealer in old shoes, b. Bath
Christopher, 15
William, 8
Catherine, 11
Sarah, 5
(all b. Bath)
Elizabeth Calpen, wife's mother, formerly clothes dealer, b. Bath

Emma died in 1862.

[pixiechick]

Jorose, I clicked on the link you provided but as I cannot read or speak German I was stuck!
The Christopher you listed is him,  his first wife was Emma then he remarried Mary Emlen Edwards and moved to Weston super Mare as listed in other posts.
On his marriage cert his father was Frederick Wagner a Farmer.
I will try and find the people he was with as you suggest in the hope it will lead somewhere
Many thanks

[jorose]

Well, German would only help a little - it's in dutch. Google Translate should get you most of the way there, though.

Zoeken in archieven  = search the archives.

http://www.felixarchief.be/Unrestricted/Zoeken_isad.aspx
Zoeken in index vreemdelingendossiers (district Antwerpen, 1840-1930)
 = search the index of immigration registers (for the district of Antwerp)

[pixiechick]

Many thanks for the information. 
I found some Wagners but unfortunately not the ones I was looking for. They seemed to have french names so I don't think it was his family.

[pixiechick]

Still hitting brick walls!

Long shot but does anyone know if there are records of passports issued as they must have had to have one to board the ship to cross the channel

I've looked at  german family record sites and still no trace of the family of Christoph Wagner but then I have not much to go on just that his father was a farmer and his name was Frederick or it states Christoph on his second marriage certificate!

[Sue15]

Dear Pixiechick
Passports are really something of the late 19th and 20th century. I cannot think one was necessary back in the 1840's. Germany was not a unified country until 1871 so I think this is not a likely path of research.

Have you tried to find if there is a grave for the Wagners in Weston Super Mare? You may find additional information on a MI - I have not got the disc yet from Weston FHS - once it arrives I can look it up but it maybe worth contacting
Weston Town Council to see if they have a record of a grave.
Gravestones can contain surprising information

Names were anglecised in many cases or changes completely. I cannot find a naturalisation record on the National Archives website for a Christopher Wagner however this is one for Fredrich Wagner from Wurtemburg .

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=7&CATID=-2201556&j=1

Wagner is quite a common German name and just looking through the Naturalisations listed for Germany - the localities mentioned are spread throughout the country. I am sorry to say without central registration here - its a needle in a haystack.

You could try IGI search

http://www.familysearch.org/
The variants of the name Wagner are covered but there are a lot of potentials


Have you tried looking for a will - sometimes these can have interesting facts.

I am sorry I cannot be more positive. Have you approached Weston Super Mare library to see if they have any information on him?

Fingers crossed for you
Sue

[pixiechick]

Hi Sue
Not sure if I mentioned that the local historian you put me in contact with wrote back and was able to provide me with a little bit extra about Christoph and his family and so I haven't contacted the Library as I am sure he would have found everything there was to find.
He unfortuanely couldn't help with the German link.  So now I am trying Bristol as I am pretty sure he is on the 1841 census.