Still searching for g.grandfather's origins. He was probably Jewish.

[Josephine]

LizzieW,

If I'm reading correctly, the theory is that your great-grandfather was Jewish. Do you know if your great-grandmother was also Jewish?

Do you have their death records, with the dates and locations of their deaths? If yes, have you been able to find out where they were buried and what records (if any) are held by the cemetery? Have you found obits for them?

You mentioned that he had a large tobacconist/confectioners shop. Have you checked the online newspapers for any mentions of him in relation to the store (thefts, etc.)? It was not uncommon back then for newspaper items to mention if someone was Jewish.

Newspaper notices might also be helpful if he was named in someone else's obit, etc.

Have you checked wills for people with his known and suspected surnames in case he was named?

Good luck with your search!

Regards,
Josephine

[ThrelfallYorky]

I think ( I could be wrong) but it's generally considered that if your mother was Jewish, then you are, but if it was only your father, then not really. I suppose that's really a realistic, pragmatic issue - mothers are almost always known, fathers less certain.... so descent maternally is more certain. Very sensible.

[Creasegirl]

You could be right about da costa being a sephardi name from Spain or Portugal.  Have you seen the who do you think you are wth June brown from east enders..  Her sephardi family came to England via Spain  then Amsterdam in early 1700s and she got a lot of info there including a sephardi graveyard and general records in Amsterdam.

[LizzieW]

My g.gran wasn't Jewish and both my g.grandfather and g.grandmother were buried in a cemetery in Hull which is now, apparently, under a main road.  My DNA shows Ashkenazi Jewish genes.  I'm not suggesting I'm Jewish in the sense of being a practising Jew, just that it's in my DNA.  My g.grandfather wasn't a practising Jew either and, ironically, my gran was a Spiritualist perhaps she was trying to contact her gran!

The only will I have in this search  is my g.grandfather's and that was of no help whatsoever.

[Annette7]

Looking at a tree on Ancestry is your George William Wright the man who served in the Royal Navy from 1878 until 1888?

I don't think so.  Is there any information about where this man was born?

All I know is that he was a fisherman and in 1888 was on a ship called Gratitude sailing out of Hull and in 1890 was part owner of one called Pioneer whose register closed in 1893.  I have a half 2nd cousin once removed (descended from the youngest daughter of my g.gran by her 1st marriage!) whose grandfather worked with my gran's brother in Hull and so they knew him and knew he'd been a fisherman before opening the shop on Hessle Road.  There is a query about where he got the money from to open a large shop as his wife was a washerwoman and he was a fisherman. There is a suggestion from my half 2nd cousin's family that he owned/part owned a ship that was wrecked and he got compensation money.  When he died in 1935 his assets only amounted to £100.  The half 2nd cousin's family have said that he was a very generous man and that as the ship was near the fish docks he used to give cigarettes and tobacco for next to nothing or free, to his mates.  I don't know what happened to the shop, we did find out purely by chance that an Indian family had bought it in the 1960s, but what happened between 1935 and 1960ish I have no idea.  There is nothing in his will apart from he left all his assets to his youngest son to be dealt with as he thought fit or words to that effect.

Yes, I know it is only one census which states Bethnal Green, but as he completed that form I guess he decided to put the exact place rather than just London or Middlesex.  I'm waiting for the 1921 census to see if there is any more info on there.

George William Wright in the Royal Navy is shown as born 19th January 1860 in Shoreditch on the RN record.

Annette

[LizzieW]

Many years ago I was in contact with an indirect ancestor of a George William Wright in London.  I had bought 2 certificates for babies with the same name, born same quarter, same place but 1 year apart.  It turns out the first baby had died not long before the 2nd one was born so he was given the same name.  I think the man in the Royal Navy is the 2nd baby.  I sent both birth certificates to the ancestor.  I remember the mother's name was Priscilla Galliers the one that people on Ancestry seem to think is my ancestor but whom by DNA testing we know is not.

[Annie65115]

I am not Jewish but my understanding is that Jews whose origins were in the Iberian peninsula were, by definition, Sephardis. But you say you have Ashkenazi DNA?

There were a lot of Sephardi in the Balkans, Greece and Turkey (the Ottoman empire was happy to take them in when they were evicted from Spain and Portugal and of course they simply had to sail along the med.to get there). Those in Europe suffered through the Holocaust just as the Ashkenazi did. Those in Turkey tend to have had different life stories.

I think that Sephardis tended to use different synagogues and stay in different communities from the ashkenazis -- at least where there were enough of them to be able to form their own community. They spoke Ladino, rather than Hebrew.

(Apologies if any of the above is wrong -- I have a close friend with a relevant background, and that piqued my interest to learn more).

Anyway, what I'm saying through all that is, that knowing where to search for your ancestors -- either abroad, or through any links in the UK - will be easier if you can feel fairly sure which branch of judaism you're looking for.

[LizzieW]

I am in contact with 4 people with whom I share DNA and, interestingly, they are all descended from the same man, who was born in the Netherlands.
All I need to do now is to find the person who is my g.grandfather's mother, father or even both parents.  Whether these people are Ashkenazi or Sephardic I have no idea, I don't suppose it matters. 

[barryd]

I agree. Portugal and Spain could be likely contenders.

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4686-costa-da-pedigree