Theodora Ward, given away as a baby

[IgorStrav]

And just to say, that if we are on the right track, here, Rostock in Germany was the target of extensive bombing attacks by the Allies, and the birth and death of these twin babies would have occurred right in the middle of the worst bombing.

[IgorStrav]

Theodora Bornemann
Gender:   weiblich (Female)
Date:   1960
Address:   Friedrich- von-Spee-Straße 19
Place:   Paderborn, Deutschland (Germany)
Occupation:   Verw.-Ang.

Theodora was in Paderborn, near Rostock, in 1960 it appears

Added:  there's a Heinrich Bornemann, a carpenter, possibly Theodora's husband, also in Paderborn but not at the same address.

Berlin Bob, on another thread, has translated Theodora's occupation in 1960 as:

Verwaltungsangestellte => administration employee, administration secretary

[heddwch]

Igor
Many thanks so the adults  remained alive  Yes?

Heddwch

[IgorStrav]

Thought it might be helpful to summarise:

Theodora Ward, born 10/10/1910 (precise date from baptism) to Minnie Davies Ward and James Ward in Pontypridd, Glamorganshire. Wales.

Theodora is shown in the 1911 with her parents and siblings, some lodgers and 'visitors' William and Alma Breseman born Hamburg, Germany.

Family history is that Theodora was 'given away' to this German couple, who say they'd been married for 6 years in 1911 (ie c 1906) and had two children, both of whom died.

There is a record in 1901 on the Belgium Antwerp Immigration Index for
Wilhelm Breseman showing birth 1880 (which matches 1911) and birthplace of Altona, which is a suburb of Hamburg.
Further details are given of this man:
Wilhelm Carl Heinrich Bresemann, 'husband of Alma Augusta Bergsteth' which also seems to match the wife shown in the 1911.

Heddwch then found the following marriage for the couple, matching the Antwerp index and the 1911 Census details
Name:   Alma Auguste Emilie Bargstedt
Gender:   weiblich (Female)
Age:   27
Birth Date:   22 Jun 1879
Marriage Date:   3 Nov 1906
Marriage Place:   Hamburg
Civil Registration Office:   Hamburg 01
Spouse:   Wilhelm Carl Heinrich Bresemann
Certificate Number:   1030
Reference Number:   332-5_3063

Heddwch also found a death for Alma in 1917 when Theodora would have been 7 (actually the day before her 7th birthday)
Name:   Alma Emilie Auguste Bresemann
[Alma Emilie Auguste Bargstedt]
Age:   38
Birth Date:   22 Jun 1879
Death Date:   9 Okt 1917 (9 Oct 1917)
Death Place:   Hamburg, Hamburg, Deutschland (Germany)
Civil Registration Office:   Hamburg 21a
Certificate Number:   1827
Reference Number:   332-5_6963

I had found, however, that Wilhelm and Alma appear to have split up previously, as Wilhelm had married again in 1914 to a widow, who turned out to be Alma's younger sister.

Wilhelm Carl Heinrich Bresemann
Gender:  (Male)
Age:   34
Birth Date:   25 Okt 1880 (25 Oct 1880)
Marriage Date:   28 Nov 1914
Place:   Hamburg, Hamburg, Deutschland (Germany)
Civil Registration Office:   Hamburg 02a
Spouse:   Maria Charlotte Auguste Hackmack
Certificate Number:   919
Reference Number:   332-5_3248

Maria Charlotte had had a daughter with her first husband, in 1901, Margarethe Sophie Hackmack.

So it appears that Theodora had a new stepmother in 1914, when she was 4, and an older half sister, aged 13 at the time.

Heddwych then found Wilhelm's death in 1928, when Theodora would have been 18:

me:   Wilhelm Carl Heinrich Bresemann
Age:   47
Birth Date:   25 Okt 1880 (25 Oct 1880)
Death Date:   30 Jul 1928
Death Place:   Hamburg, Hamburg, Deutschland (Germany)
Civil Registration Office:   Hamburg 21b
Certificate Number:   985
Reference Number:   332-5_7090

The next details to be found by Heddwych and me were the births and deaths of twin boys to a Theodora Bresemann Bornemann in 1940 in Rostock, which is a port city close to Hamburg.

Name:   Theodora
[Theodora Bresemann]
Civil Registration Office:   Rostock
Spouse:   Heinrich Edgar Oskar Bornemann
Child:   Uwe Bornemann
Certificate Number:   1692
Volume:   1940.4
Archive Sequence Number:   Sterberegister Rostock C 195
Collection Number:   2.1.26.

The above details are for Uwe, and his twin was Alfried.
Both were born on 1st July 1940, Uwe died on 6th September and Alfried on 12th September.

At the time Rostock was a particular target for heavy Allied bombing during WWII


Theodora is then seen (possibly) in 1960 in Paderborn, Germany.  The reason for doubt is that Paderborn is not particularly close to either Rostock or Hamburg (463km from Rostock), and is closer to Dortmund (100km).

Theodora Bornemann
Gender:   weiblich (Female)
Date:   1960
Address:   Friedrich- von-Spee-Straße 19
Place:   Paderborn, Deutschland (Germany)
Occupation:   Verw.-Ang.

Her occupation means
Verwaltungsangestellte => administration employee, administration secretary

There is a Heinrich Bornemann in Paderborn, a carpenter, but not at the same address.


Not as yet found:
details of divorce for Wilhelm Breseman
details of death of his second wife Maria Charlotte
details of marriage of Theodora Breseman and Heinrich Edgar Oskar Bornemann
details of any other children to Theodora and Heinrich
details of any other marriages to either of them
details of more recent address for Theodora.

I have found a further reference to Heinrich Bornemann in Paderborn in 1965, and it appears that his wife is Doris, not Theodora.  I haven't found another marriage for him - although in typing this I suppose Doris could be an alternative name for Theodora.

I am going to attach a link to this thread to the Europe board, to ask whether anyone with more expertise in German research can come up with suggestions regarding how to take this further.

Fascinating bit of research for me, as I'm not used to Germany (my foreign relatives are from Belgium and South Holland) and hope it has been interesting for Hollyrobs to whom I should have said much earlier "welcome to Rootschat!"

[IgorStrav]

Igor
Many thanks so the adults  remained alive  Yes?

Heddwch

Sorry Heddwch - crossed posts! 

I hope the adults did survive the bombing - it must have been heartbreaking to lose one of the babies and then the other a week later.

It's tempting to hope it is them in Paderborn, quite a long way away - but 20 years later in which time both could have got new jobs etc.

As noted in my last post, I thought I'd put a link to the German board, just to see if anyone there could suggest any other things - I've built Hollyrobs a bit of an Ancestry Tree whilst researching this, and seem to have come to the end of my own expertise. 

[IgorStrav]

https://www.rootschat.com/links/01pwo/

Above is the link to the Europe board, just in case of help from experts there

[hollyrobs]

I never expected such a wonderful response and I would could never have found out all this by myself....so thank you both so much for your 'investigations'.  I wonder if Theodora ever knew about her biological parents?

[hollyrobs]

oops sorry , that's come out rather large!  But I came across a photo of her 

[heddwch]

So very interesting have done many family trees and researches for various local history books  but was amazed what you can now find online
We are in lockdown in Wales so do all stay safe

Heddwch