Russian Jewish immigrants

[suttontrust]

Emmanuel Gurevitch's family were immigrants from Russia (his son thinks Odessa).  From what I can work out Emmanuel and three of his siblings were born in Russia, two were born here (in Leeds and Hull) in 1914 and 1917.  So although Emmanuel, born 1908, gave his place of birth as Leeds, that wasn't the case.  I thought it would be easy enough to find records of Jewish immigrants through Hull c. 1913/4, it isn't.  All the family's own records are lost.  Any suggestions?

[JustinL]

Finding immigration records is generally pretty tricky. If they came from Odessa, it's hard to say how which route they took. Have you tried looking on passenger lists for ships from Hamburg that were bound from to the USA?

I found the following birth registration on the GRO site:

GORAVITCH, CELIA       MARKUS 
GRO Reference: 1907  M Quarter in LEEDS  Volume 09B  Page 414

GOROVITCH, EMMANUEL       MARKIS 
GRO Reference: 1908  S Quarter in LEEDS  Volume 09B  Page 401

GOROVITCH, HERMAN       MARKUS 
GRO Reference: 1910  D Quarter in LEEDS  Volume 09B  Page 269

GUREVITCH, LEAH       MARCUS 
GRO Reference: 1914  M Quarter in LEEDS  Volume 09B  Page 682

GUREVITCH, MAX       MARKOS 
GRO Reference: 1917  S Quarter in HULL  Volume 09D  Page 374

By the looks of it, Emmanuel was indeed born in Leeds.

There is a family tree on ancestry owned by a Paul Gurevitch, which includes these five siblings as well as 3 older siblings (b. Leeds) and a younger sibling (b. Hull). The parents were reportedly Hyman Gurevitch (b. 1876 Russia, d. 18 Oct 1919 Hull) and Martha Betsy Marcus (b. c1888 Riga, d. Sep 1935 Hull). The Jewish surname Marcus indicates a German language influence, which fits with the suggestion that Martha came from Riga.

The family was in Halifax in 1911. Hyman's 28-year-old brother Judah was living with them. Look under Hyman Gurevritch.

It's always worth while checking if there is a realistic family tree on ancestry. This one appears to be one.

[suttontrust]

Justin, that's great.  I don't have a subscription to Ancestry (just took a month's out on FindMyPast) but I'd found bits online this morning to suggest pretty strongly that Hyman and Betsy were Emmanuel's parents.  Neither FindMyPast or FreeBMD turned up the births.  That's progress.  The Paul Gurevitch on Ancestry must be related to my friend Brian, whose tree I'm trying to do.  Thanks again.

[JustinL]

There is also a chap on JewishGen who is researching Gurevitch from Leeds and Riga!! I can message him.

Although Gurovitch (and variant spellings) was common on Odessa, it also crops up in Riga.

[suttontrust]

That would be great!  My friend Brian, Emmanuel's son, has never been interested in his ancestry until yesterday.  The family records, he told me years ago, were kept by his Auntie Rose, and she died before I could get at them.

[JustinL]

Why the sudden interest? Better late than never, but it's a shame that Emmanuel's generation is no longer alive to quiz.

How certain is Brian about Odessa? If he's right, it would suggest that Hyman and Betsy met and married in the UK.

Did you find the 1911 census records on FindMyPast?

[suttontrust]

I think because he's now 70 and his own generation is dying off  Plus I was brought in to do his wife's sister-in-law's tree early this year and managed to clear up some mysteries.  I could never understand why he wasn't interested until now.  I've managed to show that he was very confused about his aunts and uncles.
I can't find a UK marriage for Hyman and Betsy.  I found snippets online (My Heritage pages) which said "Minsk or Odessa"; Brian thought Odessa.  Another source said Riga.  I've asked a friend to look up the 1911 census on Ancestry because I can't find it on FindMyPast.  I'd be interested to know what places of birth were given for the adults, the address and Hyman's occupation.

[[Ray]]

Hi
     
This appears on Freebmd.org . . . . .     

Marriage Sep 1905 Mile End 1c 800
     
GURAVITCH     Hyman     
OJOROWITZ     Hyman    [ suggest that "Oj" is "G", to start with ] 
Schalmann     Becky
 
Schwerdlof     Betsy


R

[suttontrust]

That's interesting, thanks.