Wilhelm Weiss and Gerda Weiss/Whiteley arrived in London 1938, what next?

[colee]

Hello

I'm trying to trace a Gerda Maria Weiss (born Vogel in Vienna) who I found in the 1939 register, she was married to Wilhelm Franz Weiss who was a lawyer born in 1903. I think Wilhelm is a relative from Vienna/Wiener Neustadt, the family was originally from Pápa in Hungary.

Gerda was born in 1918 and came here in 1938, she and Wilhelm were exempted from being interned, the card also says that Wilhelm was serving in the HM Forces at that time. Some of the info on the 1939 register seems to be out of view though.

Gerda Maria Weiss
Gender   Female
Marital Status   Married
Birth Date   27 Oct 1918
Residence Date   1939
Residence Place   Hampstead, London, England
Line Number   3
Sub Schedule Number   11
Enumeration District   Akbb
Borough   Hampstead
Registration district   270 8/1

Any ideas of the best way to try and find either Gerda or Wilhelm, or another brother of his who also came here at the same time, Karl Otto Weiss, born 1874.

Very many thanks for any help it will all be hugely appreciated.
Colee

[Mabel Bagshawe]

You have clearly picked up that she later married (or was renamed?) Whiteley. 1939 also reveals another surname - Craigie

This is her death

Gerda Maria Craigie
Age    73
Birth Date    27 Oct 1918
Registration    Q1 1992     
Kensington and Chelsea Vol 13 p1750

Probate register shows she died 23 December 1991, address Flat 4, 18 Bolton Gardens, SW5

[Mabel Bagshawe]

She's on the electoral register in 1948 as Craigie, with a John.  14 Albemarle Street

There's a newspaper story from 1943 - I only have access to the OCR text which mixes two stories together, but looks like she and a Dr John Thornton were sharing a room rented from Cpt Peter Wright (monocled author barrister of Hampstead) in advance of her divorce proceedings being completed. Her husband was in the Pioneer Corp. Cpt Wright sued them for damage to his carpet - Gerda having been beaten by her lover. She claimed Cpt Wright had made inappropriate advanced to her

Here's her remarriage

John H Craigie
Gerda M Whiteley Or Weiss Or Vogel
Q3 1947
Hampstead Vol 5c p2484

[colee]

Goodness, that's pretty dramatic/harrowing!

Thank you so much for all this info, I wasn't sure about the pencil writing of Craigie on the register. Yes she's on the electoral register with John and it seems they had a son. There is a family on Ancestry so I can try to contact them, wonderful!

I also tried to find Wilhelm and Karl. There is a Wilhelm Weiss-Morawy on the electoral register in the right borough, but it would be odd for him to change his name to Weiss-Morawy. Maybe there'll be some clues in the military records of the Pioneer Corp. Wilhelm was also a lawyer.

[colee]

A WW2 site had this info on Wilhelm:

Wilhelm Franz Weiss there is a different name and number noted at the top, this appears to be an alias he used, an Austrian Jew from Vienna and served in the Pioneer Corps then HAA branch of the Royal Artillery. I believe his brother died in Auschwitz and his mother in Theresienstadt Ghetto.

Wilhelm Weiss . Date of Birth: 07/7/1903 . Place of Birth: Vienna
Name: Wilhelm Weiss . Date of Birth: 07/7/1903 . Place of Birth: Vienna . | The National Archives
Reference: HO 396/100/189
Description:
Name: Wilhelm Weiss. Date of Birth: 07/7/1903. Place of Birth: Vienna.
Date: [1939-1942]
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Closure status: Open Document, Open Description
This file is from the series - Subseries within HO 396 - INTERNEES AT LIBERTY IN UK
FindMyPast has this file available for download

I think this may relate to the same man
Naturalisation Certificate: Wilhelm Weiss. From Austria. Resident in London. Certificate... | The National Archives
Reference: HO 334/316/812
Description:
Naturalisation Certificate: Wilhelm Weiss. From Austria. Resident in London. Certificate BNA812 issued 1 February 1949.
Date: 1949 Feb 1
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Language: English
Closure status: Open Document, Open Description
This being his actual naturalisation file

UK, World War II Alien Internees, 1939-1945
Name: Wilhelm Weiss
Gender: Male
Nationality: German
Birth Date: 7 Jul 1903
Birth Place: Vienna, Austria
48741_b429076-00399.jpg

England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
Name: William Francis Whiteley
Death Age: 74
Birth Date: 7 Jul 1903
Registration Date: Apr 1978
[May 1978]
[Jun 1978]
Registration Quarter: Apr-May-Jun
Registration District: Camden
Inferred County: Greater London
Volume: 14
Page: 1598

[Mabel Bagshawe]

I wonder if it's the same person - from the London  Gazette list of  of 18 March 1949

Weiss, Wilhelm; Austria; Medical Practitioner; 69, Embassy House, West End Lane, London, N.W.6. 9 February, 1949.

There's a Wilhelm Weiss, practitioner, b 11 Nov 1904 in Manchester on the 1939 register


This is our man's naturalization - again from the Gazette

Whiteley, William Francis (formerly Wilhelm Franz Weiss); Austria; Lawyer; 31, Fitzjohns Avenue, London, N.W.3. 1 July, 1946

[mckha489]

Here’s the full article from 1943

https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-share/281544af-19e7-4de0-b16f-94337a45688a

[colee]

That's brilliant thank you! Old newspaper articles are priceless.

Going back to Mabel's question, I'm not sure about the other Wilhelm Weiss as the one I'm looking at was born in 1903 and was a lawyer rather than a medical practitioner, although his father Josef was a medical practitioner in Austria.

The text I copied over from the WW2 site mentioned that William's mother died in Terezin and brother died in Auschwitz. I wonder how that info came to light. The family certainly was originally Jewish but had converted in the 1900s, although of course that didn't protect most people. If Emilie died in a camp, I wonder what happened to Josef Weiss (the doctor).

[Mabel Bagshawe]

William Whiteley seems also to have used the surname Whitley, according to his probate register entry. Address at death 5 Cleve Rd NW6. Left a will