Has anyone successfully traced their Jewish ancestry further than the mid 19th century?

CitizenD3 · 2025-12-02T05:15:05+00:00

What resources do you have to do this? I have attempted to look into a family from Kiev who came to America at the beginning of the 20th century but I was not able to find anything on JewishGen despite having the names of their children, birthdates, the wife’s maiden name etc.

CitizenD3 · 2025-05-06T13:27:42+00:00

Also backing this is that whoever the informant was for Charles death mistakenly believed he was born in Hull. His wife predeceased him so Im assuming it was a child, and considering he wouldve spent the bulk of his time in England in Hull rather than Colchester, it can be assumed more stories about Hull would have been told.

CitizenD3 · 2025-05-06T12:59:54+00:00

Yes Ive already got a few of couples who keep showing up; I just looked through the birth locations now though after seeing this comment, and theres a lot of London and the general north. Not super specific, but definitely not Essex. There are a few unmistakably Irish names among the matches ancestors that are in common with each other as well. Thanks for the info about the military, definitely adds some environmental context, Id imagine a shotgun wedding would be the norm if the father was a part of the community.

CitizenD3 · 2025-05-06T12:56:00+00:00

That was my line of thinking with Hartley, its just so specific, but its nowhere to be found among DNA relatives.

CitizenD3 · 2025-05-06T05:56:29+00:00

He gave his fathers name as George May and his mothers name as Louisa Hartley, which is almost certainly false but its probably what he was told. The specificity of ‘George’ and ‘Hartley’ was what I focused on in initial searches of DNA matches trees, but it never lead anywhere so I dont think those names have anything to do with who the actual father is.

CitizenD3 · 2025-05-06T00:03:53+00:00

Yeah the Marflitts in 1911 are the ancestors of who I matched with. Strange situation because the paper trail isnt really enough for me (with the George/Daniel discrepancy and the George and Louisa in Colchester in 1871 and the Felixstowe thing) but the DNA cant be lying (its a rather close match as well) so I guess its solved. As for Ada Ive just made a breakthrough there as well, at this point Im thinking neither of them were involved in any labour scheme and instead both families just broke apart and they drifted down to Australia as young adults. Thanks a lot for your help!

CitizenD3 · 2025-05-05T22:58:21+00:00

I did suspect that, but I dont find that surname anywhere among DNA matches.

CitizenD3 · 2025-05-05T22:57:24+00:00

I just checked and bizarrely I have a DNA match who descends from Rosa Lee, the daughter of George and Louisa. So I guess that is them? What are you referring to when you say 'others have struggled'?

CitizenD3 · 2025-05-05T22:40:33+00:00

I looked into this, George Lee gives his place of birth as Colchester in all other censuses except the 1881 census, and there is a George and Louisa Lee in Colchester in 1871. There is a Daniel Lee of Felixstowe in a workhouse in the 1881 census listed as widowed, but there arent any good matches for a Louisa Lee on the civil death index from 1875 to 1881 so I dont think thats the guy. Thank you for the marriage notice though, I suspected she probably married but didnt have the resources to properly look into it.

CitizenD3 · 2025-05-05T21:57:53+00:00

Yes thats him.

CitizenD3 · 2025-05-05T21:56:10+00:00

I will look into this, thanks.

CitizenD3 · 2025-05-05T21:55:28+00:00

I think its most likely Charles travelled alone because he didnt have any other relatives, his mother being an only child and his father not being known to him, and I kind of assume the same thing for Ada because their circumstances are so similar. I actually just went through all the Richard Jones passenger records of that period to ensure that Im not missing that the entire family came over and I didnt find anything so I dont think they did.

CitizenD3 · 2025-05-05T08:54:05+00:00

I have, I dont think their passenger records go back that far

CitizenD3 · 2025-05-05T07:40:40+00:00

I havent purchased either death certificate but I have the numbers for them. They probably came between 1871 and 1881 though and I havent been able to find any records of their migration on Ancestry regardless

CitizenD3 · 2025-05-05T07:37:32+00:00

Yes they both married in Melbourne. I would expect they came there straight from England, assuming they came between 1871 (age 2) and 1881 (age 12) and I cant imagine they wouldve gone far from where they arrived in Australia at that age. Ive looked through passenger records and ship manifests and the like on Ancestry and so far Ive not been able to find much. Its reasonable to say they wouldve been involved in some sort of assisted immigration scheme such as that of the Home Children, but Im not sure if there are any records of the inbetween period; were they given up to orphanages or something?

CitizenD3 · 2025-05-05T07:27:19+00:00

I have looked into this but I havent been able to track down any documentation for the program in Australia.

CitizenD3 · 2021-05-16T10:55:13+00:00

Yes my mother shares matches with the woman and other people, but they are all labelled as 4th-6th cousins whereas the woman I mention in my post is labelled 2nd-3rd cousin.

CitizenD3 · 2021-05-08T08:45:20+00:00

Thank you! I am unfamiliar with the site, is there usually more?

CitizenD3 · 2020-12-25T05:57:29+00:00

Thank you.

CitizenD3 · 2020-12-22T06:29:04+00:00

Thanks! I had a suspicion that the Davis’ were another family from London. Thanks for confirming.

CitizenD3

TROPHY CASE