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Profuse apologies
I must apologize about the dublicate post – the GR board was playing up and it kept telling me my post contained angles and curly brackets which it didn’t. The message was that my reply could not be posted. I then missed the second page when I looked the next day. So imagine my surprise when I saw the duplicates.
Many apologies and I am very much listening to your replies. On my initial posting I did not ask for marriage, births,wills etc for Harry or his wife or her family but I should have made it clear that I already had Katherine Rea’s ancestors and all the details about Harry aka Edward’s first marriage and divorce,probate and passenger lists for some of his many journeys and was only looking to find them in 1901 and 1911. I assumed that only the information I asked for help with would be searched for. As I say I am very grateful for the new information I have received especially the 1911 whereabouts of the Day family and also Harry Day and Katherine in 1901. I hadn’t realised he was already using his alias back in 1901 and it was so great to receive a clue as to who Edgar Cox was so thank you so much for that and for solving how Katherine Rea changed to Rea-Cox.
I wasn’t going to bore you with the details of which facts I know to be true and others that I have deduced are right but here goes if it clarifies things:-
Edward Lewis Levy was born in 1880 in San Francisco (I have the newspaper announcement in a SF newspaper and there is another article in the Chicago Tribune Jan 1925 exposing him as an ex-yankee – I have been unable to obtain the full article as yet) and did marry Rebecca Morris in 1899, divorced in 1900 and married Katherine Rea (born in Battersea) in 1901. If he was not an American as all the articles about him say why would he need to be naturalised in 1925? But yes I did think it strange that if Edward/Harry's father was English back four generation that he was not already a British Subject even if born in the US’. But he may have lost his status if his father became a US citizen and he had US nationality also. Dual nationality was not allowed.
under the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914
British subject status is normally lost by:
• naturalisation in a foreign state, such as the United States of America or France
• in the case of a woman, upon marriage to a foreign man. Prior to 1933, British subject status was lost even if the woman did not acquire her husband's nationality.
• a child of a father who lost British subject status, provided the child also had the father's new nationality.
• renunciation.
I only received the information about David John Levy’s burial on Thursday so that is why I did not give that information before. It came from 2 different sources – a descendent of Harry Day who found reference to his grave in New Light cemetery in llinois in some family papers. I found the burial record online for 1905. Also Houdini’s wife (Harry Day was his friend and manager in the UK) writes about Houdini visiting Harry Day’s father’s grave in her book He found it in a very bad state so as he was alive in 1901 (Harry Day’s second marriage certificate) and Houdini died in 1926 I assumed David Levy died some years before. Added to that his middle name of John seems to me to add weight to this being the correct grave and the article in the Chicago Tribune suggests a link to Chicago.
Yes the Amelia as Levy’s wife came from the 1891 census. It could be another family but I assumed, maybe incorrectly that the chances of another David Levy being born in Whitechapel and having a son Edward born in America with the right birthday were pretty slim. If Harry Day’s claims that his ancestors through at least 4 generations were British were not true I would have thought this would have been exposed when he was investigated by the newspapers and for naturalisation.
I hope this clarifies the mix-up and I truly am listening and am grateful for your help but I am only looking for information on Harry Day’s parents now.
Ingrid
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It's an interesting tale which is why I've spent quite a lot of time puddling with it. (My gr-grfather and his sister, and then his sister's husband, put considerable effort into changing their own names and identities, and their secrets were known to no one for 125 years, until the internet and I came along and followed the trails around England, Canada, Australia, South Africa and the US -- and I'm still working on it! )
"Edward Lewis Levy was born in 1880 in San Francisco (I have the newspaper announcement in a SF newspaper and there is another article in the Chicago Tribune Jan 1925 exposing him as an ex-yankee – I have been unable to obtain the full article as yet) and did marry Rebecca Morris in 1899, divorced in 1900 and married Katherine Rea (born in Battersea) in 1901. If he was not an American as all the articles about him say why would he need to be naturalised in 1925?"
That makes sense now. Applying for naturalization *after* becoming an MP didn't. US citizens aren't eligible to sit in the House of Commons. But if he'd masqueraded as British, then it makes sense.
It also provides confirmation of his birth - that's a birth announcement?
But it leaves the inconsistency about the generations of Englishness -- that was surely patently false, and a cover-up of his Yankeeness. So looking for his parents in English records seems to me to be a waste of time. Unless the scenario of English parents becoming US citizens and then returning to England were what had happened.
As I said, though, if the David Levy in 1891 is the the same person in 1911 in England, that contradicts a 1905 death in the US.
If David Levy was present in England in 1891 it hardly seems likely he had taken out US citizenship -- necessitating naturalization of his son. But it's one of those things that an expert, under cross-examination, would have to agree was "possible". ;)
New Light Cemetery
Address:
6807 N East Prairie Rd
Lincolnwood, IL 60712
(847) 676-1122
Somebody needs to get a photo/transcript of the gravestone, hoping that it gives a date of birth! Or ask the cemetery whether it has any records relating to the burial.
And just a request/tip -- when you post, could you hit that Enter button a couple of times now and then?
Giant run-on paragraphs full of info are extremely hard to follow. Short paragraphs with different parts separated by some white space are much easier.
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Wow,
Just found David and Amelia Levy on a passenger list from Liverpool to Boston in Feb 1905. They are on the Aliens list and have English nationality. The onward address is Clark Street Chicago which is where the burial record for David says he died.
Ingrid
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Nice one Ingrid,I wonder if they were here in 1901.
Regarding the birth of Edward in SF 1880 were there no other clues about his parents in the newspaper announcement.
The New Light Cemetary for Jewish People.E.Mail [email protected]
Maryb
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Hi Mary,
Yes I was pleased to find David and Amelia. The passenger list is not too clear but does say that they had visited US before but I can't read the date. I am now looking at the US census for 1900 but haven't found any sure matches yet and then I'll have another look at the 1901 census for them. Is there some way of searching it by address to see who was living in 409 Caledonian Road where they were living in 1891? There might be a connection.
No frustratingly the only newspaper announcement just said son of David Levy. I might try emailing the New Light Cemetery to see if they have any more information.
Thanks again
Ingrid
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omg, Ingrid -- I cannot believe that you have had Jacqueline doing the whole Edward Levy thing in her "lookup" thread, *after* this thread. I absolutely cannot believe it.
http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards.page/board/ancestors/lost%20ancestors/thread/1188027?page=27
http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards.page/board/ancestors/thread/1265070
and now I see yet another one about the same people.
http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards.page/board/ancestors/thread/1267040
Lucky Jacqueline. So much for what it says in her first post in her thread:
"please do not ask me and also place other messages on boards as it is not fair to anyone with us all researching the same thing, thank you"
Are there no rules at this site? No consideration?
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