Genealogy Chat

Can anyone help? My grandmother was born in 1888 to a German father and English mother. In the 1911 the family are described as holding German nationality. I know that the whole family changed their names during the first world war, but never took steps to do so legally. Would they in fact have been considered German in 1911, or would their birthplace and that of the English have made them British? I haven't been able to find a UK marriage record for the parents, so it is possible that they were married in Germany.

Thanks in advance!

Steve

Have you found them on any earlier census.Or the birth in 1888 as this should be reg if born in England. I have German paternal ancestors and they were happy to report that they were German/ I think when WW1 came then if they hadnt taken Naturalisation then they would either have been interred as alien or they would have left the UK.
My grandad.one of the sons did in fact Anglicise his name and married in that name in 1904. His family never made any ref to the German side But HE wasn,t on the 1911 census as he was at Sea in the British Merchant Navy and did in fact die in July 1911.!
Grandads elder brother also anglicised his name but he married a German girl in 1904 in SE London . They are shown on the 1911 under the "new "surname but the wife is indicated still as German nationality
Have you looked on the National Archives for them

I think they would all have been German. I think it didn't matter what the mother's nationality was, just the father's - a situation that still held in the early 1970s. The mother was probably still British, I would guess.

All that was necessary to change your name legally, was that you stop using your old name and start using your new name - there was an extra condition, namely that this shouldn't be done for any fraudulent purpose, but that wouldn't seem to be a worry here. As a practical matter, one might put an ad in the local paper - this would smooth any bother about getting tradesmen's tickets and other qualifications being recognized in their new name.

My Great Grandmother was born in England in 1892 to 2 German parents who never became British Nationals and never anglicised the family name. She had 5 brothers also born in England all of whom joined the British army. One died in Rangoon in 1904 and 3 of the remaining 4 were killed in action in WW1. I have the army records for one of them and he is described in there as a British Subject.

During WW1 their father was interned as an enemy alien (their mother had died) but was released when the authorities became aware that he had 4 sons fighting on our side! There seem to have been different categories of risk attached to aliens and some of them (including, I think, my GG Grandfather) were under house arrest rather than imprisoned or sent home.

On the 1911 census the children are recorded as English, but the form only requires the column to be filled in for persons 'born in a foreign country' - which suggests to me that people born here are counted as British

Tina

Thanks everyone for responding so quickly!

I know that the family had problems when war broke out in 1914: my grandmother had already aquired an English name by marrying, but her mother, brother and sister all changed their surname (to the mother's maiden name) and all three children changed their first names as well. I know that none of them took any official action, as it held up the winding up of the estate when my great-uncle died. And my grandmother (originally called Gretchen!) was the most anti-German person I ever met - you weren't allowed to mention her German ancestry in her presence.

Regards, Steve