Genealogy Chat

The 1881 has her age as 30 - the "tail" of the 9 is not part of the number, but a tick on the page.

Hi Christine, many thanks for your suggestions. I found the Fratag connection in Ancestory.com under the 1881 Census. But this could have been a spelling mistake, as Adelaide to appear to be 11 years older than Henry, and then in 1901 only 2 years older. Henry is listed in the 1881 census as being from Preussen, but Munich and Hannover have always been spoken about in the family as being their origin. At th time of their marriage they were at 9 Mermaid Ct, which we also know to be true. In 1901 they are listed as Frietag, but my mother remembers their son Frederick refusing to use the changed name.

another couple of thoughts... von Seek may well have been "von Sieck" Freitag (=Friday) seems more likey a name that Fratag, except that I just googled it and Fratag seems to be a Danish word/name. Perhaps the male line came from Denmark or the far NW of Germany? Christine

Two comments: 1 There are a couple of fairly recent threads about researching German ancestors. it would be worth you seeing if you can root them out - perhaps with the thread-search. 2 Are you sure tha one from Munich was Prussian? - Munich (Muenchen, where "ue" is the expanded spelling of u-umlaut) is in Bavaria (Bayern) not Prussia (Preussen), which is NE Germany. I'm not saying he wasn't, but he would have to have moved there. Christine

Have you checked FreeBMD? Have you any inkling of the year? If so, you could spend a few quid checking out their deaths on 1837 online.

Three years ago I quit London, Cambridge and the UK to start a new life in the South of France. A month ago I decided to research my family tree. Whereas France is fantastic to live, its not a great help with my research. Why didn’t I start before when I worked in London and had access to everything – lack of time. I am new to all of this, and Geraldine (I know not where or whom) has been amazingly helpful by suppying me with copies of the 1891 and 1901 census, but now I am at complete brick wall on all “branches”. My mother has been the greatest source of information, as she can remember things that were said from the age of 5 (she is now 74). Any ideas or help from anyone would be much appreicated. I am more interested in researching my mothers side, as my cousin’s daughter on my father’s side is also on the GR site, so I hope she will come up with the “others”. My grandfather’s side of the family is the most interesting, as his grandparents “ran away together” to the UK. Adelaide Muller was from Hannover and her father was Baron Von Seek (phonetic spelling, as I am unsure). She fell in love with Henry Fratag (later changed to Freitag) who was Prussian (from Munich). Baron VS was very unhappy as she eloped with someone “beneath her station”. When she ran, she ran with the family bible, and an amethyst necklace. I have one of the stones from the necklace and often wish it could talk! The bible, which I have seen, was a researchers’ dream, as it contained the complete family tree and many letters from Baron VS to his daughter. There were many letters in German written on almost transparent paper. Researchers’ nigtmare occurred when my step grandmother donated it to the dustmen, in a pre-Alzheimers rage and didn’t tell us until several weeks later. Further back I am stuck, so any suggestions welcome. Coming forward Henry and Adelaide (by 1901now Freitag) lived in Peckham, where they had a tailoring business. Later they to 30 Stuart Road, Peckham and had the business next door. One of their daughters (Ada) had married James William Etherington who was my great grandfather. He died in 1910 and in 1915 Ada remarried George Fordham - she later died in 1936. On 1.7.1944 the house in Stuart Road received a direct V1 hit and all that was found of George was one boot. I know Ada is in Camberwell New Cemetery, but am told that Henry and Adelaide (her parents) are in Nunhead Cemetery. I have spoken to Nunhead, but they can not search for them unless I have a date of death. I know their birth year, but if I could find their dates of death, then maybe I could move forward to backward again. Any help or suggestions in any direction would be much appreciated.