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Introduction: June Troy wrote the extensive family history below after a number of years of research. It was completed in 1996-97 and a copy donated to the library of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain, together with June's card index and other research papers. June has given me permission to make this material available on the Internet so it can be of use to a wider group of researchers.
The document, although highly detailed, repays reading for a number of reasons. New researchers will gain insight into the process of making deductions on the basis of available evidence and discover that even official documentation does not always contain "absolute truths" in regard to names, ages, dates. June explains the historical background both to the changes in recording procedures in Poland and the broader pressures which caused many of our ancestors to leave. Finally, she has meticulously recorded much of the detail on the records that were of interest to her and this has resulted in a wealth of names of in-laws, witnesses and others who were part of the Kalisz community in the 19th century. References and a list of the names appearing in this text can be found at the end of this page.
Sue Fifer 30 April 2000
It was with some misgivings that I first started to research my family history, because my mother was only first generation English and my father was an American. Apart from the records of my mother and her siblings, who were all born in England, all the records would be abroad. I had a rough family tree written by an American uncle to give me a start on that side of the family, but with not much in the way of dates. On the other hand the notes left by my Polish grandfather did have dates, but they were dates on the Jewish calendar! Grandfather's notes were written on the back of a lid of a box of linen underwear from the factory of Stanislaus Weinbergaiski in Czestochowa. It gave the names and dates of birth of his eleven children. Beside these names he had written "married on 13th day of Sivan 5624, Chaja Sura, daughter of Israel". One of his children had copied out the names of the children, giving their birth dates on the Christian calendar and their places of birth. He or she had added "Father born Turrick, Russian Poland. Died Feb 9th 1896 aged 65. Mother Chaaya Sura OSIAKOWSKI [sic] born 2nd June 1847, Pichkerjovahstrasse, Kalisz. Died 12th October 1923. Married Wansberg, near Hamburg 7 June 1864." Consulting a map I decided that Turrick must be Turek, a small town about 20 km from Kalisz. If Grandfather was 65 when he died in 1896, it meant that he was 16 years older than Grandmother at the time of their marriage. My mother had always said that her parents had eloped because Grandmother's parents had not approved of the marriage. So it seemed that the differences in age might have been the reason for their objection.
Grandfather's name in England was Isador BENNETT, but my mother told me that his Polish name was BETTE. Grandmother was known by her secular name Dorotha. When I wrote to the Staatsarchiv in Hamburg for a copy of their marriage lines I used their Polish names, so it was quite a surprise to get a reply by return of post. The entry was in the Protocol of the Jewish Community of Wansbec under marriages of foreigners. It was dated 17 June, not 7 June, 1864 and was between Isidor BENNET of Stockport, England, bachelor aged 30, and Dorchen OSIAKOWSKA of Kalisz, spinster aged 21.(1) This was a great surprise because it implied that Grandfather had already been to England, found somewhere to live, and returned to Poland to fetch his bride. It is not so surprising that Dorotha said she was 21, because if her parents had objected to the marriage she would have to have been of age to marry without their consent. I have since discovered that she was, in fact, 18 at the time of the marriage. The Stockport address to which the couple went on their arrival in England was probably Bridge Street Brow, because this is the address on the birth certificate of the first child. This was a boy named Markus born on 12 June 1865, and the father's occupation was given as master hairdresser. As the marriage lines said that Isidor was ‘of Stockport’ I went to the census for 1861 to see if he had been in England for some time. In that year Bridge Street Brow was occupied by a fishmonger called William SMIDLEY, his wife Elizabeth and two children. So it seemed as if Isidor had come to England after 1861 but before 1864.
The next step seemed to be to go to the Public Record Office and consult their Captains’ Returns of Passengers, but there seemed to be a gap between the years 1861 and 1864.(2) I then consulted the Indexes to the Hamburg Passenger Lists Indirect (3), and there was an entry in 1864 that looked like I. W.... BENNET. As the indexes are hand written it is not always possible to tell what the initials are. It could have been T. W., and what came after the W might have been anything. I went through the indexes for a few more years to see if at any time Isidor had gone back to Poland. In 1868 I found an entry for two people, travelling together, with the names R. and D. BETTE (Isidor’s Polish name). This could have been his mother Ryfka and younger brother David, coming to visit him. I shall never know, because the volume corresponding to this index is missing from Hamburg. If Grandfather had wanted to cover his tracks he could not have had better luck! I do not know for certain whether he had a mother called Ryfka and a brother called David, but my reasons for thinking that he might have had will be discussed later. All that is certain about Grandfather is his life in Manchester where his eleven children were born, and later in Birmingham.
After Stockport they must have moved into Manchester for it was there that the second son was born on 12 September 1866. He was named Sigman Shaje, and was born at 128 London Road. On this birth certificate Isidor’s occupation is given as photographer. Bill Williams in his book The Making of Manchester Jewry (4), gives a summary of the immigrant population's occupations, derived from census returns. In 1861 there was only one Jewish photographer in Manchester, and in 1871 there were three. As one of these three was clearly Grandfather, I was anxious to know who had been the original one. From a Trade Directory I found that it had been someone called Moses ABRAHAM who, at that time, was living at 128 London Road! Going back to the census for 1861 I found that Moses ABRAHAM was from Russian Poland. So Isidor may have known him before coming to England, or they may have met in the synagogue for there was only one in Manchester at this time. There was also a School of Photography, so perhaps Moses had taught Isidor there. There seemed to be some sort of fellowship among the photographers, for at a later address of the family I found that another photographer had moved in when my family moved out. But before that another child was born at the London Road address. It was a girl called Leba, born on 12 June 1868.
The next address was 4 Myrtle Street, Longsight, where they could not have been for very long. Only one child was born here, a daughter called Bluma born on 20 May 1870. It was when looking for the family in the 1871 census that I found the house occupied by Henry BIRD, photographic artist, and his wife, They were English. By the 1871 census my family had moved to 139 Red Bank, Cheetham. Red Bank had once been in a middle class district with large spacious houses, but it had declined after the building of the Leeds to Liverpool railway at the bottom of the ridge. The conditions in 1866 were described as ". . .close, dirty, ill ventilated and ill-drained habitations" (4), with a high rate of infectious diseases. In spite of this the houses were still spacious, for as well as Isidor, Dorotha, Markus, Sigman, Lebhe (so spelled on the 1871 census), and the one year old Bluma, there was also a photographic assistant and a general servant. The assistant was Joseph BIRD, 19, no relation of Henry BIRD, for Joseph was from Russian Poland. The Servant was Annie SMITH, aged 36, born in Skipton, Yorkshire.
Four more children were born at Red Bank. They were Elijah (Elie) on 20 April 1872; Samuel on 18 June 1873; Celia (Cirel) on 16 September 1877; and Rachel on 6 September 1878. The next move was to Moss Side where the last three children were born. The address was 54 Crosscliffe Street and they were there when the 1881 census was taken. In that census Isidor is down as Ezedor, and he gives his place of birth as Russian Poland, after which is entered "British subject". He must have thought that he was automatically British because he had lived in the country for nearly twenty years. However, I have not found him in the Public Record Office’s Index to Denization and Naturalisations 1844-1900, (5). Nor could I find either BETTE or BENNETT in either the typescript index to Denization 1801-1873, (6) or The Acts of Naturalisation 1801-1935.(7)
It is interesting to see on the 1881 census that Markus, then 15, was down as a photographic assistant; and Sigman at 14 was a hairdresser. There was no mention of Joseph BIRD or Annie SMITH, so it seems that the older children were assisting their parents. Ezedor was apparently doing both hairdressing and photography, with the help of his two eldest boys. Presumably the girls were helping their mother with the ever increasing family! The children born at Moss Side were Isaak (Isek) on 20 September 1880; my mother Rebecca, born on 25 December 1882; and Henry born on 1 March 1885.
The next move was to Birmingham in about 1887. In Hulley’s Birmingham Directory 1888-1889 (8) there is an entry under photographers of an Edward BENNETT at 83 Belgrave Road. I might have missed this as I did not know that Ezedor had changed his name to Edward, but I did know that the family had lived at 83 Belgrave Road as I had often heard my mother and her sister Blanche (Bluma) referring to it. At Belgrave Road also I found entries on the Electoral Roll 1888-1892(9)and 1895-1896, (10). On the first there was a James Bennett, and on the second there were Markus and James. The only two sons who were eligible to vote would have been Markus, aged 23, and Sigman, aged 22. So it appears that Sigman was calling himself James at this point. It is a bit of a mystery that Markus is missing from the earlier roll. It would not have been so surprising if he had not been on the later one, because he was a War Correspondent in the Boer War and he may well have gone out to Africa before the war started in 1899. Edward does not appear on the Electoral Roll, which seems proof that he was still a foreigner. In fact, in the next census he does not repeat his claim to be a British Subject.
On the Census Return for 1891 Edward's place of birth is simply given as Russian Poland. Although the Electoral Roll had given James BENNETT living at 83 Belgrave Road, the 1891 census gives neither Markus nor James living there. The family recorded there were Edward (58), Dorotha (50), and eight of their eleven children. There were Blanche (20); Elijah (18) draper's assistant; Samuel (16) clerk; and listed as scholars: Celia (14); Rachel (13); Isaac (11); Rebecca (9); and Henry (7). Next door at number 85 there was a Leah BENNETT (23) dressmaker, listed as a visitor. This is clearly Lehbe, who may well have been lodging there. She was one of the daughters appearing in a charity concert on 27 February 1895. The others were Celia, Rachel and Rebecca. It was called The Misses Bennetts’ Grand Miscellaneous Concert and it was given in aid of the Police Aided Association for Clothing the Destitute Children of Birmingham. The three older girls went with their father to South Africa shortly after this concert, and at least one of the boys (Isaak) went too. Markus may have gone with his father and sisters, or he may have gone later after Edward died on 9 or 10 February 1896. The three girls and Isaak all married in Africa, and remained there for many years. Celia and Rachel came back to Europe from time to time. At this point it would have been logical to follow their fortunes in Africa, but I then discovered the Family History Library of the Mormon Church. This opened up more exciting possibilities as I was able to see on microfilm the Civil Registration of the family's original home in Kalisz, Poland. These Polish records were very rewarding as far as my grandmother's family was concerned, but as with everything on Grandfather's side it was rather frustrating.
As Mother's parents were Polish Jews, it was not difficult to find reasons in the unhappy country's history why they should emigrate. My first attempt to establish their roots in Poland had been by writing to the Polish Central Archive in Warsaw. This was before I had discovered the Mormons and I asked for registration of birth of Dorotha OSIAKOWSKY in Kalisz, and of Isidor BETTE in Turek . My request was passed on to Poznan and they said they could supply the first, but not the second as there were no records for Turek. This was not very surprising considering the number of armies which had passed over this part of Poland. It was in the Prussian Partition 1772-1806, and the records of the Prussian authorities for that period were transferred to the Prussian State Archive in Berlin in 1940. Also during World War II whole collections of the Polish State Archives, from the 13th to the 19th centuries, were burned by commandos of the German army in the battle of Poznan in 1945, (11). I was to discover that it was not only war that destroyed. In a collection of articles about the Jews in Poland, that appeared in Paris newspapers for 1856 and 1858 the name Turek caught my eye in the following paragraph:
It would have been interesting to discover the origin of the names of the two families, but the Museum of the Diaspora in Tel Aviv have neither name on their lists. However, they did suggest that the name OSIAKOWSKI may have been derived from the town of Ochakow on the Black Sea coast, west of the Crimea Peninsula,(14). When I looked this up on a map I discovered that there was a town called Betta on the same coast, about the same distance east of the peninsula. This led to my researching the area and writing a tongue-in-cheek article about the possible origins of my families, (15). Both families may have originated in this area which, in the 9th and 10th centuries was the Kingdom of the Khazars. It was ruled by Kagans (kings) professing the Jewish faith, (16). It later became the Genoese colony of Kaffa. Bernard Weinryb says that most Polish Jews came from Germany in the 13th and 14th centuries, but that "...there were a few individuals from the Genoese colony of Kaffa". (17)
Tel Aviv suggested that the name Bette may have come about by the use of acronyms. In countries where Jews were forbidden to use Hebrew names, they would make up a name beginning with "B", for Ben (son of), and add the name of some revered person (not necessarily an immediate ancestor). In this way Bette would be Ben-Ette, or son of Esther. I find this the most satisfactory origin, because my grandfather changed his name to Bennett when he came to England. In this way he not only gave his family a very common north of England name, but he retained his Jewish identity as Ben-Ette, son of Esther, (18). I should add that I have not found an Esther in the family that I am assuming to be his, but he might have intended the Biblical Esther!
The family's home town of Kalisz was in the Prussian Partition of Poland when, in 1797, it was decreed by the authorities that all Jews must take family names that could be passed on to their children. There had also to be a record kept of all births, marriages, deaths, circumcisions and, in the case of girls of the ‘name-naming’, (19). By the time that this was in fact put into practice in 1809, Napoleon had swept through the region. Kalisz was then in the Duchy of Warsaw which he and Tsar Alexander I had created in 1807. It was given a French constitution and, although the Duchy was short-lived, the French influence seems to have remained. Civil Registration started in Kalisz in 1809, and follows very closely the style of registration used in France. So that when the Congress Kingdom of Poland was created in 1815, Civil Registration continued in the same style in which it had started. It was more in the form of an essay than a mere filling in of a form. In the essay form there is very much more information given than there would be on a form. In the earlier entries the address at which a birth occurs is given, but this practice was discontinued. The records are in Polish from 1809 to 1867, and then from 1868 on they are in Russian. I thought that the language would be no problem and that it would be easy to pick out names and dates, but as these are semi-legal documents the dates are given in words, not figures. Between 1836 and 1849, and again from 1868 onwards the dates are given on both the Julian and the Gregorian calendars.
The form that the registration of a birth took varied only in the amount of information that it gave. The general lay-out was : On this day [date] there appeared before us [name of the official] Orthodox Jew [name, age occupation], resident of Kalisz, together with witnesses [names, occupations, ages], to state that a child of the male/female sex was born [time and date of birth] to his wife [names, maiden name, age], which child shall be known by the name(s) of [name(s) of child]. It ended with a declaration of authenticity to be signed by the father and the witnesses. Because the Jewish day finishes at sundown the time of birth is particularly important. A child born after sunset is deemed to have been born on the following day, but it was a bit difficult to estimate when the sun might have set on a particular day in Poland in the 19th century! Registrations of marriages are even more detailed, giving the names and places of origin of the parents of both the bride and groom as well as their ages and occupations. The registrations of deaths, on the other hand, vary considerably from entry to entry. Sometimes they are very informative and sometimes they are maddeningly concise. The entry of the death of Abraham OSIAKOWSKI gave me the name of his wife and those of all his surviving children. Whereas the entry for the death of Szaie Bette merely named his wife and said there were three daughters and one son. When that son, Markus, died thirty-nine years later, only his wife was mentioned. It was on this entry that I had most need of rather more precise information.
When all these administrative problems had been sorted out, it soon became clear that there was only one family in Kalisz with the name of OSIAKOWSKI, and only one with the name BETTE. With the OSIAKOWSKIS I was able to trace right through the records relationships that agreed with facts that my mother had given me about her Mother's family. As with everything to do with my Grandfather, the BETTE family of Kalisz was not so straightforward. For that reason I will deal first with the OSIAKOWSKIS. I am using the spelling of the name that I have always known, but in the records it is sometimes spelled OSZAKOWSKI (which has the same sound), or even OSIKOWSKI (which doesn't!). This did not matter as the death of Abraham had confirmed that they were all one family. First names too were variously spelt, probably because it was Polish clerks struggling with Hebrew names. Later generations took secular first names, but did not always remember to use them when registering some event. For example, my Great Grandmother Feigele GUTTMAN who married Israel OSIAKOWSKI, sometimes called herself Pauline. In the records all the names have various spellings, presumably depending on the whim of the recording clerk. When the records started in 1809 it was only two years after Kalisz ceased to be in the Prussian Partition, so some of the clerks were still using German spelling. Gradually this changed to a more phonetic spelling, and Blümche becomes Blimche, and Sara Glückchen becomes Sara Glickchen. Another point that should be mentioned is that Jews had not yet fully adopted a surname at the beginning of the records. So where the maiden name is given for wife or mother it is sometimes the first name of her father. For example, in the early references to Szaie BETTE’s daughters they are given as z Szaie (z meaning from, being used as née).
At the beginning of the records the Patriarch of the OSIAKOWSKI family was Abraham, who was said to be 32 on 4 September 1809. When he died on 10 March 1834 he was said to be 56, so he appears to have been born between 5 September 1777 and 9 March 1778. For those people born before the records began, the given ages are not very reliable. The first reference to Abraham is in the record of the birth of a son Salomon to his wife Blümche z FEBLOW in 1809. The entry is a palimpsest of two pages where the book has been closed while the ink was still wet, so it not possible to make out the date of birth or the age of the mother. It is here though that Abraham’s age is given as 32, and his occupation as tailor. The next reference to the family however is very clear. This is the birth of a daughter Rahel (Rachel) born on 4 January 1812 at 185 Ulice Wroclawski, a street running southwest from the market place Gladney Rynek. On a modern street map the street is called Srodmiesjska and the market place is now Plac Boh. Stalingrad. At the time of this birth Abraham was 36 and still a tailor. The witnesses were Brockmeyer ARLISS, 25, a tailor, and Josef KNOPF, 38, a scrap-iron merchant. On 18 October 1816 there is the registration of the death of a son called David, who died of "nervous fever" at the age of 2 years 10 months. I had not found any record of his birth in 1814, so feel that registration was not yet very efficient. The death was registered by two men acting as "replacement for the sick father". One was Wolff DAUM, 33, a fisherman, who was said to be a "blood-cousin" of the grieving family. This would have been more useful information if it had said to which side of the family he was related! The other witness was a German called Abraham GRÜNKAUM, 30, and said to be a neighbour of the grieving father. The family was then living at 224 Ulice Zlotey, a street which met the Ulice Wroclawska at a right angle at the market place and ran northwest. It is now called Dzierzynskiego.
The family was still living at the same address when the next son was born on 17 May 1817. Abraham was 40 and now described as a shoddy dealer. The change of occupation may well have been dictated by the economic changes in the country. By this time the French army had retreated and the area was now under Russian rule. Kalisz was in the Russian Pale of Settlement for the Jews, although the borders of the Pale were not officially defined until 1835, (20). Jewish life under Prussian and French rule had been easier, although the decree of 1807 on personal liberty had never applied to the Jews, (20). It may have been these upheavals affecting the economics of the area that forced Abraham from the speciality of tailoring to the more general one of trading in shoddy, possibly in the sense of old clothes. In this registration of Samuel’s birth Blimche’s age was 30, and her maiden name appears as Blimche z Jakobow Flarzow. So her father's name was Jakob and, as this FLARZOW is in the masculine singular, his occupation was that of a tripe dealer. I was later to discover that Abraham and Blimche had had four children before registration began, and the eldest son was called Jakob. This implies that Blimche’s father had long been dead, as a Jewish child is not usually named after a living parent or grandparent. When the next son Isaak was born on 19 July 1819 Abraham was 41 and, mysteriously Blimche’s age has jumped to 40; having aged 10 years since 1817. This is a prime example of the unreliability of the given ages. Most of them are followed by the word liczacy. Since the Polish verb liczyc means to count, to reckon or to rely on, it is difficult to know in which sense this is used. It is certainly not the latter!
Strangely the next birth the couple registered on 13 June 1821, was of another son called Salomon. I had found no record of the death of the Salomon born in 1809. The name seemed to have been an unfortunate one for the family, for this Salomon died nine days later. The witness was Jacob BLASSKOWSKI, 35, tradesman and friend of "the grieving father laden with sorrow". The recording clerk had spelt the name Jakob, which is the Polish spelling, but the witness had signed as Jacob. The spelling suggests that he was not of Polish origin, as the Polish letter "c" is pronounced "ts". The family were still living at 224 Ulice Zlotey, and Abraham was 46 and Blimche 41. On 28 August 1826 Jakob OSIAKOWSKI, the eldest son, was married. Jakob was born before registration began in 1809 and his age was given as 21 and his occupation as tradesman. The bride was Gitte SOLOMON, 25, widow of Beniamin SOLOMON and daughter of Loeble and Parsze MAMELAK. Two years later on 28 January 1828, the second son Israel was married. He was 21 and a tailor and the bride was Faygele GUTMAN, 19, of Ostrow Wielkopolska, a town to the west of Kalisz. The bride’s age was given as "according to the birth certificate deposited with the Elders of the Jewish Community of Ostrow", and with this exact proof of birth I would have expected the given ages in future references to be correct. It did not seem to work that way! Faygele was the daughter of Samuel and Chai Sary GUTMAN of Ostrow, and the witnesses were Beniamin Fiszel BONUS, 56, syndik of the Kalisz synagogue, and Michel FUX, 62, tailor.
Then on 10 March 1834 the patriarch of the family, Abraham, died.at the age of 56. In the registration of death his widow Blimche and all six of his children are mentioned by name. It was from this reference that I discovered that the eldest daughter, Ryfke, was married to Moses KABTOROWICZ. As she was born and married before records began I would not otherwise have known that she was one of the family. In the following month, on 5 April 1834, Rachel, the youngest daughter was married to Eisyk FUX. The recording clerk had written FUX, but the bridegroom had signed his name FUCHS. He was 25 and the son of Abba and Golde FUX, deceased. The bride was 22. The next wedding was on 24 August 1834, and was of the third son Moses. He was 24 and the bride was Bluma KOPF, 23, daughter of Herzia Rafael KOPF and Lai z Abraham. From now on the dates were given on both the Julian and the Gregorian calendars as the Russians were back in full control of the area. It was still the Congress Kingdom, but whereas the Tsar had been more or less a constitutional monarch, after the failure of the November Rising of 1830 and the subsequent Russo-Polish war retribution was swift. Russia’s hand fell heavily on the defeated country and the Tsar became absolute ruler. The war was over in 1831, but it took some time for the use of the Russian calendar to filter through to local offices. It was not until 1836 that it reached Kalisz, (20). So the dates for the next marriage in the family were given as 12/24 May 1836. This was the youngest son Samual, aged 18, who married Maleh WARTSKA, also 18, daughter of Nathan Fiszel WARTSKI, deceased, and his wife Lai. The end of the first generation came on 19 December 1856, with the death of the matriarch Blimche OSIAKOWSKA at the age of 78. Her children are listed as Jakob, Israel, Moses, Ryfka za KANTOROWICZ and Rachel za FUCHS, as Samuel the youngest had died the previous year. The Polish word za means by marriage.
The Second Generation
As I have already mentioned, Ryfke, the eldest daughter, was born and married before records began. The first reference that I found to her was the birth in 1827 of a daughter called Dwore to Ryfke and her husband Moses KANTOROWICZ. On the registration of the child’s death two years later the name is given as Dwore Perel. On 8 February 1830 Ryfke, 23, and her husband Moses KANTOROWICZ, 26, (now a teacher) had another daughter. This child was named Feigele, presumably after Ryfke’s sister-in-law, the wife of her brother Israel. Then on 11 May 1834 this same couple had a son named Efraim Jonas. The witnesses were Israel OSIAKOWSKI and Markus GOLDBERG, 28, a capmaker. In 1860 Moses KANTOROWICZ, 58, teacher husband of Ryfke z OSIAKOWSKA died. He left a wife and three children, but the children are not named.
Jakob OSIAKOWSKI, like his sister Ryfke, was born before records began, but from the given ages he appears to have been about two years older than she was. He first appears in the records on 28 August 1826 at the time of his marriage to Gitte z MAMELAK. His age is given then as 21. The first child born of this marriage was a son called Szlama ‘born in April 1828,’but he died nine months later in January 1829. On 8 February 1829 a daughter called Fromett was born to this couple. Gitte MAMELAK’s name is given as Jetty on the registration and her age given as 22, three years less than the age given in 1826! Jakob was 24. Then on 8 June 1832 Jakob’s wife Jette (so spelt on the record) died aged 38. She left two daughters, Fromett OSIAKOWSKA, aged 2, and Parche Katz SOLOMON from her first marriage. This child’s age was not given.
The second son Israel OSIAKOWSKI (my great grandfather) and his wife Feigele had their first child on 25 August 1829. It was a daughter Rozalia, and in the record her mother’s name is given as Pauline, aged 18. Israel was 21 and the witnessess were David MITWOCH, 27, a tailor, and Aizyk SZAIKNE, 31, an agent. On 7 May 1834 this couple had a son called Ajsek. She was again called Pauline and her age was given as 22, and Israel was 28. The witnesses were Israel’s brother- in-law Moses KANTOROWICZ, 33, a teacher and Markus GOLDBERG, 28, a capmaker. Then on 27 December 1836/ 8 January 1837 another son was born to the couple, and this one was called Abraham after the now deceased grandfather. The mother was again named as Pauline and was 25 and Israel was 28. With the next birth, however, the recording clerk reverts to her original name of Feigell (so spelt here), who was now 31. This child was a boy called Samuel and he was born on 22 August/3 September 1840. Israel was 32. On 29 March/19 April 1846 my grandmother Hale Sara OSIAKOWSKA was born to the couple, now 39 and 33 years of age. A half an hour later on the same day her twin sister Miriam was born. The witnesses were Laizer WAYS, 43, skolnik, and Israel’s brother Samuel OSIAKOWSKI, 29, stall-holder on the record of Miriam’ s birth. However, on that of my grandmother the second witness was Michel NELKEN, 26, who described himself as an entrepreneur! It was rather surprising that be was able to get away with this, as under Russian rule Jews were limited to very few occupations that they were allowed to follow. According to a note I have, written by one of her children, Grandmother was born in Pichkerjovahstrasse, Kalisch. I can find no such street on an old map I have of the centre of the town, but I have found other members of the family living in Piskorzewska Ulice. Piskor’z is a zoological term meaning loach, for what that is worth, but I can find no such street on either the old or the new maps of the town centre. There is a Uilce Piekarzska. and as piekarz means baker it seems a more probable name for a street than loach! The street called loach may have been on the outskirts of the town, which are not on my map.
On 23 February 1847 (only the one date given here) Samuel, the 7 year old son of Israel and Faigeli (so spelled here) had died. The death was registered by Moses OSIAKOWSKI on behalf of his Brother. Then on 13/25 May 1849 another son was born to them and named Josef. Israel was 42 and Pauline, as she is once again called, was 40. The witnesses were Abraham HAZE, 33, an assistant surgeon and Isek HAZE, also an assistant surgeon and aged 85! Then on 10 November 1853 the last of this couple’s children was born. It was a daughter named Birza, who was still alive at the end of the century when my mother visited her family in Kalisz, and known as Aunty Bertha. Israel was 43 and Pauline was 42. The witnesses were Layzer WAYS, 56, and Gerzon BECHT, 54, a teacher. When this child was two years old her eldest sister Rozalia was married on 15 March 1854 at the age of 19. The bridegroom was Benjamin PARZENCHEWSKI, 19, corn merchant and the son of Zelig Olejnik and Rozy Parzenchewski. Zelig signed himself as Zelig Ber PARZENCHEWSKI. The witnesses were Markus BUCH, 32, gravedigger, and Fraiti LEDER, 70, tailor. It seemed rather strange that I never found any children of this marriage, but the next reference to Israel’s family that I found was in 1869. From 1868 the records were in Russian, which did not make the search any easier! On 1/13 November 1869 Israel’s and Pauline’s son Josef died at the age of 18. The record gives his name as Osip, the Russian version of Josef. On 17 July 1870 Israel himself died at the age of 63. Just over a year later, on 22 November/15 December 1871 the eldest son Isek died at the age of 37. However, before I leave Israel’s family, there was a happier note. On 8/20 November 1872 the youngest daughter Birza (Bertha) was married to Michel KAUFMAN. She was 19. Michel was 20 and a merchant. He was the son of, as far as I can make out, Kruseron (?) and Beatus KAUFMAN. The father's name is not easy to decipher.
As part of the history of Israel’s and Pauline’s family, I should of course have brought in the marriage of their second daughter Haje Sore, who was my grandmother. But she was not married in Kalisz so does not appear in the records there. She was married on 17 June 1864 at Wansbec, Hamburg, to Isidor Bette BENNET. They were presumably on their way to England where their history is outlined in the first part of this family history.
Continuing the history of the second generation of the Polish side of the family, I come to Moses OSIAKOWSKI. He was the third son of Abraham and Blimche OSIAKOWSKI, and born before the records began. When he married on 24 August 1834 he was said to be 24 years old. He was married to Bluma KOPF, 23, the daughter of Herzia Rafael KOPF and Lal z Abraham. The first child of the marriage was a son born on 6/18 January 1836 and named Abraham. Their ages were given as 26 and 24. This child died on 26 December l836/7 January 1837, but strangely the record gives his age as two months! On 27 June 1840 this couple had twins, a boy and a girl, who were names Rafael and Roza. Rafael was the name of Bluma KOPF’s deceased father. The following year on 21 June/3 July 1841 they had a daughter called Dorotha. I thought at first that this was my grandmother as she called herself Dorotha in England. I then realised the significance of my grandfather’s note in which he had said that he had married "a daughter of Israel". On 1/13 December 1843 another son was born, called Szlama. Moses was 38 and Bluma’s age is quite indecipherable. In 1846 I have a note of the death of their daughter Hawa, whose birth I had not seen.. It says that the child was 2 days old, so this must have been the registration of both the birth and the death. On 19/31 October 1848 there was the death of the girl twin Roza at the age of eight years. It was registered by Juda KOPF, 59, a hatter, and Man KOPF, 53, also a hatter. These were obviously relatives of the child’s mother Bluma z KOPF. Also in 1848 there must have been the birth of a son called Isek which I had missed, because he is listed among the children at the death of Bluma. Bluma died 8/20 June 1852 at the age of 45, leaving her husband Moses OSIAKOWSKI and five children: Rafael, Dwore, Szlama, Isek and Sore. The death was reported by Samuel OSIAKOWSKI, younger brother of Moses. He was a stall-holder, aged 34. The witness was Josef SZUBSIEWICZ, 34, a tailor.
Moses, however, did not mourn for long. On On 18 December 1852 he was married again, aged 42. The bride was Sara Russki NELKEN, a widow of 28. She was the daughter of David and Ajdeli NELKEN. Her father was an agent and Sara Russki herself was a day-labourer! The witnesses were Moses Hajman KEMPNER, 64, and as far as I can decipher he was an insurance agent. The other witness was Fabian CYGE, 34, a tailor. The "under-rabbi" was Fabian KROTOWSKI. For some reason this couple were very remiss in registering the births and deaths of their children. Even the
last two from the previous marriage were not registered until 1860. The last two had been a son Isek, born in 1848 and a daughter Sore, born in 1849. On 17 February 1853 a son David was born to Moses and his new wife Sara Russki NELKEN. On 3 April 1856 they had another son, Lazerus. On 15 February there was a daughter called Bluma Ajdel, but this child died on 13 November in the same year. In June 1859 there was another daughter Gusta. All these were registered in 1860. Then in 1865 there was another son, Abraham, and as far as I can tell the last of their children. Moses was 55 and Sara Russki was 42. Then on 6/18 December 1867 his eldest daughter by his first marriage was married. At her birth she was registered as Dorota, but on the marriage registration her name is given as Dwore vel Dorota (vel being the Latin for ‘or’). Dwore was 25 and the bridegroom Josef Hersz ROGOZONSKI was 24. He was a tailor and the son of Wolf and Gitte ROGOZINSKI. The witnesses were Matys Natan LEWY, shopkeeper, 43, and Layzer WAYS. I found nothing more in the records relating to Moses OSIAKOWSKI.
Still with the second generation of the Kalisz OSIAKOWSKIS we come to Rachel. She was born on 4 January 1812 to Abraham and Blimche OSIAKOWSKI. He was 36, but. there was no age given for his wife. Rachel was born at 185 Ulice Wraclawski in Kalisz. The witnesses were Brackmeyer ARLISS, 25, a tailor, and Josef KNOPF, 38, a scrap iron dealer. Rachel was married on 3 April 1834, a month after the death of her father, to Eysyk FUX, 25, son of Abba and Golda FUX. Their first child, born in 1837, was a son named Abraham Moses. The second child was born on 21 September/2October 1839, called Golde on the registration but later referred to as Golde Augusta. Then on 28 August 1842 they had another son, who was named Szlama. Registered on 22 January/l February 1845 another son was born, but the date of the actual birth is quite indecipherable. This child was born at 148 Ulice St. Stanislaw, but giving the addresses was usually rather rare at this date. The child was called Benjamin. Eisyk was 36 and described as of independent means! Rachel’s age was given as 26, which we know is not correct. Another son was born to the couple on 8/20 January 1849 and was called Josef. He was to die nine months later. Their next child, Nayman, was born in 1851. Rachel was 30 and Ajzyk was 41. There seemed no end to ways that the clerks spelt his name, but he always signed himself Eizyk FUCHS. The next entry is rather puzzling, as it records the death of Abe FUKS, son of Elsyk FUKS and Rachel z OSIAKOWSKA. They had a son in 1837 who was called Abraham Moses and I think it must be this son. The age at death is barely readable, but I could just make out siedem (seven), and Abraham Moses would have been seventeen (siedemnasci) in 1853 the date of the death of Abe. The couple last another son on 22 August 1855. This was Szlama, who was born in 1842, and therefore 13 when he died. Then on 6 December 1857 another son was born to them. This was Samuel, probably named after Rachel’s youngest brother who had died in 1855. Rachel was 35 when this child was born and Eisyk was 47, and still of independent means. In 1862 their only daughter Golde Augusta was married, aged 21. The groom was Gdalje Markus WARTSKI, 26, book-keeper, son of Lewka Moses and Laje WARTSKI. Elsyk FUCHS died in 1865 and the record of his death said merely that he left a wife Rachel z OSIAKOWSKA. Rachel herself died on 26 September/8October 1871, at 4 pm. The record says that she left a son Samuel, and no mention is made of the other son Benjamin or of Golda Augusta.
The last of the second generation was Samuel OSIAKOWSKI, the youngest son of Abraham and Blimche, who had been born in 1817. He was married on 12/24 May 1836 at the age of 18. The bride was Maleh WARTSKA, also 18, daughter of Nathan Fiszel , deceased, and his wife Lai WARTSKI. The first child of the marriage was born on 6/18 December 1839, and was a son named Abraham Nathan after the two deceased fathers of the couple. Then on 1/13 September 1841 the couple had a daughter who was called Haje Libe. On 23 July/4 August 1847 their only son died aged 8 years. Then Samuel himself died on 29 May 1855 at the age of 38, leaving his wife Ma1eh daughter Hije Libe.
The Third Generation
Jakob OSIAKOWSKI, the eldest of the children of Abraham and Blimche, had married Gitte SALOMON on 28 August 1826. Their first child, Szlarna, was born in April 1828, but. died nine months later in January 1829. Then on 9 December 1829 this couple had a daughter called Fromett. On 8 June 1832 Jakob’s wife Gitte died, leaving a daughter by her first marriage and Fromett. I found no further reference to Fromett OSIAKOWSKA.
Ryfke OSIAKOWSKA, the eldest daughter of Abraham and Blimche had married before records began. Her husband was Moses KANTOROWICZ and their first child was a daughter called Dwore Perel, but she died in 1829, aged 2 years. The next child of this couple was another daughter. She was born on 8 February 1830 and was called Faigele. Moses KANTOROWICZ, now a teacher, was 26 and Ryfke was 23. The witnesses were Szymon KIELNER, 38, an agent, and Markus GOLDBERG, 23, a furrier. Their next child was a boy called Efraim Jonas, born on 12 May 1834. Moses was a teacher and 33, and Ryfke was also 33! The witnesses were Israel OSIAKOWSKI, 28, tailor, and again Markus GOLDBERG, 28, but this time he was said to be a capmaker. Although I had not found the registration of the birth of a son called Michal to this couple, when I found his marriage it clearly said that he was the son of Moses KANTOROWICZ and Ryfke z OSIAKOWSKA. He was married in April 1846 to Fayge MAMELOK, 24, daughter of Simon and Malki z BLOCH MAMELOK. I have no other details of the marriage. The first child of this marriage was born on 4/16 January 1847 and was a boy called Szymon. The parents were both 25 years old. Then on 4 February 1848 there was the birth of a daughter called Hale. I do not have the ages of Michal and Faige, nor do I have photocopies of the records for their marriage or the births of their children. This must have been because they were found on a second trawl through the records, when I was no longer taking copies. On 17/29 November 1849 there was another son born to them and he was called Solomon. On 6 September 1851 another son called Simon was born, which suggests that the one called Szymon who was born in 1848 must have died. However, on 4 March 1852 they reported the death of a son called Abraham Simon, aged 5 years, so this seems to have been the first Simon. On 20 June in the same year, 1852, their son Solomon also died, aged 2 years 5 months. On 27 March in the following year, 1853, another son was born to them and this one was called God. Michal was a teacher and both parents were 30. In 1855 (I have not recorded the exact date) there was the birth of another son who was named Laib.
Then on 27 November 1857 the couple had another son, this time called Szmuel Joske. Michal was 35 and Fajge presumably the same age. Then in 1860 a daughter called Blümche was born, and again I have no other details. This child died on 14 July 1861 aged one year. On 14 October 1861 Faigel Kantorowicz, 38, wife of Michal, died. The children listed are Haje 13, Hersz 5, Gotzer 8,
Two years later in 1863 Michal married again at the age of 40. The bride was Dwore SYNTER ( or SYTNER) 20, daughter of Gabryel and Nlatki SYNTER (or SYTNER!) They had a son called Motka, whose birth I seemed to have missed, but he died aged 2 in the year 1866. In the same year his father Michal died aged 45, leaving his wife Dwore and ‘children’. The children are not listed.
Meanwhile Michal’s sister Faygela KANTOROWICZ had married on 26 October 1854, aged 24. The groom was Lewki LUSTIG, son of Szlama and Rozy LUSTIG. Their first child was born on 5 September 18-6 and was a son called Majer Wolf. Then on 15 September 1857 this couple had twin daughters called Manessa Laje and Sore Bluma, but for some reason they were not registered until 1864. At the same time they registered the birth of a son born on 1 December 1862, who was named Dawid Szymon. Lewki was 34 and Faygeli was 30. This child died in 1865, aged 3 years, but on this record he was named as Dawid Sigmon. On 29 April/11 May 1869 there was the birth of another set of twins. They were called Naftall Hersz and Jakob Michal. On this record Lewki was called Laibus!
Next in the third generation should be the grandchildren of my great grandfather Israel OSIAKOWSKI and his wife Pauline z GUTMAN. The eldest child was Pozalia, who married on 15 March 1854, Benjamin PARZENCZEWSKI. I found no record of any children of this marriage. Israel’s and Pauline’s eldest son Isek was born in 1834. He married Itta GOLD and, although I do not have a record of the marriage, I do have the birth of what I imagine was the eldest son, Jakob, in 1865. Isek was 32 and Itta 25. Their next son was born on 10 February 1869 and named Moses. By this time the records were in Russian and I cannot be sure that I was getting the date right. On what I took to be 22 November/14 December 1871 Isek died at the age of 37. On 2 April 1872 his widow Ette OSIAKOWSKA reported the posthumous birth of his youngest child, a son named Isaak after his father. Ette signed herself as Henriette. She herself died later in the same year. The registration of her death is signed Szlama GUTMAN, tailor, who may well have been related to Israel’s wife Pauline z GUTMAN. Israel’s and Paulines’s next two children, Abraham born 1837, and Samuel born 1840, and died 1847, do not appear again in the records. After that there was the birth of my grandmother Hale Sora in 1846. She was married in Hamburg and all her children were born in England and have been dealt with in the first part of this account. Miriam born 1846, does not appear again in the records. Then there was Josef, born 1849, but he died aged 18 in 1869. The last of the children was Birza (Bertha). She was married on 8/20 November 1872 to Michal KAUFMAN, but I did not find this couple again in the records as far as they go.
The next of Abraham and Blimche’s children was Moses, who was twice married. First in 1834 to Bluma KOPF, and after her death in 1852 he married again. His second wife was Sara Russki NELKEN. He had eight children from the first marriage and five from the second. The only further references I have found to his family were three deaths and one marriage. The deaths were Abraham, born 1836 and died 1837; Roza born 1840 and died 1848; and Bluma Ajdel born and died in 1858. Then Dwore/Dorota his daughter by his first marriage was herself married on 6/18 December 1866 to Josef Hersz ROGOZINSKI
Rachel z OSIAKOWSKA FUCHS, the next of the children of Abraham and Blimche, had seven children. The only further references to her children were four deaths and one marriage. Abraham Moses born 1837, died 1852; Szlarna born 1842, died 1855; Benjamin born 1845, died 1853; and Josef born 1849, died in the same year. Then there was the marriage in 1862 of Golda Augusta FUCHS, aged 21, to Gdali Markus WARTSKI, 26, book-keeper, son of Lewki Moses WARTSKI and his wife Laje. Again I found no further reference to these children of Rachel z OSIAKOWSKA.
The last of Abraham’s and Blimche’s surviving children was Samuel, born in 1817. He was married on 12/24 May 1836 to Maleh WARTSKA, 18, daughter of Nathan Fisze1 WARTSKI and his wife Lal. They had two children. The son Abraham Natan born in 1839, died in 1847. There was a daughter born in 1840 and called Haje Liba. She was married on 19 November 1861 to Moses Aron JELENKIEWICZ, son of Abraham Hersz and Golde JELENKIEWICZ. They had seven children. First there was a daughter, born in 1863 and called Leosia. Another daughter, Helena, was born in 1864. Then their first son Samuel was born on 31 May 1866 (he was in fact registered as Szmul). Another daughter was born on 24 October 1867 and was called Balbina. On 23 September/15 October 1869 a daughter called Janina was born. On 26 November/15 December 1871 there was another son born, and this one was given the name of Napoleon! As the date was 1871 it was presumably to honour Napoleon III. Another daughter was born to the couple in 1877 and was called Sara.
As the Kalisz records available on microfilm at the Mormons went only to 1877 at the time of doing my research, I was not able to find a fourth generation, except in England.
The BETTE Family of Kalisz
Although I have a note written by one of my uncles or aunts saying that 'father born in Turek, Russian Poland', I did find a family named BETTE in Kalisz. Since my grandmother came from Kalisz it did not seem unreasonable to think that my grandfather also came from there. However, as he changed his name when he came to England, I cannot with certainty connect him with the Kalisz family of the same name. It is just possible that registration was made in the nearest large town to Turek, and that would have been Kalisz. This is clutching at straws for it is more likely that the non-existence of records for Turek is due to one kind of destruction or another.
The patriarch of the Kalisz Bettes was Szaie BETTE. His wife was Lifsze HERSZ when registration started, but she may have been a second wife. When Szaie died in 1824 the records said that he left four children; when Lifsze died in 1843 she left only three, although all four of Szaie’s were still living. There were three daughters and one son. The eldest girl was Mindel, who was 24 in 1809, when her husband Nosen SKORNIK registered the birth of a son Jakob Natan on 5 January 1809. The second daughter of Szaie was Cyrle, who was 21 on 5 March 1809 when she was married to Moses MAMELOK, aged 26. The youngest daughter was Bayle, aged 20 on 29 November 1815 when she married Salomon BLOCH. The only son, and therefore the progenitor of all the Kalisz Bettes, was Markus. He was married on 20 September 1822, aged 26, to Byfke HANOWNA, aged 20, of Kolo.
Szaie was a dealer in skins, but Markus did not follow his father's occupation. He became a goldsmith like his brother-in-law Nosen SKORNIK, and when Nosen died in 1823 Markus named his first son after him. The son was born on 20 April 1823, at 276 Ulice Garbarski. The Polish word garbarz means tanner so perhaps Szaie was a tanner rather than a furrier when he was described as a dealer in skins. Szaie died on 28 November 1824, aged 81. Markus’s next child was a daughter named Sara, born on 5 February 1826 at 276 (the same number!) Ulice Burnieznicz. Sara died aged 2 on 7 March 1826, where the house number is given as 224, but there was no name of street. Another daughter was born 5 February 1830, and was named Malle, or Matte. It is a bit difficult to distinguish between the Polish ? and t when it is handwritten. On 5 April 1831 another son was born to the couple, and was named Szaie after his now deceased grandfather. On 9 April 1833 a third son was born and named Israel Faiwel, and it is this son that I think could have been my grandfather. From the ages that my grandfather gave in the census returns, which were always consistent, I know that he was born in 1833. He named his first two sons Markus and Szaie. The Kalisz Markus Bette had died in 1863 and the English Markus Bette BENNET was born in 1865.
To return to Kalisz, Markus BETTE and Ryfke had another son on 18 November 1835, who was named Juda Hersz. On 7/19 April 1837 yet another son was born to the couple, and was named Lebasz. Then on 17 December 1843 Szaie’s widow Lifsze z Hersz died, aged 86, and it was on this record that it said that she left two daughters and a son. As Mindle SKORNIK was still alive, I think she may have been from a previous marriage of Szaie’s, especially as there was eleven years between her and the next daughter Cyrle. On 25 January/16 February 1844 yet another son was born to Markus and Ryfke, and was named Dawid. When I found an entry in the 1868 Index to the Hamburg Passenger Lists to an R. BETTE and a D. BETTE, I thought this might be Ryfke and her youngest son Dawid, but the volume that would have given me the full details was missing from Hamburg! If I could have proved that this was the mother and youngest brother of Isidor (my grandfather) visiting him in Manchester, I could have been sure that the Kalisz Bettes were his family, His birth in Turek being just a red herring! It was not to be, and grandfather’s family remains an interesting vehicle for speculation.
4 WILLIAMS, Bill The Making of Manchester Jewry, 1740-1875. 1976
Because the Osiakowskis and the Bettes appear throughout this history their names have not been included in this index.
ABRAHAM, Lal
ARLISS, Brockmeyer
BECHT, Gerzon
BLASSKOWSKI, Jacob
BLOCH, Malki,
Salomon
BONUS, Benjamin Fiszel
BUCH, Markus
CYGE, Fabian
DAUM, Wolff
FUCHS, FUKS, FUX,
Abba
Abraham Moses
Benjamin
Eizyk
Golda
Golda Augusta
Josef
Michal
Nayman
Samuel
Sz1ama
GOLD, Ette, Henniette,
Itta
GOLDBERG, Markus
GRUNKAUM, Abraham
GUTMAN, Chai Sary,
Feigele, Pauline, Samuel, Szlama
HANOWA, Ryfke
HAZE Abraham, Isek
HERSZ, Lifsze
JAKOB, Febi
JELENKIEWICZ,
Abraham
Balbina
Golde
Helena
Janina
Leosia
Moses Aron
Napoleon
Sara
KANTOROWICZ,
Abraham Simon
Blimche
Dwore Perel
Efraim Jonas
Feigele
God, Gotzer
Haie
Laib
Moses
Motke
Ryfke
Solomon
Simon
Szmul Joske
Szymon
KAUFMAN, Michel,
Kruseron, Beatus
KEMPNER, Moses Hajman
KLEINER, Szymon
KNOPF, Jozef
KOPF, Bluma, Hersz
Rafael, Juda, Man
KROTOWSKI, Fabian
LEDER, Fraiti
LEWY Matys Natan
LUSTIG
Dawid Szymon
Jakob Kichal
Lewki, Laibus
Majer Wolf
Manessa Laje
Naftali Hersz
Rozy
Szlame
Sore Blume
MAMELAK, MAMELOK
Fayge
Gitte, Jette, Jetty
Loeble
Moses
Parsze
Simon
MITTWOCH, Dawid
NELKEN, Ajdeli, Dawid,
Michel, Sara Russki
PARZENCHEWSKI, Benjamin,
Zelig Ber
ROGOZINSKI Gittel,
Josef Hersz, Wolf
SKORNIK, Nosen
SOLOMON,
Beniamin
Gitte, Jetty, Jetty
Parche Katz
SYNTER, SYTNER
Dwore
Gabryel
Malki
SZAIKNE Aizyk
SZUBSIEWICZ Josef
WARTSKA,
Hije Libe
Lai
Laje
Maleh
WARTSKI
Abraham Natan
Gdalje Markus,
Nathan Fiszel
WAYS, Layzer
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