My great great great grandfather, Saul Grunwald, was born in about 1823 in Fordon in the province of Posen (Poznan), West Prussia. Fordon still exists but it has gone from being in West Prussia to being in Germany and now Poland.
Around 1848, he migrated to Hull with his wife, Esther, their two children Jenetta and Hyman, Saul’s brother Michael and nephews Solomon and Alexander Kiva (or Kind). I discovered a little about the possible reasons for their immigration – “Events in Berlin in 1848 gave rise to an armed movement in the Duchy of Poznan. During the first days of April there were Polish camps in the vicinity of Pleszew, Ksiaze, Sroda, Wrzesnia, Miloslaw, Trzemeszno, including over 10,000 armed men. The Poznan Germans, recovering from their initial terror, took up an aggressive defensive position against the Poles. Bydgoszcz (this town is the former Bromberg and is near Fordon where Saul and Esther were born), Rawicz, Leszno, Miedzyrzecz, Pila and other towns with predominantly German populations joined forces, armed themselves, and called for help. The projected reorganisation of the Grand Duchy of Poznan was shattered against the resistance of the German populace, which was ready to fight the Poles on its own. During talks with the government, bloody skirmishes took place with the Prussian army: With the new constitution of Prussia dated 5 December 1849 finally all of the Grand Duchy of Poznan was incorporated into the German Reich.”
At the time of the 1851 Census, 28 year old Saul was living at 10 Temple’s Court, Holy Trinity Parish, Kingston upon Hull and his household comprised:-
Saul Grunwald age 28 born Prussia
Tina (Esther) Grunwald age 27 born Prussia
Jenetta Grunwald age 5 born Prussia
Hyman Grunwald age 3 years born Prussia
Jacob Grunwald age 2 born Hull
Harris Grunwald (2 months) born Hull
Michael Grunwald age 20 born Prussia
Alexander Kiva 25 Nephew Dealer in Jewellery
Solomon Kiva 23 Nephew
On Wednesday 29 September 1852 Saul is recorded as being present at a General Meeting of the Members of the Hull Hebrew Congregation held at The Shakespeare Tavern.
In about 1854, Saul’s daughter Julia (my great great grandmother) was born in Hull. Unfortunately a search of the Registration List of Births, Marriages and Deaths has not revealed a birth certificate for her.
7 years later, at the time of the 1861 Census, Saul, then listed as a “General Dealer”, his wife and family of 5 children were living at 70 Templar Street, Leeds.
In the Leeds Street Directory of 1870 Saul was listed as being a travelling jeweller and living at 76 Templar Street (perhaps number 70 in the Census was a mistranscription?).
At the time of the 1871 Census Saul was aged 48 and still a jeweller. His wife Esther was 47 (this age tallies with that of “Tina” 20 years previously) and his daughter Julia aged 17 was a milliner. On the night of the Census, they were visitors to the household of Samuel and Elizabeth Price, who lived at 61 Green Lane, Sheffield.
In 1871 Saul and Esther’s middle son, Jacob Grunwald was 20 and a prisoner at Armley Gaol in Leeds. His occupation was given as Cutter in a Cap Manufactory. Jacob was tried for larceny on 11th April 1870 and given 12 months in prison.
Armley Gaol Leeds - late 19th century
2 years after the 1871 Census, Julia was married and, with her husband, John Henry Helliwell, later ran a Beerhouse called The Clarence Hotel at 179 Pond Street, Sheffield.
The 1881 Census shows Saul and Esther with their surname transcribed as Greenwald and their birthplace is now given as Germany. The ages tally although Saul’s age fluctuates in records all his life. This may be due to census mistranscription. They were living at 11 Gardener’s Terrace, Walker Street, Kingston-upon-Hull. Also staying with them was Nathan Cohen, their grandson (his photo is below). The records of the next household (12 Gardener’s Terrace) show Leanette (spelling) Cohen, widowed Head of Household. This must be Saul and Esther’s eldest daughter Jeanette. The ages tally. However, her place of birth is given as Sheffield, rather than Prussia. A double check on the 1871 Census shows that Jenetta Cohen nee Grunwald was born in Poland – so this must be the same person. (One of Jenette’s descendants has verified this). Jenetta Grunwald married Joshua Cohen (birthplace given as POL Russia). He died prior to 1871- probably in 1879-80 as the youngest child Jessy Cohen is 7 months old in 1881. Altogether the Cohens had 8 children – Rosa, Nathan, Sarah (who was found only on the 1871 census) Celia, Samuel, Rachel, Julius and Jessy. [Edit: Jenetta's descendant adds "Jeanetta actually married Simon (Zeaman) Cohen in 1862. Quite where the name 'Joshua' came into things I have no idea. That was the name on the 1871 census as head of the house with 3 children but it must have been wrong. Simon committed suicide in 1880 just before Jessie was born. She married Abraham Mendell Goldstein in 1883 using the name Jane. He was a tailor and lived in Great Passage Street Hull as did her 3rd husband Mark(s) Cohen. She certainly left a tangled web behind."]
Saul Grunwald died in 1890. His wife, Esther, died in 1898 of “Cardiac Syncope” at Hull Workhouse.
In October 2004 a member of the Hull Jewish Community very kindly photographed the tombstone of Saul Grunwald in The Old Jewish Cemetery, Delhi Street, Hull. Miriam Rubin of New York translated the Hebrew:
“Death will be obliterated forever (it’s from Psalms) Here is buried a man _____(can’t read it) , full of days (meaning he lived long) Yisrael (Israel) the son of Yair. _______(can’t read it ) in Teves (Hebrew month) (can’t read Hebrew year) may his soul be bound to the Eternal One”
Saul’s birth date is unclear due to the discrepancy of that given on his tombstone and in the censuses – the LDS microfiche (No 562718) of Jewish Birth Marriage and Deaths records in Fordon for that time has been studied, and it seems that details for a Saul Marrus, his wife and 2 eldest children fit very well with what is known of Saul so far – the records show that Saul Marrus married Ernstine Heymann in December/January 1844. In 1845 their child Jeannette was born and in 1846 a son called Heimann (Hyman?). It would seem very likely that the name Marrus was changed to Grunwald upon immigration to the UK.
There are many questions still unanswered. Is my great great grandmother’s birth listed on a synagogue record somewhere? What was Jacob Grunwald’s crime? What happened to Saul’s brother Michael and his nephews Alexander and Salomon Kiva? There is a mention of an M Grunwald living at 3 Charles Street, Hull in 1876 in the Jewish Chronicle. It is an advertisement for a housekeeper. Is this Saul’s brother?
During my research I met online another descendant of Saul’s. She had some photographs of Saul’s daughter Jeanette, his grandson Nathan Cohen and a photo of Nathan’s prayer book which confirms his mother’s date of death in 1911.
She also had another fascinating mystery photograph which we think is dated around 1911. The photo is full of intriguing details – the cat in the shop window on the left, the “Foreign Money Exchanged” sign, the shoes covered against the sun and the circus poster. I’d love to think that these people were my great great great grandparents Saul and Esther – but they are certainly relations. Can you see a ressemblance between Jeannette (above) and the man in front of the shop? Is the woman Jeannette (my great great great aunt)?
The above photo shows Mary and Sydney on the left and my grandparents Harry and Lilian on the right and that rather large looking toddler is me! The photo was taken in about 1954 in Blackpool where my great-grandparents lived.
