EDWARD LAWRENCE LEVY-SOLICITOR

[RDWard]

See The Times of Thursday 20th February 1845, page 8, C. J. Mathew's insolvency. Daniel Levi, glass and china dealer of Old Kent Road, one of the creditors, said he was introduced to Mathews by "Mr Lawrence Levi (his brother-in-law)". This case relates to the Levy's bill-discounting (money lending) activities, and there is an implication that Lawrence lent the money to Daniel so that he could lend it to Mathews, in order to obscure things. The advances were made at the offices of Charles Lewis of The Albany (Lawrence's brother or half-brother), and the Mr Lewis who acts for D and L Levi is probably John Lewis, another Levy/Lewis brother (a letter from him about the case is in the Morning Chronicle of 12th April 1845). The point here is that the report suggests ELL's parents' fathers were not brothers, which means he married his single first cousin (Charlotte), not double first cousin as has been suggested. Daniel and Lawrence could have been related some other way though, I would not be surprised if they were.
Regarding the last post about ELL's grandmother, I think that refers to a different Elizabeth because in 1841 she is with William (not David) at High Road, Hayes, Middlesex (HO107; Piece 655; F36; p18) and some of their children including John Lewis the solicitor, are listed just above them.

[phillip]

The family tree for the 'Turnpike Levy' which includes Daniel Levy produced by Colyer Ferguson is in 2 parts.
The records show Lewis Levy of 53 Tavistock Square b 1786 d 1856; Moses Levy of 53 Tavistock Square b 1787 d 1870; Nathaniel Levy b 1788 d 1860; Daniel Levy b 1796 d 1860. Their father is unknown. 2nd record shows Lewis and Eleazer Levy but not the other brothers and no dates of birth or death are given for Eleazer. Interestingly there is a gap of 8 years approx between the birth of Nathaniel and Daniel which might suggest another marriage or another child born who may be Eleazer.
I am hoping that Carole Freeman may be able to shed more light on the relationships.
Phillip

[phillip]

The Synagogue Scribes records of the Gt Synagogue Marriages show that Daniel and Lawrence Levy ( Eleazer Lazer) both had the same father namely Yehudah Leib HaLevi. There was only 2 years separating the two marriages - Daniel married 1824 and Lawrence in 1826. This suggests that the Colyer Ferguson record which shows Eleazer ( Lawrence) as a brother of Lewis appears to be correct.
What are your comments Robert bearing in mind the Times article but the Synagogue records showing that Daniel and Lawrence had the same father.
Phillip

[RDWard]

Mmmm that does seem pretty clear. This is difficult to make sense of. Did Lawrence and Daniel also have the same mothers?
Was Jehuda Lieb Ha Levi the same person as William Levy, sheriffs officer of Newman Street, who died aged 72 at 32 Strand on 28th March 1843? This is the William I have as married to Elizabeth Nathan, who I have as mother of both Charles Lewis (to a previous husband) and Lawrence Levy (not sure now as to whether or not to a previous husband).
Robert

[RDWard]

Here is a possible explanation of things, regard it as a hypothesis, which means it cannot be proved, only shot down by inconsistent evidence.
I am assuming Yehudah Lieb Ha Levi and William Levy are one and the same. William was 72 when he died on 28th March 1843, dating his birth c1770. This makes him rather young to be the father of all the Turnpike Levys mentioned, but not Daniel (ELL’s father-in-law).
William’s wife Elizabeth Levy (nee Nathan – as suggested below) died aged 75 on 12th November 1859, dating her birth c1784. She mentions a lot of children in her will, including Charles Lewis and Lawrence Levy. She does not, however, mention Daniel, who was still living when she made her will. I assume she would have mentioned him had he been her son. So Daniel may have been William Levy’s son by a previous marriage. If he was born c1796, William would still have been married to a previous wife at this time.
We know Elizabeth was married twice because in all of the reports of the case of Lewis v Tonks it makes it very clear that Charles Lewis was a step-son of William Levy born to his wife by a previous marriage. Charles was 63 when he died on 23rd November 1864, dating his birth c1801, so Elizabeth did not marry William until after 1801. There is also another step-son, George Lewis, the auctioneer, identified as a step-son of William in reports of the cases of Goldsmid v Levy and Lewis (1836). I need to find out more about him: he has to be born before 1801 to be consistent with my hypothesis.
ELL’s father, Lawrence Levy died 28th October, 1873, aged 71, which means he was born c1802. As Elizabeth refers to him in her will as her son, and as it appears he was a true son of William Levy, then Elizabeth and William must have married around 1802. I wonder about this, though, because the next child, Amelia Levy later Amelia Neck, seems not to have come along until 1807, which would be a better gap to accommodate a marriage, but Elizabeth does refer to Lawrence in her will as her son.
Children after Lawrence appear to have been Amelia Levi/Neck (c1807-1900), John Lewis (c1809-55), Frances Levi/Israel (c1815-1873), Morrice Levy (c1811-1875), Julia Levy/Ellis (c1817?-?), Hannah Levy/Harris (c1819?-?), Edward Lewis (c1820-1866), Henry Levy (c1822-1904), Louisa Lewis (c1826-?). Elizabeth also mentions a James Levy in her will: I have no further information about him.
Regarding the name Nathan, Elizabeth’s youngest son (as she describes him in her will), Henry Levy, who died 2nd June 1904, named his cousin Henry Nathan Newton as main executor. He was son of Lawrence Isaac Nathan, which is where we get the conclusion that Elizabeth Levy was originally Elizabeth Nathan. Now doesn’t that open up another can of worms!
Just to end this long post, numerous press reports tie the various family members together. The Levys, Harts, Jacobs, Nathans seem all to get involved in endorsing bills to each other, and consequently being named in court cases. Figaro in London, which printed some highly anti-Semitic pieces that would most definitely be illegal today*, commented on June 10th, 1837, p91 “Old Levy is a sheriff's officer in Newman Street - and of his sons; Lawrence Levy is the lessee of The Victoria [theatre], and a bailiff in Fetter Lane, - and he has a brother who calls himself Charles, and who has got somehow or other admitted an attorney, while there is another, George, (also Lewis) who is an auctioneer, or was an auctioneer somewhere. The lawyer angles for clients, and when he has caught them, the bailiff arrests them, and the auctioneer sells them up, so that if a man is to be eaten up, devoured and done for, not a bone need go out of the family.” [*e.g. elsewhere they refer to George Lewis as “a miserable little Israelite”, “the little crooked nose auctioneer G. Lewis, brother of Levy"].

[phillip]

Thank you very much for the additional data Robert. If you look on Carole Freemans data base on the Jacobstree website you will see that she has not confirmed the father of Moses or Lawrence Levy who both appear on the Colyer Ferguson family tree of the 'Turnpike Levy). However, what Carole has done is to record the mothers of Moses and Daniel. In the case of Daniel she has recorded Sarah bat Nathan and for Moses she has recorded Rosetta b abt 1770 abroad- she cites the 1841 census as her source. I know that Carole did obtain further data on the families but have no idea exactly what it was. When I went to S.O.G. on my last visit I made copies of the some of the Colyer Ferguson Levy families but not from Hyamson. The National Oxford Biography does have an article on Lewis Levy - 'farmer of Turnpikes' - his brother Nathaniel was also very wealthy so I believe that there are wills for these brothers which may or may not contain further data.
From Carole's data there is uncertainty as to who the fathers were of the various Levy and also it appears that the mothers were also different. Unfortunately Carole does not cite records for her data and I have no idea as to why she has no dates for Lawrence when she had a copy of the Colyer Ferguson tree. which gives the dates of birth and death for Lewis, Moses, Nathaniel, Daniel, Lawrence which based on other sources are correct.

I am also interested as to why Daniel does not appear to have followed the same lines as his 'brothers' in terms of occupation. There is still a lot we do not know and I am hoping that Carole will 'fill in' some of the gaps. I do intend to re-visit S.O.G. so may discover more.
Phillip

[phillip]

I see on the National Archives site Wills that there is the will of William Levy 88 Newman St Oxford Street 11 April 1843- there were 2 deaths of William Levy's in 1843 and I know the address for the will does not match the Strand address or the date of his death but it does appear to match the Newman St address and is only a few days later. Do you think that the will refers to 'our' William?

Also, if you go onto the Advance search on Synagogue Scribes you will see references to various Yehuda Levy and a couple to Yehuda Leib HaLevi - for example the marriage of David Levi 1818; Abraham Levi 1821; Rachel Levi 1821. I have no idea if the father's Hebrew name is merely a coincidence when connected to the same father of Daniel and Lawrence.
Phillip

[RDWard]

Notice of death in The Times of 30th March 1843 "On the 28th inst., at his residence, in the Strand, Mr. William Levy, late of Newman-street, Oxford-street, in the 73rd year of his age, much respected by a numerous circle of friends and acquaintances." The wills of William and his wife were tracked down by my father-in-law in the 1960s, a considerable achievement then, not least because they had always thought their family name was Lewis, of Welsh origin, not Levy, a myth probably started by Charles Lewis. The truth outraged some members of the family.
Will of William Levy: made 25th March, 1842; proved 11th April, 1843.
This is the last Will and testament of me William Levy of Number 88 Newman Street Oxford Street in the County of Middlesex and of Hayes(?) in the said County Gentleman. Firstly I desire that all my just debts funeral and testamentary expenses be paid and satisfied by my Executrix herein after named as soon as conveniently may be after my decease And beyondly(?) I give devise and bequeath unto my dear wife Elizabeth Levy all my Estate and Effects whatsoever and wheresoever both real personal or mixed whether in possession reversion remainder or exportanry(?) together with all such bills of exchange promissory notes bonds and other securities with all my books plate jewells household furniture and linen and all other other such(?) property whereof I may be possessed at the time of my decease And I nominate constitute and appoint my said dear wife Elizabeth Levy to be sole Executrix of this my will And hereby revoking all former or other Wills by me at any time heretofore made I declare this to be my last Will and Testament In witness whereof I the said William Levy have to the my last Will and Testament my hand the twenty fifth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty two - William Levy - Signed by the testator William Levy in the presence of us present at the same time who have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses in the presence of the said testator and each other - C Lewis 3 Albany Court Yard Piccadilly - Edward Lewis.
Proved at London the 11th April 1843 before the worshipful John Daubeny Doctor of Laws and Surrogate by the Oath of Elizabeth Levy Widow the Relict the sole Executrix to whom Administration was granted having been first sworn only to administer.
Notice of death in The Times, 26th November 1859. "On the 12th inst., at 139, Strand, in her 76th year, Elizabeth, relict of Wm. Levy, late of Newman-street, Oxford-street.
Will
In the name of God, Amen. I, Elizabeth Levy, now residing at No. 139 Strand, in the County of Middlesex, widow, do hereby publish and declare this to be my last will and testament hereby revoking and making void all former will or wills heretofore made by me. First I do hereby nominate constitute and appoint my Son Charles Lewis of the Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, sole Executor of this my will and Trustee for the purposes hereinafter declared I give and bequeath to my said Executor and Trustee all my personal estate and effects whatsoever of what kind or nature soever. Upon the trusts and for the purposes hereinafter mentioned save and except all that and those my leasehold houses situate number 342 in the Strand in the said County of Middlesex in the occupation of Mr. Painter and nos. 19 20 and 21 in Catherine Street in the Strand in the said County which I give and bequeath to my said executor and trustee upon the trusts following that is to say Upon trust to receive and take the rents issues and profits thereof and pay out moiety thereof to Julia the wife of John Soloman Ellis for her sole and separate use and benefit and not to be subject to the dues liabilities or engagements of her present or any future husband and her receipt alone shall be a good and sufficient discharge to my said Executor and Trustee and with respect to the other moiety of such rents and profits as aforesaid I hereby authorise and desire my said Executor to retain the same and apply the same in the education the two youngest children of the said Julia Ellis lawfully begotten by the said John Solomon Ellis as far as the same will meet such expense or retain the same in his hands in order that at the expiration of my term in the said premises to place the said Julia Ellis in some way of business as my said Executor and Trustee may think fit at his discretion and I hereby authorise and empower my said Executor and Trustee to set & demise the said several messuages hereinbefore mentioned and also the leasehold house and premises hereinbefore mentioned for such time or term and at such rents as to him shall seem expedient and either together or separately as he shall think proper And also save and except all that my leasehold house number [number omitted] Doddington Grove, Kennington in the County of Surrey now in the occupation of Miss Prince which I also give and bequeath to my said Executor and Trustee upon the trusts following that is to say Upon trust to receive the rents and profits thereof and to pay the same to my daughter Louisa Levy for her own sole and separate use and not to be subject to the debts or engagements of any future husband and her receipt alone shall be a good and sufficient dischage for the same. I give and bequeath to my daughter Frances Israel the sum of £100 but which such bequest shall be paid to her by my said Executor and Trustee by weekly payments of 10/- per week. I give and bequeath to my daughter Amelia Neck the sum of £100. I also give and beqeath to the said Julia Ellis the sum of £100. I give and bequeath to my daughter Hannah Harris the sum of £100. I also give and bequeath to my said daughter Louisa Levy the sum off £300 but which said several bequests shall not be subject to the debts engagements or control of their present or any future husband and their receipts alone shall be a sufficient discharge to my said Executor. I give and bequeath to my son
PAGE TWO
James Levy the legacy or sum of £200 I give and bequeath to my son Edward Lewis the legacy or sum of £200 and to my son George Lewis the legacy or sum of £200 and as to all the residue and remainder of my said personal estate of whatsoever nature or kind direct my said Trustee and Executor to pay and divide the same equally share and share alike between and amongst him my said son the said Charles Lewis and my sons Lawrence Levy and Maurice Levy or such of them as shall be living at the time of my decease but all my just debts and engagements funeral and testamentary expenses shall be first paid and deducted therefrom before the division thereof and inasmuch as I sometime since gave to Henry Levy my youngest son a sum of £400 and also a quantity of furniture to enable him to commence his profession of an attorney and solicitor and taking into consideration he has no family I consider that he is not entitled to take any thing under this my will and I hereby direct that the bequest to my said son George Lewis hereinbefore mentioned shall beabsolutely vested in my said Executor and Trustee and not be subject to his debts or engagements and that he my said Executor and Trustee shall have full power to retain the same or pay out the same and pay to him my said son George Lewis the interest and benefit arising therefrom during his life and after his death I direct that the principal shall be equally divided between and amongst his children by his second marriage lawfully begotten when they shall attain the age of 21 years or be married but nevertheless if my said Trustee and Executor shall thinkfit he shall be at liberty to give the said George Lewis the said sum of £200 to enable him to commence business with the same but such shall be entirely at the discretion of my said Execulor and Trustee and shall not be compulsory upon him inasmuch as I have full confidence in my said Executor and Trustee who will use and exercise his discretion in the matter to the best of his ability and inasmuchas the greater part of this my estate consists of monies out at interest and of debts due and owing to me and in order to enable my said Executor to collect and get in the same for distribution I do hereby expressly direct and declare that lay said Executor and Trustee shall not be compelled to make any payment to any person or persons taking any interest under this my will or in respect to any of the bequests hereinbefore mentioned before the expiration of 12 calendar months from the date of my decease and should any of my said children after my decease commence or institute any proceedings either at law or in equity touching the validity of this my will in respect to my said estate or in any way relating to the bequests herein contained or in relation to this mywill I do hereby expressly declare and direct that any bequest herein made to such of my said children who shall commence or institute such proceedings as aforesaid shall wholly cease and become void and such bequest shall sink into and become part of the residue of my said estate In witness thereof I the said Elisabeth Levy the testatrix have to this my last will and testament set my hand and seal this 18th day of February in the year of our Lord 1857 E Levy. Signed published and declared by the said Elizabeth Levy as and for her last will and testament in the presence of us both present at the same time who in her presence at her request and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses Will A.Maxwell, 52 Prebend Street, New North Road, Islington, and I.H. Austin, 11 Bedford Place, Ampthill Square
This is a Codicil to the last will and Testament of her Elizabeth Levy of number 139 Strand in the County of Middlesex, widow, whereas by my last will and testament bearing date 18th day of February in the year of our Lord 1857 did amongst other things give devise and bequeath to my son Charles Lewis of number 1 Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, all those my leasehold houses situate and being number 342 Strand in the occupation of Mr. Painter and nos. 19 20 and 21 Catherine Street, Strand, aforesaid, upon trust to receive
PAGE THREE
the rents and profits thereof and thereout to pay out moiety to my daughter Julia Ellis for her sole and separate use as therein mentioned and as to the other moiety thereof to pay and apply the same towards the education of the two youngest children of my said daughter in manner as in my said will as mentioned now it is my mind and will and I do hereby revoke annul and make void such bequests as aforesaid and in lieu thereof I hereby give devise and bequeath all and singular the said leasehold houses messuages tenements and premises unto my said son Charles Lewis who I have by my said will appointed sole executor and trustee thereof and which appointment I hereby ratify and confirm his executors and administrators upon trust to receive and take the rents issues aid profits thereof and annually to pay and divide the same equally between and amongst my daughters Frances Israel, Julia Ellis and Louisa Levy and my son George Lewis the payments to lay said daughters to be for their sole and separate use and not subject to the debts or liabilities of their present or any future husband and their receipt alone shall be a good and sufficient discharge to my said Executor and Trustee and except as aforementioned I hereby ratify and confirm my said last will and testament in all other respects matters and things whatsoever in witness thereof I the said Elizabeth Levy have to this my codicil to my last will and testament set my hand and seal this 4th day of October in the year of our Lord 1858 E Levy. Signed sealed published and declared by the said Elizabeth Levy as and for a codicil to her last will and testament in the presence of us present at the same time who at her request in her presence and also in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses. Edward Tyrrell Lewis, 102 Kings Road Brighton and Albert H. Lewis, Kings Road Brighton.
Proved at London with a codicil l7th December 1859 by the oath of Charles Lewis the son, the sole executor to whom admon. was granted.

[phillip]

If William is Judah Levy then it appears that he had two sets of children by two different wives but also the earlier Levi including Nathaniel, Moses, Lewis were not his children but Daniel and Lawrence were- according to the Synagogue records of marriage. However, that does not explain why Elizabeth left a bequest to Lawrence but not Daniel.Unless Daniel's mother died and William re- married to Elizabeth. You will note that there is Sarah Nathan and Elizabeth Nathan- are they one in the same? Do you have any more details of who the children of Elizabeth married? I have a copy of Berger 1861-70 but can see no records of the Levy names you mention ( Moses Levy and his family are recorded ) but they may appear in the 1870-81 volume and also in the later JC records.
Phillip

[RDWard]

Phillip
The 1870s Berger has a good set of cross references linking William Levy to some of his children, including Lawrence and Lawrence's son ELL.
It would not be surprising if William had earlier children, bearing in mind he was 13 or 14 years older than Elizabeth, but I had not come across a Sarah Nathan. I'll look into that. I also have further things to do on Elizabeth's children. I do however keep coming back to the C J Mathews insolvency case (1845) in which Lawrence and Daniel are described as brothers-in-law rather than brothers (albeit a term that could mean step-brothers too).
I am running out of ideas for searching the old newspapers, but another intriguing case is the prominent The King v Meyer and others (1819), which involves a Lewis Levy of 7 Prescot Street, Goodmans Fields, an address at which, according to my father-in-law, trade directories place William Levy, sheriff's officer, in 1822. This Lewis Levy is clearly said to be the son of a David Levy, who was also indicted but dismissed, and Lewis Levy's wife's brothers are named as Joseph, William and Alexander Leigh. It seems possible that William Levy simply took over the address after Lewis was sent to prison, or perhaps there is indeed some family link. (The case was about a group who built up credit by frequently moving money between bank accounts to give the impression of being successful merchants, then buying goods on credit in Manchester and Glasgow, and then going bankrupt, having first disposed of the goods in London, Paris and India. One report estimates the total value at £100,000).
What I conclude from all of this is that it seems to suggest that ELL's grandfather, William Levy, could well have been born into an English Jewish family rather than coming from abroad as my father-in-law speculated. All we know from the 1841 census is that William was born outside Middlesex. Of course, what my father-in-law did not know, was that William was not his ancestor, being only Charles Lewis' step-father.
One further point to mention is that there is another Jacobs link. I said that William's youngest son, Henry, who married Elizabeth Hurwitz (also known as Simkins) and both died in 1904 (she died 19th March and he 2nd June), named his cousin Henry Nathan Newton auctioneer as executor. He was the son of Lawrence Isaac Nathan (another sheriff's officer). Another of Lawrence Isaac's children was Leah Nathan who married Angelo Jacobs on the 26th June 1872.
Robert