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  1. #1
    Spangle
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    Default A little luck!

    I type this as I'm enjoying a nice glass of red wine. So why's that relevent? You may well ask....

    Thanks to the lovely people here I learned who my G G Grandmother was. I'd started off not even knowing her name, just that she must have been in Ireland in 1838 as that was where and when G G Grandad, Thomas, was born and from where he emigrated to England. Further research told me that Amelia Kohler had emigrated to the US and died in her 90s. I even found a drawing of her in an online newspaper report of the day.

    At around the same time I'd become aware of a book, "The Memoirs Of Kohler Of The KWV". Yeah, yeah, I muttered, KWV must be the initials of some military regiment, nothing to do with MY Kohler family. Or so I thought!

    Googling G G G Grandma took me to Google Books. The man of the memoirs was one Charles William Henry Kohler, a South African resident and son of a William Kohler. William had arrived in South Africa from England but left his family to go to the USA. The book snippet (why oh why must they tease me with just a snippet?) said that Charles W H Kohler's Grandmother was Amelia Kohler, who had emigrated to the USA.... hang on a moment! MY Amelia, I'd not long before discovered, had a son called William. I hadn't been able to find anything about him, just one mention in a court case and then he'd disappeared. No birth, no death, no residence, zilch.

    A feverish attempt at inputting keywords into the snippet view ensued. Sure enough, there was more about Amelia Kohler, and the stories told of her life in those memoirs matched those in MY Amelia's death notice. Hey! The man who wrote those memoirs was my Great Great Uncle! From Prussia to Dublin, to England, the USA and South Africa... those Kohlers got around!

    So who WAS Charles W H Kohler?

    Well, he wasn't a military man! He founded the KWV, a wine merchants and company of vineyard owners, back in the early 1900s, when the S African wine trade was in dire straits and he changed the fortunes of the country's wine industry as a result. He died in 1952 and the company is no longer owned by the Kohler family but the road in which the business is situated bears his surname.

    I had to find out more, but here's the beggar. The book isn't online in full but there WAS a copy, signed by Charles himself and believed to have been his own, on a popular old books website. Hmmm.... £26.... I'm saving like mad because I'm moving house, so I bookmarked it. My birthday arrived, I got a gift of a cheque and I thought, well, this isn't housekeeping, I'll buy that book.

    Nope. I won't. Some beggar had got there first! And can I find another copy? Can I heck!

    Nonetheless, this evening when I went shopping and saw a bottle of red made by the company my ancestor founded I was smiling. Later on as I settled on my sofa, the children in bed, I raised a glass to Charles William Henry Kohler and thanked him for writing his story. I hope that if there's something out there beyond our own world he'll look down on me and guide me to where I can find the full tale.

  2. #2
    bibliojunkie
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    What an amazing find Spangle. Too bad the family does not own KWV now 'cos I'm sure I'd add to sales in a big way. As for missing the book, I have learnt from bitter experience not to hesitate and go for it when the opportunity arises. Don't despair, a good secondhand book shop/site should be able to source another copy although it may take time.

    Ali

  3. #3
    pattenwalsh
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    Raise your glass proudly and read "The year 1899 saw the beginning of the Anglo-Boer War. The wine industry was in chaos. A proliferation of new plantings caused overproduction and 25 years of hardship followed. It was Charles Kohler who set out to alleviate the situation. His efforts led to the creation in 1918 of the Ko-operatieve Wijnbouwers Vereniging van Zuid-Afrika Beperkt (KWV). An umbrella for its farmer members, the KWV brought stability to the industry, placing it on the road to growth and prosperity. The foundation was laid for today's thriving wine industry."
    Excellent!
    Extract courtesy of vineyardvarieties.com/history.php

  4. #4
    spison
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    What a wonderful find/s Spangle! You deserved the wine. (a good red would have been good but 'your' red was great!)
    Jane

  5. #5
    v.wells
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    Quote Originally Posted by spison View Post
    What a wonderful find/s Spangle! You deserved the wine. (a good red would have been good but 'your' red was great!)
    Jane
    Ditto from me! Enjoy the wine

  6. #6
    Super Moderator Sue Mackay's Avatar
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    Looks like there is a copy at the Guildhall Library.
    Sue Mackay
    Insanity is hereditary - you get it from your kids

  7. #7
    alquibla
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    Default a little more information

    hello there, maybe I can give you a little more information about William Kohler-He was the first husband of the first wife of my grandmother.I had a researcher in South Africa work on him and this is what I have:
    William Kohler is an architect and clerk of public works in the employ of the colonial government up to 1866.On May 24th 1866 he left the colony for Europe looking to improve his position and seeking a more remunerative employment. He resides for some time in London and in Ireland and from those places letters were received but he always said that he had not succeeded in finding employment.Subsequently he went to New York.The last letter received was dated New York 10 feb. 1873.He has not contributed to the support or maintenance of sons, so Mary sues for Restitution of Conjugal rights.Fot the last two and a half years MFK has maintained herself as a governess, by doing fancy work and by opening a select boarding house.The petition is dated 29 august 1877.Although Mary Hutchinson remarried her gravestone cites the two Kohler boys, Charles and Alfred.There is a photograph of Charles W,H, on various websites and a mention of a divorce on the south African National archives.What do you have?My name is Alquibla

  8. #8
    o breen
    Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Spangle View Post
    I type this as I'm enjoying a nice glass of red wine. So why's that relevent? You may well ask....

    Thanks to the lovely people here I learned who my G G Grandmother was. I'd started off not even knowing her name, just that she must have been in Ireland in 1838 as that was where and when G G Grandad, Thomas, was born and from where he emigrated to England. Further research told me that Amelia Kohler had emigrated to the US and died in her 90s. I even found a drawing of her in an online newspaper report of the day.

    At around the same time I'd become aware of a book, "The Memoirs Of Kohler Of The KWV". Yeah, yeah, I muttered, KWV must be the initials of some military regiment, nothing to do with MY Kohler family. Or so I thought!

    Googling G G G Grandma took me to Google Books. The man of the memoirs was one Charles William Henry Kohler, a South African resident and son of a William Kohler. William had arrived in South Africa from England but left his family to go to the USA. The book snippet (why oh why must they tease me with just a snippet?) said that Charles W H Kohler's Grandmother was Amelia Kohler, who had emigrated to the USA.... hang on a moment! MY Amelia, I'd not long before discovered, had a son called William. I hadn't been able to find anything about him, just one mention in a court case and then he'd disappeared. No birth, no death, no residence, zilch.

    A feverish attempt at inputting keywords into the snippet view ensued. Sure enough, there was more about Amelia Kohler, and the stories told of her life in those memoirs matched those in MY Amelia's death notice. Hey! The man who wrote those memoirs was my Great Great Uncle! From Prussia to Dublin, to England, the USA and South Africa... those Kohlers got around!

    So who WAS Charles W H Kohler?

    Well, he wasn't a military man! He founded the KWV, a wine merchants and company of vineyard owners, back in the early 1900s, when the S African wine trade was in dire straits and he changed the fortunes of the country's wine industry as a result. He died in 1952 and the company is no longer owned by the Kohler family but the road in which the business is situated bears his surname.

    I had to find out more, but here's the beggar. The book isn't online in full but there WAS a copy, signed by Charles himself and believed to have been his own, on a popular old books website. Hmmm.... £26.... I'm saving like mad because I'm moving house, so I bookmarked it. My birthday arrived, I got a gift of a cheque and I thought, well, this isn't housekeeping, I'll buy that book.

    Nope. I won't. Some beggar had got there first! And can I find another copy? Can I heck!

    Nonetheless, this evening when I went shopping and saw a bottle of red made by the company my ancestor founded I was smiling. Later on as I settled on my sofa, the children in bed, I raised a glass to Charles William Henry Kohler and thanked him for writing his story. I hope that if there's something out there beyond our own world he'll look down on me and guide me to where I can find the full tale.
    hiya spangle good find about a year back for you congrats on that!https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy..../9f6d010871693 see here a thomas goodwin kohler c.1899 who witnessed a marriage of one of my breen rellies but not of the tailoring branch,still may open[or close]some avenues!all the best o breen

  9. #9
    delphianmum
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    Default

    Hello Spangle - I'm new to all this forum but just read your thread in 2009 re Oppenheims etc and tried to send you a private message but apparently your inbox in full, so it wouldn't take my long missive. Perhaps you can let me know when you have emptied it a bit !

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