Russell family of Sheerness

[DSAPaton]

I use to be on Ancestry so it could be, but haven't been a member for a few years now.

[DSAPaton]

Philip,
Can you remember if Henry had a separate thread, or do you mean the one with him and Hannah De Lara because I can't find one just for him.

Like Christina (who posted while I was still searching for a Henry-only thread), I found the one for Hannah De Lara and Henry Russell
https://www.british-genealogy.com/fo...highlight=lara

and the John Davies-Isabella Russell thread
https://www.british-genealogy.com/fo...ABELLA-RUSSELL

Pam

HI,
I am really looking for information on the Samuel and Catherine line as I am descended from their son Reuben Thomas Russell and would love to know about Catherine. What are the Cemetery Scribes? Thanks for your help DSAPaton

[phillip]

I don't know how much you know about Anglo Jewish genealogy particularly in the UK but the 2 key sites you need to look at are Cemetery Scribes and Synagogue Scribes -see Google for the link. On Cemetery Scribes you will see the family record of Samuel Russell with further links to his parents. In the case of Catherine her maiden name does not appear. On the Synagogue scribes site you will see the marriage record for Moses Russell father of Samuel plus other Russell names.

The problem tracing Catherine Myers is that her father would be on her ketubah record but this was given to the family and not usually kept by the synagogue. My own lines are also Myers but as yet I have not made a connection to the Russell/Myers but there may well be one given my other lines connections.

There are other sources on the lines and I would need to look further.In his book From One End of the Earth to the other. The London Bet Din, 1805-1855, and the Jewish Convicts transported to Australia. Jeremy I Pfeffer Sussex Academic Press 2010 he refers to Moses Russell and his father Michael and the 16 grandchildren who settled or visited Australia between 1820-1850.

There is a World Connect family tree on the Russell and associated families written by Dan Russell from Australia who I have researched with.

Take a look first at Cemetery and Synagogue Scribes so that you have some key data to work from.

Let us know what data you already possess on your Russell.

[phillip]

Is your Russell line on Ancestry Public trees and are you Debbie? If so, I have looked at the tree and noted the names of Catherine Myers parents as Thomas Myers and Mary Catherine. In addition, there appears to be a link to a Baptism record. There are other trees which have the Hebrew name for Catherine.
The key problem is that if Catherine was not born a Jew she would have to be a proselyte (converted to Judaism). This would reflect on her marriage record particularly her father's name which would then be an adopted Jewish one with the comment Abraham our Father to signify a convert.

We need to check if possible whether Catherine was a Jew or converted.

[DSAPaton]

Yes my Russell line is on Ancestry and I am Debbie, but I am no longer a member of Ancestry as I can no longer afford their yearly subscription so am no longer able to access the data on their site. This is what I know so far about my connection to Samuel and Catherine Russell. Their son Reuben Thomas Russell was transported to Australia where he married Marion Allison on 26 Jan 1856 in Goulburn NSW. They had seven children and their second youngest Francis Louisa Russell who was born in 1868 in Goulburn NSW is my great grandmother she married Hiram William Pierce in 1890 in Sydney and they had four children though the second child died in infancy, my grandmother is the second youngest and her name was Essie Gladys Pierce she married Joseph Henry Whitehouse in 1922 in Newtown, Sydney, NSW. They had three girls and my mother was the youngest daughter, her name was Lois Margaret Whitehouse. Lois married my father Pax Arundel Lambert in Sydney in 1956.
Back to the Russell line I have been able to trace Samuel Russell back to Michael Russell born in about 1735. Michael Russell's eldest son Moses Russell born in 1762 in Tower Hamlets married Sarah who was born in 1779 in Konigsburg, Russia. However Samuel Russell's wife Catherine Myers is a mystery to me so far I have no idea if she was born Jewish or not. Thanks for all your help

[DSAPaton]

Never knew there were 16 other grandchildren of Moses Russell who visited or settled in Australia. That means I must have many distant relatives here.

[phillip]

The issues with the current public family trees on Samuel Solomon/Catherine Myers are they give a date of marriage as 18.6.1826 with some saying at Sheerness Synagogue but with no other supporting information or actual source. In addition, numbers of the trees have several children born pre 1826 marriage such as Frances 1817;Michael 1820;Esther 1821; Reuben 1824 then a gap to Mark b 1829 plus a total of 15 children.
Some also give the Hebrew name for Catherine again without supporting data.
Others have non Jewish parents for Catherine.
In short, the data requires careful checking for accuracy and there is nothing to confirm who the parents of Catherine were.

I am interested in establishing the parents of Catherine to see if there is sufficient information to link them to my own Myers line. There maybe no confirmatory proof of Catherine's parents without a marriage record and the marriage was pre civil records.
I am going to look further.

[phillip]

When Catherine Russell died the Jewish Chronicle recorded briefly..."Death 22.2.1875 at her residence 4 Totley Street Victoria Park,relict of the late Smuel Russell late of Sheerness aged 79.. Australian papers please copy ". Victoria Park is in Hackney and the nearest Jewish Cemetery is in Lauriston Road closed in 1885. The United Synagogue Burial Records don't show a Catherine Russell and neither do the other cemetery records but many records are not yet recorded.
A tombstone inscription may give the father's Hebrew name and that would prove a great help tracing the line.
On JewishGen UK Data base 1851 Anglo Jewry records Catherine is identified but there are no parent's names.

[DSAPaton]

Thank you for all your information. I went onto Cemetery Scribes and found the tombstones of Samuel Russell, Moses Russell and Sarah Levin. I also went on to Synagogue Scribes but couldn't find any Russell's however I did find a record for the birth of a Catherine Myers Ref: GSB M022, Family name MYERS, Forename Catherine, Hebrew name Yettlah, Birth date 1802 Nov-Dec, Father Michael, Father's Hebrew name Meir b. Lezer Levi, Mothers Forename Leah, Mothers Hebrew name Leah bat Moshe Leib. and a marriage record for Michael Myers Ref GSM 034/6, Hebrew name Meir, Marriage 1797 (26 Feb) Fathers Hebrew name Lezer Levi, Spouse Levy Leah. Am wondering if these could be Catherine parents and her birth record as the 1851 census for 1851 has her as being 49 years old. I know her death age doesn't match this information but so many of their death ages seam to be recorded as older than their other information such as census records show, therefore not sure which to believe. I have no way of confirming if this is a valid lead or not but was hoping you might have some insight. Thanks

[phillip]

I will post the various Russell records from Synagogue Scribes and check my own and online records for Catherine. Looking at the various family public trees for Catherine it looks as if someone has used the Hebrew name for Catherine but no source was given. As you rightly say the dob ages vary and this was common for the period. We don't know who posted the death of Catherine in the Jewish Chronicle so can't trace a family source.

I lived in WA and NSW and understand how difficult it can be to research UK family history from a distance.

There maybe Russell family trees held at the Jewish Genealogical Society Great Britain library- I will check the index. There may also be trees held in the Anglo Jewish collection at the Society of Genealogists in London which I have used in my own research.

I will post relevant data.