Polish brick wall

[Angelaj]

Hi,
I'm looking for help with the Silverstone family from Poland. They appear in Ramsgate, Kent on the 1871 census. I've got Abraham Silverstone born 1822 (1825 on 1881 census), his wife Rachael b. 1833 and their children, Simeon b.1867 and Sarah b.1870 both Ramsgate. By 1881 the family have moved to Whitechapel and are working im the fur/leather industry. No-one has been able to find the family on an earlier census so maybe thay came to England sometime in the late 1860s.
Does anyone know of the common routes from Poland to England? As they ended up in Kent I suspect they may have been on a ship that docked there, but I don't know which shipping lines called in at Ramsgate. There is also a rather elaborate family story that they escaped during the revolution and came to the UK via Vienna and Paris. However this story also includes an account of Abraham being shot and carried accross the border by his pregnant wife, only to die shortly afterwards, so I'm not relying on it too much.
I've had no luck with Prussia Roots so far, anyone have any suggestions?
Angelaj

[Elly]

No-one has been able to find the family on an earlier census so maybe thay came to England sometime in the late 1860s.
Does anyone know of the common routes from Poland to England? As they ended up in Kent I suspect they may have been on a ship that docked there, but I don't know which shipping lines called in at Ramsgate.

Ramsgate would be an unlikely port of arrival from continental Europe at that date. The most likely route from Poland to England would have been overland to a German port (e.g. Hamburg or Bremen), and then steamer to London or an east-coast English port.

In any case, according to the 1871, the son Simeon was born in 1867 in Whitechapel (not Ramsgate).
Here they are in 1861:

RG9-270 folio 73 page 28
2 Little Love Court, Middlesex Street, Whitechapel
Abraham Silveston Head Mar 39 Glazier Poland
Rapl? Silveston Wife Mar 30 Poland
Amelia Silveston Daur 5 Scholar Mdx Whitechapel
Betsey Silveston Daur 15 mo Scholar Mdx Whitechapel
Abram Hyams Boarder Mar 50 Glazier Poland
John Durker? Boarder Mar 46 Carpenter Poland
Jane Wagner Serv Unmar 27 G[enera]l Serv[ant] Poland
Isaac Greenbold Lodger Unmar 21 Glazier Poland

This is a multi-occupancy household in a densely populated community that was predominantly Irish at that date. But 15-20 years later Middlesex Street (aka Petticoat Lane) was the centre of the east London Jewish community. In 1881 Abraham was apparently a Sponge Dealer, a very typical Jewish street-trade.

Maybe they arrived in the mid-1850s? Bear in mind that the name might originally have been Silberstein or another German/Polish/Russian variant. The borders were somewhat fluid in the mid-1800s.

Elly

[Angelaj]

Elly,
Thanks, this is great news. Would you mind checking the earlier census returns as well? I had no idea they were in England this early and now I'm wondering when they did arrive. I didn't know about the daughter Amelia, she doesn't appear again with the family so presumably died before 1871. I shall try to find a listing for her.
Also quite interesting that there were so many glaziers at that address. I'm wondering if they were all working on the same project or possibly travelled together. Then again it could be completely random. Another avenue to explore!
Thanks again,
Angelaj

[Elly]

Sorry, I can't find them before 1861 nor a marriage for Abraham, which is why I suggested they may have arrived mid-1850s. Maybe someone else can find them in 1851?

For what it’s worth, they are not mentioned in Jeffrey Maynard's online extracts from (and additions to) Mayhew's "London Labour and the London Poor", published 1851.

Elly

[Angelaj]

Hello,
Thanks for checking.