Sigismund Wolff 1834-1898

 

Hello CJ. I have just been alerted to a match with you and I've just worked out that we must be 3rd cousins. Sigismund Wolff and Henrietta Mayer (as my grandmother spelt it) were my great grandparents. Sigismund had epilepsy and was often ill and pretty well confined to the house as he aged. I knew Alice Wolff / Baer too. In fact I was very fond of her. I used to call her 'Alice in Wonderland'. She had a lovely sense of humour and I remember she was great with children. I don't recall meeting Gerald Baer, though I probably did as he used to visit my grandmother and was friends with my father too. I'm very sorry that I don't yet have my family tree online as I started it when I was 17, way before the internet and it has more than 10,000 individuals on it. I'm still working (I'm a writer), so I have never yet found the time to start inputting my tree to Ancestry, but I do have records going back quite far. I live in the UK. How about you? All the best, Jacquie Buttriss (nee Rose, originally Rosenberg as I'm descended from Philip Rosenberg who married Maud Wolff,(in 1909 Marylebone) youngest daughter of Sigismund and Henrietta.. Philip & Maud had Jeffrey A Rosenberg 1911-1977 & Dennis R Rosenberg 1915-2002 Hampstead

When Sigismund and Henrietta came to England with their families, they were practising Jews, but my grandmother (Maud Wolff) told me that they all made the decision to assimilate themselves with the English way of life, so as not to stand out too much as 'aliens'.  So their Judaism was very low-key.  The rites of birth, reaching teenage, marriage and death were observed in the Synagogue, but otherwise they became what people now call 'Liberal Jews.' 
 
Unfortunately, my grandfather (Philip Rosenberg) died young, winding up an Austin car, when my father was five and his brother was 9, so neither of them was barmitzva'd.  In fact, they both eschewed Judaism.  My father (Dennis) was sent to public school and went to chapel with the rest, but only vaguely believed in God.  He was left a revered Ram's Horn by one of his relations and didn't know what to do with it.  It didn't feel right to throw it away, so he and my step-mother went up to the synagogue in Hampstead, where he had been born, went in and sat down for a while, then left the Ram's Horn on a seat and departed.  My uncle (Jeffrey) was a sickly child, so had a home-tutor, but in mid-life he converted to Roman Catholicism.  As for me, I'm a committed Christian, but have a great respect for all religions and am fascinated by faiths of all kind - Jacquie Buttriss .
 


Born Russia?, came to England aged ~17. Married a German ; worked as a Wine merchant in Hampstead

~1834. Sigismond Wolff was born to, as yet, unknown parents, probably in French Russia

1851. Sigismond Wolff, merchant, arrives in England from Ostend, a native of "French? Russia " on 4/9/1851

alien

 

1861C. Cannot find

1861-1866. Sigismund Wolff married Henrietta Maier, presumably in Germany - this from Hirsch Ancestry family tree, but no documentation

Does Jacquie know anything about this marriage??

Purchasing a b.c. of one of the children 1866- 1888 would confirm Henrietta's maiden name - I assume a descendant of one of the children has done this

Children born 1866-1871: Laura Hampstead Dec 1866; Arthur Abraham Hampstead Mar 1868; Nelly Matilda Hampstead Jun 1869; Blanche Victoria Hampstead Mar 1871 . Unsurprisingly, no C of E London baptisms

1870. Sigismund Wolff was living 28 Upper Park Road, The Square, Hampstead- Ancestry London Electoral Registers

1871C-Sigismund Wolff , 36, wine merchant , was living Park Road, Upper, Hampstead with his wife 4 children & 4 servants

Siegmund Wolff Head - Male 36 1835 - Russia
Henrietta Wolff Wife - Female 26 1845 - Germany
Laura Wolff Daughter - Female 4 1867 - Middlesex, England
Arthur Wolff Son - Male 3 1868 - Middlesex, England
Nelly Wolff Daughter - Female 2 1869 - Middlesex, England
Blanche Wolff Daughter - Female 0 1871 - Middlesex, England
Amelia Goulding Servant - Female 31 1840 - Kent, England
Mary Saunders Servant - Female 20 1851 - London, Middlesex, England
Maria Broadbridge Servant - Female 28 1843 - Somerset, England
Sarah Robins Servant - Female 17 1854 - London, Middlesex, England

 

1877. Alice Wolff was born on 20/1/1877 to Sigismund & Henrietta in Hampstead

1881C. Sigismund Wolff was living 69 Belsize Park Gardens, Hampstead with his wife and 7 children & 4 servants & a governess. Arthur 1868 missing

Sigismund Wolff Head Married Male 47 1834 Wine Merchant Germany
Henrietta Wolff - Married Female 35 1846 - Germany
Larne Wolff Daughter Single Female 14 1867 Scholar Hampstead, Middlesex, England
Velly Wolff Daughter Single Female 11 1870 Scholar Hampstead, Middlesex, England
Latty/Lillie Wolff Daughter Single Female 7 1874 Scholar Hampstead, Middlesex, England
Willy Wolff Son Single Male 6 1875 Scholar Hampstead, Middlesex, England
Alice Wolff Daughter Single Female 4 1877 Scholar Hampstead, Middlesex, England
Percy Wolff Son Single Male 2 1879 - Hampstead, Middlesex, England
Louisa Sanders Governess Single Female 31 1850 Governess Jersey, Channel Islands
Selina Carpenter Servant Single Female 24 1857 Parlourmaid London, Middlesex, England
Maria Holford Servant Single Female 31 1850 Cook Worcestershire, England
Kate Jones Servant Single Female 21 1860 Housemaid Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Mary I Or J Travers Servant Single Female 25 1856 Nurse London, Middlesex, England
Hubert Wolff Son Single Male 9 1872 Scholar London, Middlesex, England

1891C. Sigismund Wolff was living Belsize Park Gardens, Hampstead with his wife and 7 children & 4 servants

Sigismunde Wolff Head Married Male 56 1835 Retired Wine Merchant Russia
Henrietta Wolff Wife Married Female 45 1846 - Germany
Arthur Wolff Son Single Male 23 1868 Wine Merchant London, Middlesex, England
Blanche Wolff Daughter Single Female 20 1871 - London, Middlesex, England
Herbert Wolff Son Single Male 19 1872 Clerk London, Middlesex, England
Lillie Wolff Daughter Single Female 17 1874 - London, Middlesex, England
William F Wolff Son Single Male 16 1875 Scholar London, Middlesex, England
Alice Wolff Daughter Single Female 14 1877 - Hampstead, Middlesex, England
Maud Wolff Daughter Single Female 3 1888 - London, Middlesex, England
Annie Simpson Servant Single Female 22 1869 Housemaid Domestic Servant London, Middlesex, England
Jessie Furner Servant Single Female 20 1871 Nurse Domestic Servant London, Middlesex, England
Kate Regan Servant Single Female 28 1863 Cook Domestic Servant London, Middlesex, England
Florrie Aldred Servant Single Female 16 1875 Housemaid Domestic Servant -

Children born 1871 onwards : Herbert Simon 1872; Lillie/Ida? 1873; William Frederich 1875; Alice 1877; Percy 1879; Maud 1888. 10 Children in toata 1866-1888.

And, Jacquie Buttriss (nee Rose, originally Rosenberg ) is descended from Philip Rosenberg who married Maud Wolff, youngest daughter of Sigismund and Henrietta. Carolyn has email contact with her

Sigismund had epilepsy and was often ill and pretty well confined to the house as he aged - Jacqui

1882, 1892, 1893, 1896, 1898 . . Sigismund Wolff is living 69 Belsize Park Gardens, Hampstead - Ancestry London Electoral Registers

1898. Sigismund Wolff, 64, wine merchant, died 10/4/1898 at 69 Belsize Park Gardens, Hampstead . Probate £32605 to his widow, Henriette & to Samuel Baer, metal merchant, son in law . This was 6 days after his daughter Alice had married Samuel Baer in Mannheim: prior to this Samuel Baer had been married to his daughter, Lillie Ida!

probate-1898

A notice of his death in the London Evening Standard 11/4/1898, states he was to be buried in Willesden Green Cemetery - FMP Newspapers

Burial not on Jewish Gen England Burial site nor on Ancestry JewishGen online worldwide Burial Registry site

________________

 

Jacqui sent a simplified family tree of all Sigismund and Henrietta's children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  I'm afraid there were too many great-great grandchildren to fit across this one sheet of paper!
 
Almost all this information was told to me by my grandmother, Maud, the youngest child, plus a few additional names in my generation that I knew.  For example, when my daughter lived in Florida, I met up with Jim and Janet Wolff and their son Tim and his children who all lived nearby.  I also see his sister Barbara from time to time, when her husband comes to London on business.  We correspond too.  I did hang out with their brothers James and John as well when I was 21 and staying with the family.  Jim and Janet were both highly successful people, but great fun too!  Jim and my Dad were great friends ... and his brother Bill spent 3 years in the UK on an international scholarship, and was, coincidentally at the same university with my Dad for some of that time, so they did things together too..
 
Dad also got on very well with Vivien (your great aunt).  As children, we liked her too and I corresponded with her in her old age, when she lived in Baden-Baden, Germany.
 
Of all my grandmother's siblings, the one I knew best was  Blanche.  She was much older than my grandmother, but she had two unhappy marriages and somehow became destitute, so my grandmother (widowed very young) took in Blanche for a while to help her out and cheer her up ...and she stayed for about 60 years!  Although we were fond of Blanche (Bunny as we called her as children), she was a cantankerous woman - I don't ever remember her smiling!) 
 
 
Of course, Alice was my favourite of those I met in that generation.  In fact, when I told my sister Denise that you and I had made contact, she sent me this link to send to you.  It's mainly about Alfred Bear (Gerald's half-brother) and his time in the army in World War 1.  The article is written by Alfred's great-grandson (another relative of ours) and it also mentions your grandfather and Alice, so definitely worth a read.
 
https://www.facebook.com/Middx18/posts/2nd-lieutenant-alfred-max-baer-5th-battalion-dorset-regiment-alfred-max-baer-was/840995009339507/- this I already have on my page for Alfred!

 

 

 

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