RootsChat.Com

Sorry been AWOL but was travelling last week.

Tim, a DNA match on Ancestry (2nd–3rd Cousin | Paternal side Shared DNA: 120 cM across 6 segments) has advised “My South Africa connection is through relatives who migrated to Jo'burg from Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1930s as far as I know - this includes my grandfather whose name was, or became, Michael Myerson, who was a medical doctor, who moved again just before WWII to work in Cardiff, South Wales, with his wife, son and daughter. He lived in Cardiff for the rest of his life and died in the mid-1970s.”

Further to this, an ex-Search Angel has advised that “Michael's father's brother is the Barnett Myerson I mentioned in my email who moved to the US. He is the right "degree" away to be your great grandfather, but I haven't been able to confirm it.”  She thinks that Myer C Myerson (1892-1973) is Michael Myerson mentioned above, thus his uncle would be a sibling of his father Hyman Karnovsky i.e. Barnett Myerson.

I am currently checking with Jewish authorities in JNB regarding possible registration but I don’t think he will have been registered as Virginia was Catholic, and he would have taken on her faith. I will contact the Catholic church to see if they have central registration of births or baptisms as I wouldn’t be able to pin down a church or diocese.

@LizzieL - sorry that was my error - my aunt wrote it as "My grandfather" ie Peter's father but I typed it here incorrectly. She was referring to Peter's father, not grandfather.

Noted re DNA. Thanks a million everyone, and if I happen to be linked to Barney or Oppenheimer or some sort of royalty, I could type "thanks a billion"

@ Jaywit - 5% Ashkenazi Jew: Eastern Europe / Russia
4% Ashkenazi Jew: Central and SE Europe

@Wexflyer - I can't open that but the only formal documentation I have for Peter Carl is his death certificate / his death notice includes information provided by my aunt who was there when he died but is unsubstantiated.
In SA, I have made application for a birth certificate with Home Affairs but as has been pointed out earlier on this forum, we are not that good with record keeping, especially pre-1900.

Thanks all for your offer of support. 

Here is the info I have on my grandfather.

Peter Carl Barnett Barnato    ID211/543220    Estate file 270/65.
(Could be double barreled or could be either surname)

Born – Transvaal, South Africa 20/09/1899, may have been December.
Birth was believed to have been registered in his home country - Italy or France - but I haven’t found trace of that. I have also not been able to get a South African birth certificate due pre-1900 birth. He was born here whilst his mother was on holiday.

My aunt’s family history document aka “the saga" says he may have had a child with a woman he met on the boat to SA when he was 21, her name was Rosalind and the child was thought to be Diana, born circa 1922 (Barnato Walker?). This Diana had a daughter by the name of Charmaine.
His father is believed to have owned a villa on Lake Como.
One of Peter's aunts was believed to have been the first wife of Sir Ernest Oppenheimer.

Peter married Gladys Helen Elizabeth Carstens on 21/09/1931 and they had three children – Monica, Julian and Ronald (all deceased)

Gladys passed away at Addington Hospital, Durban. (DOB 28/08/1907-12/08/1953)
 
The marriage certificate says he was aged 33 at the time of marriage, which indicates he would have been born in 1898.

Peter died in Orange Grove, Johannesburg, 05/08/1964
      
The document ”Form of information of a death” shows Barnett as the surname, with Barnett Barnato written alongside in pencil.

The document “Death Notice” includes information that I believe my aunt would have given the authorities on the day he died, listing Louis Woolf Barnett-Barnato as Peter’s father, and Virginia Barnett-Barnato as his mother, yet we have no proof or documentation to this effect.

This Death Notice document also includes the name of his sister, believed to be Marie Barnett Barnato, married name Bertola or Bertish. The ”saga" speaks of a Nino (Giovanni?) Bertola, married to this Maria and I have found records of their death in Harrismith in 1948 South Africa. They were married in Biela in Italy. They adopted Louis James Bertola, born 12/04/1934. I learnt somehow that Louis is deceased, but this may be a wild goose chase as I haven’t found a link to Barnett/ Barnato anywhere with Bertola.

Peter may have had another sister, Virginia, who drowned when she was 18 years old.

The closest DNA match live in Johannesburg in South Africa as far as I know but comms has been ignored by her for a few years.
According to the test she is 1st cousin 1x removed or half 1st cousin, Paternal side, 5% shared DNA. She does not have a tree.
All she gave me is that “our dad's parents were Maurice and Mildred Myerson
My paternal grandfather, Maurice was one of 6 children. If you are our 1st or 2nd cousin, then it means that my father has/had a sibling that we were all unaware of and I find that highly unlikely.”

Another DNA match has given me some info about a Myerson connection – I must relook at that as it has disappeared in memory bank and now that I see this written down, it may be something worth looking at.

I will send more info if I come across any, and once again - thanks for sharing your expertise and willingness!