COMPLETED LENHART

[Cougar]

silly thought - its 12.30 here - so you might just have to ignore this - but if they changed the Lenhart/Lenhard - could it have become something close like Lennard?  Only Christian name that might have been altered is the father - the other names are all English sounding?
Cougar

[Ann from Sussex]

No, it's a good thought...which I've already explored but without any luck! If it had been me, I would have altered it to Lennard if I felt I had to change it at all. The other alternative is Leonard but that is such a common surname, it is like looking for a needle in a haystack! The children were all British born and their mother was English. Only the father Ignaz had been born in Germany and he died in 1896. It's just that, to me, it looks very German and they may have felt sensitive about it. Having said that, my Dad and his mother lived through WW1 in rural Kent with that name and had no trouble...but my Grandma's family were local and she would have been known as a local girl. Ann

[carol8353]

Ann

I know this is of no help to trace your grandad,but.....do you know there are only three Lenhart families on the current electoral roll.You may well know them all?
A couple in London and another in Grantham and one lady in Manchester.

So as you say- yes quite rare.

Just thought I'd throw that in!!!

Carol

[Ann from Sussex]

Thanks Carol. I have written to all the Lenharts who are on the Electoral Roll. The people in London wrote back but are not connected to my family. None of the others replied, even though I enclosed s.a.es. I suppose in these days of identity theft, you do have to be careful but I was disappointed. Ann

[M.T.H]

None of the others replied, even though I enclosed s.a.es. I suppose in these days of identity theft, you do have to be careful but I was disappointed

I did a similar thing a couple of years ago,I wrote a letter (including an sae) and sent it to the address in Manchester where my ggrandparents lived in 1881 in the hope that the current occupants might be able to provide me with a photo of the house etc.

Many months later I had heard nothing and gave up hope and then a letter arrived with a Manchester postmark I was elated and tore the envelope open only to find my original letter inside with a cover note from the Greater Manchester Police that politely informed me that the letter had been delivered to the address but was found unopened when they busted a load of druggies that were squatting there

I guess what I'm trying to say is,give it time,but prepare yourself for the fact that it might not be good news
That said,I hope it doesn't happen to you,

Best wishes,Mick

[Ann from Sussex]

Oh dear! At least nothing like that has happened to me but it has been months and months now with no replies, so I am resigned to not hearing. I must say, if I got a letter out of the blue from a possible relative, I would be over the moon, if a bit circumspect in my reply until I was sure who and what I was dealing with. But then...I am a genealogy junky!
Ann

[Berlin-Bob]

Hi

this may be going off at a tangent here, but let me know if I should look further.

I looked up the german database GEDBAS and found a
Kaspar Friedrich Lenhard, Born in 1832 in Petterweil, Hesse

His age corresponds roughly to the London "merchant" but there is at the moment no way of knowing, if he is "yours" !

I've added the reference here, because there is a family tree going back another three generations.  Any names that constantly recurr(ed) in your family ?

http://gedbas.genealogy.net/stammbaum.jsp;jsessionid=A4FC0F9AB26F909A8481725AB8AC2690?nr=5007258

Let me know if I you'd like me to keep digging ...

Hals und Beinbruch ! (don't get worried, it's a german phrase for "good luck !")
Bob

[Ann from Sussex]

Hi Bob. I've had a look at the info you sent me. The names that recurr in my English Lenharts are IGNAZ, HENRY, NICHOLA(U)S, ROSINA and BARBARA. On the tree you have directed me to there is a Johann Gerhard I. Lenhard, so he may have had the name Ignaz. He had a son named Johann Heinrich who was born at the right time to be my Ignaz's father.I have the marriage certficate for IGNAZ LENHART and HARRIETT DAVIES who were married in Whitechapel in 1859. Ignaz's father is shown as HEINRICH and his occupation "Locksmith". Ignaz had arrived in London on the s.s. Batavia from Rotterdam in 1855. His description in the Master's log was "Schlosser from Darmstadt". I understand schlosser is fitter in English. Is Petterweil anywhere near Darmstadt? It seems possible that this could be my family..so yes, if you could dig a bit further please, I would be very grateful. What do you think of the idea of me sending an email to the person who has put this tree on the site? Would that be accepted practice in Germany? Thanks very much for your help. Ann

[Berlin-Bob]

Hi Ann,

I went back and had a look at Johann Georg LENHARD (Kaspar's father):
http://gedbas.genealogy.net/datenblatt.jsp;jsessionid=15014C51780286D404FF435E9361BFE9?nr=50079

and his descendents (Nachkommen):
http://gedbas.genealogy.net/pdesc1.jsp;jsessionid=15014C51780286D404FF435E9361BFE9?nr=50079

No IGNAZ !

But it's still a good idea to e-mail the contributor. I don't know about "acceptable practice in Germany" as I have never done it, but my gut feeling says, that anybody doing family research would be pleased to hear of possible links, especially from abroad.
Even if Kaspar isn't "yours", he could belong to this family (i.e. no death date, maybe because he emigrated to England and the family lost touch ... ?) and they would probably be thrilled to find out more about him.

So, do it ! Need any help with german ? Let me know !