My ABBAY/ABBEY family went to Russia c.1838 !!

[Fel]

Hello,
I have come across Nelly, who had a daughter Irene, they lived in Toulon, France. in 1948.
Also is anyone connected to Tania?

regards, Fel.

[tiggertwo]

Mocca:

Did the Elsie Abbey you knew, live in Pedmore, near Stourbridge?  If so, this is my grandfather's younger sister and she never married but spent most of her life as a companion to various people.  If I remember rightly, she either died late 50's or early 60's.  My grandfather's youngest sister, and the beauty of the family, was called Lucy and she married a Mr. Welch from the Baltimore area and emigrated to the US in the early 20's.

Tiggertwo

[tiggertwo]

Fel:

I think the Abba may have been a misspelling as all the records I can find in Selby are for Abbey.

Tiggertwo

[Fel]

Tigger two,
Not only is Abba mentioned in Matthew's letter, it appears in some notes of my Aunt Evelyn

Also it is on the FamilySearch.org  website. I have found this site very helpful,giving leads or confirming info.

Keeping the name Abba would have been a problem, as they would have wanted to appear to be English, casting off their French origins.

Fel

[tiggertwo]

Hi Fel:

I can understand that but it would have had to be anglicised a long way back and several generations before any of them went to Russia as the Selby records I've found so far, are all Abbey.

 It is interesting though, because there was an American environmentalist/writer called Edward Abbey, who in every picture I have seen of him, is a dead ringer for my brother but I have never been able to trace any connections to this family and finally discounted it, because when they first went to the US, their surname was Abba and not Abbey.  Makes me wonder!

Tiggertwo

[Fel]

Hi Tiggertwo,
Perhaps Matthew did the change of name.  He appears as Abbey in his marriage to Mercy, but was shown as Abba, in the lines I have been checking, at birth.

Any help?

Still looking,
Fel

[Fel]

Tiggertwo,
Following up on the French connection I have a note of my Aunt's, "The Abbey family came from France during the Hugenot Massacres.  The name then was Abbe (with accent).  As immigants have always been resented in this country, the name was changed to sound English".

Any help or is it confusing things even more?

Regards,
Fel.

[Fel]

Hello Mocca,

I have a note on my tree of Lily in Finland having Daughters, Eleanor and Alice and GDaughters Tania and Boullie, and a Tony.  Do you know if this is correct?

Regards
Fel

[tiggertwo]

Hi Fel:

Send a note to Hessu - he's the Finnish branch of the family and can answer all your questions about them.

Tiggertwo