Is Freeman Jewish??

[jay jay]

Hello .... I wonder whether anyone may have some good advice for me to follow??

I have only just found out (after a long time) that my ancestor was European Jewish.  Where do I go from here?

He was apparently born in Crawley - I suppose then the possibility is that his parents were from Europe somewhere ... but where!!!

No birth or marriage exists for him - is this because his records might be held in a synagogue?  I strongly suspect (because of his age) that he had 2 marriages - possibly the first one was to a Jewish lady - the first 3 children are not registered, but the next 4 are registered in York where he appears to be married (possibly to a second wife)!

What a mess .... how do I manage to make any progress from here??

ANY HELP AT ALL WOULD BE INVALUABLE.

Many thanks to all

Jay   

[nanny jan]

Hi,

When was your ancestor born?  Would he or his parents feature on any census?


Nanny Jan

[coombs]

Freeman is an English name although if they were Jewish, the named could have been Anglicised to Freeman from Friedman possibly which is a Jewish name.

[jay jay]

Hi,
Many thanks to you both for that.

He does not appear on any census until the 1851 when he is in York.

I know that before this time he had 3 children in Birmingham but none are registered.  He was born in 1791 and his first apparent child was born in 1836 when he was 45!

I have no knowledge of who his parents are and I have chased records everywhere, but there seems to be nothing at all on him until the 1851.

He had a child in Birmingham around 1841, but doesn't figure on either the Birmingham or York census - the child was christened in York 6 months later.

Still... many thanks again.

Jay

[coombs]

Hi

How did you find out that he was Jewish?

Ben