German Pork Butchers in Britain

[KMunz]

Hello Meenzhunter
I was wondering if you could help, I have managed to find very few details on my Meenz ancestors, Charles (born around 1852) and Georg / George (born around 1850), I know they were both from Hohebach, and both were originally called Munz. I also know the family business in my family because of them, until recently, has been butchery. But this is all, could you help at all ?

[Berlin-Bob]

Hallo Kmunz,

Welcome to RootsChat

Meenzhunters doesn't come online very often so you may have to wait for a reply.

While waiting  you can look at the "Meenzhunter" submissions in the Pork Butcher database:
http://surname.rootschat.com/lexicon/dbsig/gpb-quick-search.php?researcher_id=167442

regards,
Bob

[Histres]

Hello Kmunz,

Welcome to the thread.
In a Hohebach emigration list there are two "Münz" emigrants listed: in 1896 a Ludwig (Louis) Münz went to Bradford and in 1900 he was followed by a Johann (John) Münz (no destination mentioned). Münz (with an Umlaut) is the original spelling of the English Munz or (even more anglisised) Meenz families. It seems to me that Charles and George, who you mention, didn't emigrate officially. It might be, as often was the case, that they went to England at a very early age (15 or 16) as visitors of a family member who had already established a butcher's shop there. This way they could get familiar with the trade, accomplish their skills and knowledge and also sort out their chances for getting self-employed one day. These visitors often didn't return and so were not registered in official German emigration lists. 
The Munz butchers mostly had their shops in or around Bradford and I know of a family member who is still living in a neighbouring village called Queensburg. He says that his Hohebach forefather was also called George and had a shop at 519 Great Horton Road, Bradford (if you're interested I can give you his name and address via personal message). 
Best wishes
Histres

[BigVern2512]

Hi hope I'm not too late on this thread, my grandad did a load of research, our family name was johan Frederick reusing for around 7 generations, until the war when our butchers was changed to John Frederick Roberts, but not my grandfathers. We are from kennels in Gutenberg and are also pork butchers, grandad has traced us back to Transylvania before the Napoleonic wars. Must explain my love of beer and sausage, gutten tag and vie gates to any relatives out there. Excuse my poor German, it was high German when the family left, lol

Schnell suden fleidermouse auto, lol picked that up off sat1 in osnabruck in the 90's BAOR
 Forgot to mention, family sailed in to Liverpool, worked butchers then set up own shop in maltby, close to Rotherham[/img]][/img][/url][/img], south Yorkshire, I have pictures but can't post on iPad.

[johnbhoy]

Welcome to the thread Big Vern, never to late to join it mate, enter what you know so far on the DBSIG and you may get lucky

[SwissGill]

Hi hope I'm not too late on this thread, my grandad did a load of research, our family name was johan Frederick reusing for around 7 generations, until the war when our butchers was changed to John Frederick Roberts, but not my grandfathers. We are from kennels in Gutenberg and are also pork butchers, grandad has traced us back to Transylvania before the Napoleonic wars. Must explain my love of beer and sausage, gutten tag and vie gates to any relatives out there. Excuse my poor German, it was high German when the family left, lol

Schnell suden fleidermouse auto, lol picked that up off sat1 in osnabruck in the 90's BAOR
 Forgot to mention, family sailed in to Liverpool, worked butchers then set up own shop in maltby, close to Rotherham[/img]][/img][/url][/img], south Yorkshire, I have pictures but can't post on iPad.

Hi Big Vern

Welcome to the Pork Butchers' family.

Could it be that your ancestors' surname was "Friedrich" "Frederick" is an anglicised version thereof. A Johann Friedrich emigrated from Künzelsau.

"Kennels" is not to be found in Germany and I would suspect that it is "Kuenzelsau", a town in Germany, Baden-Württemberg, that is nearly always wrongly spelled on English census forms.

I'm going to do a little research on the Friedrichs and will be back in a day or two.

[SwissGill]

I saw the post you made on the Isle of Man forum the other day but forgot about it.

I later learned from my grandfather that our family history is German, the family emigrating here from kunzelsau wurtenberg in 1904

I now see that your ancestors' name was Reisig, probably Johann Friedrich Reisig.

What about entering your ancestors on the German Pork Butchers database?

There's a help page - click on LIBRARY and then on Database for Special Interests.

[madburg]

Hi,

I'm new to all this having only stated my research at Christmas.  What an informative discussion and excellent data base.  I can add a few bits having research my wife's family tree.  Her great grandmother was Sophia Wagelein, daughter of a large family from the Wurttemburg area.

She was a servant for her sister Barbara, in 1901who had married Herbert Leech - Pork butcher.  With her at the same butchers was a relative (?) Caroline Bealamire. There is also another sister Louisa working for the Taylor's together with her sister Minna (Wilhelmina).  And I think one more Karoline, (Caroline) who I think married a Karle (or Carley) working in Rotherham.  All have a pork butcher link. 

Sophia had an illegitimate son Karl or Carl born in Germany 1888, the father of whom is unknown.  But the family suggestion is that it was the local Baron or his son that Sophia worked for before coming to Sheffield.  It seems she left Karl behind possibly with Grand parents. It is suggested that Karl came in 1904 aged 16.  He married Lydia Dunn in May 1911, they then set up a pork butchers in Darnall called Dunn's using Lydia's maiden name, possibly funded by her father who had a bottling plant.  I can't find any record of Carl in the 1911 census, so I am wondering who he worked for, or was apprenticed, to after he arrived.  There are a range of possibilities as my wife remembers visits to and by the Zahire's and Frederichs, other Sheffield pork butcher.  Can you add anything, and particularly who his father may have been.  Karl was supposed to have come from Kupfetsell, though Sophia's local baron may have been in Rechbach or Drozbach. 

Can't wait to read the book German Pork Butchers in Britain by Sue Gibbons!  Never realised the German link would un earth so much facinating history about a Sheffield phenomenon!

Martin
Western Australia

[johnbhoy]

Welcome to the thread madburg