Myer Rothbaum
Genealogy is a bit like hunting for treasure with a map full of holes. You have a little bit of information, and you know there are some more gems out there somewhere, but finding them requires determination, lateral thinking and a little luck.
On the other hand, sometimes all it takes is a trip to the cemetery.
On a visit to Rookwood Cemetery, I solved a mystery that had been bugging me since I first joined my family’s collaborative genealogy project: what on earth happened to my great-grandmother’s father, Myer Rothbaum?
Myer Rothbaum (b 12 Oct 1855) and his brother, Gershon (AKA George b. 7 Mar 1871), were born in Cracow, Galicia – back then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, today in Poland.
Myer migrated to London where he married Leah Cypres (b. 22 Aug 1862, Cracow) in 1880. They are listed in the 1881 UK census as living at 43 Bedford Street, Mile End Old Town. George followed and married Leah’s sister, Theresa, in 1885.
Myer and Leah had three children in London – Minnie, Gerald (also known as George) and Henry. They migrated to Australia, possibly aboard the Aberdeen, in 1885. My great-grandmother, Jane Sarah (AKA Sadie) was born in Sydney on 8 Nov 1890.
George and Theresa also came to Australia about this time so we can only assume the two families traveled together – although I am yet to find documentation to confirm this. I still have a huge amount of work to piece together the family’s movements however I have some wonderful letters written by Nan’s fiancee – Mr Arthur Davis (grandson of Solomon Schlossman) – during their courtship, which I hope will give me some clues. These letters will be the subject of another post when I finally decipher Arthur’s handwriting.
It took me a long time to figure out the details of Myer’s death as I was unable to find any record in the NSW BDM register, but it suddenly dawned on me one day that although I knew my Nan’s name had been Jane Sarah Rothbaum, I also knew that she was better known as Sadie Myers. In looking closer at the family tree I realized that several of Myer’s children had the surname Myers as well. I came to the screamingly obvious conclusion that the family had changed their name!
The question still stood though: what had Myer Rothbaum changed his name to?
And so we come to the cemetery. As I was planning my field trip I looked up the plot details for each person. Rookwood Cemetery has an app with each and every gravesite geotagged and so when you click the link you can view the precise location of your ancestor’s grave. The surrounding graves have the surnames of their occupants on the map too.
In the case of Myer Rothbaum, it was in finding his wife, Leah, that I found him! Leah, it seems, did not change her name and so was buried a Rothbaum. On the map, in the plot next to her, was one Lewis Myers. Was this a coincidence? I check the NSW BDM and there was a death certificate in his name. So now all I needed to do was go and check it out with my own eyes.
That Sunday was fine and mild: a typical Sydney winter’s day. I wandered through the old Jewish sections of Rookwood finding each person, photographing their final resting places and pausing for a few moments to pay my respects. I got to section five and found Leah’s grave. It was a double plot with a single headstone. Underneath the inscription marking her passing were the words: Also Lewis Myers who passed away 23rd April 1937 Aged 81 years G.R.H.S.
So there it was; the undeniable evidence. Myer Rothbaum had become Lewis Myers.
But that wasn’t the end of the story; I wondered if he had made the change official. So the following day I went to the Department of Lands – housed in that wonderful old building next to Hyde Park Barracks. Up to 1992, it was this department that was responsible for the administration of name changes by deed poll.
According to the clerk on duty, only about 20% of people who changed their names actually registered the change, so he thought I had a pretty slim chance of finding anything. He seemed excited that I was trying nonetheless and led me to a large room packed with tall metal shelving full of big blue ledgers. We walked to the very back of the room where he pulled out a single volume and handed it to me. I opened it, turned to the R’s, and scanned the list of names.
There, written in a nice neat cursive about halfway down the page, a single line: Rothbaum, Lewis Myer to Lewis Myer – 1033. He had made it official!
We noted the reference number, went back upstairs and I paid the money to get an official copy.
So, there you have it. Myer Rothbaum’s full name was actually Lewis Myer Rothbaum, and he simply dropped his surname to create a new surname. Now I just have to figure out WHY?