Re: Ostheimer


"Don Aitken" <don-aitken@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:craj44levg7n6rktu8isqtggdk8c8jfjrc@xxxxxxxxxx
On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 14:01:28 -0700 (PDT), operafan
<bh_8611@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 6 Jun, 19:18, "C Rihan" <csrihan.no.s...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
"operafan" <bh_8...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:a66c65ee-b1d5-49e8-9d33-f4bb5784bf4b@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


At the other end of the line, his grandson David Richard Ostheimer
apparently left England sometime around 1913-1916, leaving his wife
and children behind, to go to Australia to find out whether it was
somewhere they should emigrate to. The plan was, so the family story
goes, that he would then return and they would all emigrate together,
but he was never heard from again.

Could this have been a story for the children and neighbours to
explain why David was missing?

Around the time of WW1 then, and the German surname would no
doubt cause problems too. He may not have got as far as Australia.

Did the remaing family stay with the surname?
Did they change address?

Thanks for your help. Yes the rest of the family did stay with the
same name and they did move around, but always within the same local
area of north London.

If they moved, there is the possibility that any letters sent by him (or
notifying his family of his death ) may not have reached them, and if he
did
return years later he may not have been able to find them.

As I mentioned in my oriinal post, the
possibilty of a change of name is significant, given the time and
context. What were the evidentiary requirements of people travelling
overseas at that time? How easy was it to travel under an assumed
name?

No formalities (not even a passport) were required for people,
irrespective of natonality, to move from Germany to the UK in the
1840s, or from the UK to Australia up to 1914, and they could do so
under whatever name they chose. Restrictions were imposed on aliens
only after the outbreak of WWI, and even those would not have affected
the grandson, who must have been a British subject by birth.

I don't think the grandson would have had any problem until war
broke out.
However once it had, people would be more suspicious of strangers
and then the surname could have caused extra problems for him.
Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or with the wrong people
could add to the problems.
I found this
http://www.teachers.ash.org.au:80/dnutting/germanaustralia/e/internment.htm
which gives an idea of problems facing people of German background in
Australia.

Best wishes
C.Rihan





.

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