Finding Ancestors in Jerusalem in the Late 19th Century
Finding Ancestors in Jerusalem in the Late 19th Century www.tree-sleuths.co.uk The Jaffa Gate, towards the end of the 19th-century, photo: Bonfils House How _do_ you perform genealogical research into late 19th century Jerusalem, from a desk in lockdown Britain? This is the story of an unusually productive attempt to do just that. Why? The later 19th century was a difficult time for Jews in Eastern European countries like Romania, with the introduction of laws effectively depriving them of their livelihoods and forcing them to move elsewhere. It had long been rumoured that my great grandfather was from Romania so, as a lockdown project, I set out to unearth more about this part of my family. My own father had believed, until only three years before his death at the age of 89, that his grandfather had been English. Why would he not be? His grandfather’s family spoke English at home. His grandfather ran a pastoral care centre for British soldiers during WW1 (this was before the days of