52 Ancestors #6: (Guest Blog) Flung to the Far Corners of the World

Ancestor Name: Alfred Wolfe BRISK (1880-1942)

I have many immigrant ancestors so one of their stories seemed like a natural fit for this week's theme, So Far Away. Many emigrated from Scotland to far-flung places like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or the U.S. Others left different parts of eastern Europe in pursuit of a better life in places like Brazil or Guyana. But the person I kept thinking about wasn't even one of my ancestors. He was the great grandfather of the husband of my 4th cousin once removed. I first read about him in a book my cousin had written about the Brisk family.

Sarah, lives in New Zealand, and found me in through Ancestry.com. I live in the U.S. How's that for so far away?! Thanks to modern communications technology, we work together researching our common Scottish Semple family. And she has taught me a lot about proper research. I seem to learn more when working with her, plus it's always more fun to have a collaborator!

I thought Sarah would be the best person to tell Albert's story, so over to Sarah......

Albert Wolfe Brisk was the grandson of Jewish immigrants who had fled Belarus with their young family (including Albert’s father) during a sustained period of anti-Semitism in the mid-1860s.  The family settled in Safed, Palestine which is where Albert was born in 1880.

As a teenager, Albert moved to Switzerland where he trained as a watchmaker, completing his training in 1897.  He had an uncle who had recently moved to Singapore and so that was where Albert moved to next.  He opened a store in Kling Street for the Anglo-Swiss Watch Company in Singapore in 1898.  Albert became very successful and paid for his parents and half-brothers and sisters to move to Singapore. 

He married Betty Cornfield about 1902 in Singapore and they had six children. Betty was born in Constantinople (now Istanbul). 

Albert Wolfe and Betty (Cornfield) Brisk with their six children, circa 1920;
photograph courtesy of Sarah Semple

He became a naturalised Singaporean citizen in 1910.  He had a number of rental properties and his children were educated at the local convents in Singapore.  One of the nuns set aside a room so that the Jewish children could have somewhere to eat their Kosher lunches together.

Albert and Betty used to travel to places like Antwerp and Zurich to buy diamonds.  They were a very close couple who were seldom apart.  However in 1936, Betty took her youngest daughter to Shanghai in China to visit one of her sons, and then to Yokohama in Japan to visit another son.  Betty died unexpectedly in Yokohama.

Albert continued to live in Singapore where four of his children still lived.  The first Japanese bombs fell on Singapore in December 1941.  Albert managed to get his youngest daughter Lulu out of Singapore on one of the last ships to leave in January 1942.  He gave her some jewellery to sell and she successfully made it to England where she worked twelve hour shifts in a munitions factory in Leeds.

Albert and his five remaining children were interned by the Japanese.  Albert and three sons were interned in Changi in Singapore, one son was interned in Shanghai and his daughter Esther was interned in Sumatra. 

Esther had tried to flee Singapore on board the SS Kuala which sailed from Singapore on 13 February 1942 with approximately 500 evacuees on-board.  The ship was bombed by the Japanese with at least 100 people dying on-board.  The call was made to abandon ship, and as evacuees were swimming to the nearby island of Pom Pong, Japanese planes were bombing those in the water.  Esther spent nearly eight hours in the water before being rescued by some Chinese fishermen.  She was then captured by the Japanese and spent the remainder of the war in a women’s camp.  She never spoke about her experiences in the camp.

Albert died from starvation and a cerebral hemorrhage at the hospital attached to Changi on 19 December 1942.  His children managed to survive their internment although all came out of camp malnourished, grossly underweight and most had suffered from diseases like tuberculosis.

His son who had been in Shanghai ended up emigrating with his family to Australia and the remaining children eventually made their way to England to where their sister Lulu was waiting for them. 

The phrase “so far away” must have been felt with great frequency by Albert and his family.  First by Albert leaving his family in Palestine and moving to Switzerland and then Singapore.  Albert’s wife dying away from home in Japan, his daughter Lulu fleeing to England, his other daughter Esther surviving the Japanese bombing and being interned in Sumatra.  The family was displaced after the war with surviving family members leaving Asia to begin again in a new country. So many changes, so far away.

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge optional theme So Far Away.

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I first discovered Albert Wolfe Brisk's story in The Brisk Family of Brest-Litovsk, Palestine and Beyond, by Sarah Semple and published in 2011.

Other stories of ancestors who found themselves civilians in the midst of war:

Odessa to Vancouver:  The Long Way
Living in War-torn Europe
Escaping from Eastern Germany
There's a Nazi in the Family
Trip Around the World: New York to Egypt (Franco-Syrian War)

Other guest blog posts by Sarah:

Am I Related? Definitely. Maybe.
What's in a Name?

52 Ancestors #48: He Died a Long Way from Home

Ancestor Name: Joseph BARR (1897-1917)

Joseph Barr is an ancestor in a round about way, but I found his story so interesting and poignant I wanted to share it.

He was born on 4 January 1897 at the family home, which were workers' cottages at Blantyre Works in Blantyre Parish. His parents were Joseph and Isabella (Muir) Barr.[1] and Joseph worked as a laborer at the foundry. Joseph was the couple's middle child. He had an older brother named Hugh and his sister, Mary, was born in 1898. In 1901 the family lived at 74 McAlpine's Buildings and his father cut steel castings all day long in the hot factory.

Joseph's mother, Isabella, died in late 1905, leaving her husband with three children between the ages of 11 and 7. In 1910 Joseph's father married Christina Muir[1], who was his late wife's older sister. She had never been married, but had three children between the ages of 23 and 14. Those children were first cousins and step-siblings to Joseph and Isabella (Muir) Barr's children. Joseph and Christina also had a child three years before they married.

Glasgow Road in 1903; photograph courtesy of The Blantyre Project

In 1911 the blended family lived at 293 Glasgow Road and Joseph was still working at the steel works. Later that month, Christina's daughter, who was named Isabella Laird Muir, married Charles Findlay in the Barr home. Charles Findlay was the great grandson of my great great great grandparents, Robert and Henrietta (Brown) Muir.

Joseph Barr was likely conscripted into the 1/8 Battalion of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), which was part of the 156th Brigade, 52nd (Lowland) Division, some time in 1916 as he did not qualify for a Star medal at the end of the war. The division had been fighting the previous year in Gallipoli and had been evacuated to Egypt in January 1916. I believe Joseph Barr joined his battalion there. In Egypt and Palestine, the division fought in the battle of Romani and the three battles for Gaza before taking the city of Jerusalem.

On 24 October 1917 Private Joseph Barr used a British Army form to write a will. He was one of over 26,000 Scottish soldiers to do so. In it he left everything to his sister, Mary Barr, who lived at Burnside Cottage with her father and step-mother. Burnside Cottage in Springwell was also the home home of Joseph's step-sister and first cousin and her husband, Charles and Isabella Laird (Muir) Findlay.

Will of Private Joseph Barr, written in his own hand; image courtesy of
ScotlandsPeople

On 11 December 1917 Joseph Barr was either killed in action or died from wounds sustained in battle. (The documents are contradictory on this point.) He death occurred five days before the Armistice of Erzincan, which officially brought an end to the hostilities in the Middle Eastern theater.

My supposition is that Joseph died from wounds received in the Third Battle of Gaza, which was fought in October and November, culminating in the capture of Beersheba. If he was killed in action, it would have been been two days after the Ottoman Army surrendered Jerusalem. British General Allenby walked into the walled city on 11 December and reviewed the troops with much ceremony later in the day.

Joseph Barr was buried in the Kantara War Memorial Cemetery in El-Qantarah el-Sharqiyya, Egypt. His name is also engraved on the Blantyre War Memorial.

Blantyre War Memorial, High Blantyre; photograph courtesy of Scottish Mining Website

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge.

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[1] I can find no connection between Isabella and Christina Muir to "my" Muir line.

Joseph Barr was born on 4 January 1897 in Blantyre to Joseph and Isabella (Muir) Barr. In 1915 he enlisted in the 1/8 Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and saw action in Gallipoli, Egypt, and Palestine. He was killed in action or died of wounds received in battle on 11 December 1917 in Palestine. He is buried in the Kantara War Memorial Cemetery in Egypt.

Other posts about ancestors who served in World War I.

Trip Around the World: New York to Egypt

In 1920 the William Judkins Bailey family traveled to British East Africa, now Kenya, to be missionaries there for the Church of God.  This post is from Aunt Joan's brother, Homer's, journal and is his description of the first leg of their trip from New York to Kenya. Homer was 13 years old when the family made the trip.

From Anderson, Indiana, to Kijabe, Kenya

Following World War I, before the dust was settled in certain areas, such as the near East, my folks packed up what to them seemed the necessary belongings and left for Africa. We sailed away from these shores on board the RMS Aquitania out of New York one midnight in June 1920.

RMS Aquitania

The decks of the Aquitania were really roomy. There was something of wonder every place you looked; each stairway led to a new discovery on that magnificent city of the seas. It was like three hotels at least but floating along at considerable speed.

Southampton, England, was our first real stop. That was where our knee-buckled 1918 breeches were labeled "girl garments" by the local boys. We stayed just a day or two and then embarked on the Channel ferry late one evening. When morning dawned we were at the docks in Le Harve, France.

Getting the suitcases off the ferry and to the train station took some doing, but soon we were chugging our way to Paris. I found myself gawking at the sidewalk urinals.

Paris urinals

We didn't stay in Paris long as we had a ship to catch in Marseilles. This ship was old and tired; it's very name eludes me. The name painted on all the usual places was Greek. I will never forget the giant sized cockroaches jumping about among the pots and pans in the kitchen.

Marsailles, France

When we arrived in Egypt, two mules towed the tram car which whisked us along in Cairo. What a city; what a ride! Palm trees were quite new to us. Local people, dressed in flowing robes and turbans, were sitting on the sand by show cases or large trays of dried figs, dates and cakes or coffee. Along some of the streets there were continuous awnings for blocks on end. Men would sit at tables under these awnings and have coffee or play dominos or checkers. Life seemed sort of leisurely.

After leaving Egypt, we sailed to Jaffa, Palestine, and then journeyed to Jerusalem, riding our first narrow-gauge rail train. It was also our first experience with the class system -- first, second and third class coaches. A large crowd gathered to get on the train. There were turbaned gentlemen, veiled ladies, robed Arabs, as well as an assortment of other nationals. Ragged folks, well dressed folks, some ancient and some very young were all eager to be on the train. When it came some people hoisted luggage and friends through windows, they guarded doors to keep out the invasion, saving space for themselves. Conditions were not at all orderly. What a scramble!

Volumes could still be written about Jerusalem that ancient, historical, political, religious, old yet new city. A city destroyed, rebuilt, burned to the ground, resurrected, broken to rubble and still it stands on those memorable hills -- the city of David, the city of Solomon. Oh what a city!

Jerusalem wheat market, 1920

In Jerusalem we engaged a vehicle resembling an old Western stage coach for the run down to the Dead Sea. By the shore we saw a number of excavated squares some two or three feet deep. A small ditch connected each square to the sea. By this method each square was filled with salt water, sealed off, and evaporation left a cake of salt.

Auto on the Dead Sea beach circa 1925. Photo courtesy of ynetnews.com

The present Jericho contains but a few buildings. One of the more outstanding was the Hotel Jericho. The walls are painted white and the roof was made of vivid red tile. Mosquitoes were numerous and we slept under netting for the first time.

We walked many miles the day we went to Nazareth. There was war then. Heavy gun fire could be heard in the distance. Traffic was almost non-existent. A military truck came along and gave us a lift. We were taken across the Sea of Galilee in the commander's motor launch. Due to the general unrest in the area, he urged us to spend the night in his military camp. So we had a tent, camp beds, and all the comforts of home.

Syrian soldiers during the Franco-Syrian War

Our wandering from place to place in the Holy Land was halted by the war action between Galilee and Damascus.(1) We saw many large shells along the roads. The three weeks allocated for our visit to the Middle East seemed all too soon gone. There was so much more to see and a lot we would have to remember.

Next for our family was to return to Port Said and our ship.

This leg of the journey will be continued in a future post.
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(1) This was the Franco-Syrian war which took place between the Arab Kingdom of Syria and France in 1920.