The Graham Family
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All members of this
British Family are descended from Robert Haarburger who was married to
an English Woman. They emigrated to Great Britain in 1906/7. Because of
anti-German feelings in Britain and the tension building up to the First
World War, Robert changed his surname to what he believe to be a typical
British name, 'Graham'. We do not know why he choose this name as yet !
Unfortunately changing his name did
not stop the British authorities taking Robert from his wife and young
family during World War I. He his taken as a 'prisoner of War' and interned
on the Isle of Man for the duration of the War along with thousands of
other 'undesirable aliens'.
We know very little about his life
other than a few details that my Grandmother told to my Mother. We know
that the Haarburger family he left behind were originally of the Jewish
faith, but we do not know if Robert was a practising Jew. We also knew
that his family in Germany lived in an area of Hamburg know as Hamburg
13 (a postal district, thought to be called Harburg). We have various reports
of Robert's occupation. My Grandmother mentioned him being a Silversmith
and also a headmaster of a school. My Father was lead to believe Robert
had been a merchant seaman. One of my older cousins told us that she had
heard that Robert married his British wife, Florence Isabelle in Paris,
where their third son was also born, but again we do not know if this is
true.
When they first moved to Great Britain
they lived in Wales and Robert worked in a coal mine. After his internment
during the First World War the 'Graham's', and their three sons, moved
to Kensington in London. It was around this time that their eldest son,
Leonard, died of influenza. The Graham's worked in Kensington 'in Service'
at a affluent home. Later on they moved to Plumstead in South London, firstly
Plumstead Road and later Crescent Road. Robert died of TB in Hither Green
hospital, South London, when he was still quite young, but we do not know
the date. His wife Florence, is thought to have re-married and her name
became Troughton.
These were all the details I had when
I began my search for my German 'Family'. The only other information I
had was the names of Robert's brothers and sisters. It was very lucky that
my Grandmother had told my Mother who in turn wrote the names down, as
they could not be remembered by any members of the family today. It was
because of these names I managed to trace my family !
Here is a copy of a letter that
I mailed out via the Internet and traditional mail to anyone I could find
with the surname of Haarburger.
Dear Haarburger,
My name is Mark Graham and I live in Surrey in England.
I found your name and address on the Internet and I am writing to you on
behalf of my family as our family name used to be Haarburger. It was changed
to Graham in the early 1900's. We are trying to trace members of our family,
the Haarburger's. My Great Grandfather's name was Kurt Haarburger (this
has since been found to be wrong and that his name was Robert, originally
he was named Herz Hugo). He and his family came from Harburg, now part
of Hamburg in Germany. He married an English woman called Florence Isabelle(We
don't know her maiden name) and they moved to Wales in the UK in the year
1906-7. They changed their surname to Graham because of anti-Germany feelings
in the UK. My Great Grandfather had two brothers and one sister who stayed
in Germany. They're
names were Franz, Hans and Gertrude. We think my Great Grandfather
was a merchant seaman, but we have also been told he was a silversmith
and a headmaster of a school. We also believe that Franz was a solicitor.
The family also had a connection with the optical trade. We are fairly
sure that the family was of the Jewish faith. We have no records and not
many other details. During the first World War my Great Grandfather was
interned in a prison camp on the Isle of Man. We believe that he destroyed
all family records. He also had three sons, Wilfred (my Grandfather), Arnold,
and Leonard who died at the age of fifteen in 1918. My Great Grandfather,
Robert died of TB in London when he was relatively young.
If you think that you or any members of your
family recognise the names (particularly older family members) I would
be most grateful if you contact me. We now have a large and happy family
with the name of Graham, but we have wished for many, many years to find
out more of our history and what happened to our family in Germany. It
seems through my research that the Haarburger name is very unusual. I have
only managed to find around twenty Haarburger's in the whole world !
Thank you for you time, I hope you will take this letter seriously
as it means so much to our family,
Mr Mark L Graham. (Family name was Haarburger)
It was because of this letter that
I found my German relatives ! They recognised the names in the letter and
knew that a member of their family had moved to Great Britain and changed
his name to Graham. My own Father knew of no communication between his
Father, and Uncle, with members of the Haarburger family in Germany. He
knew of just one letter that arrived in the 1950's. I don't know how the
Haarburger's found my Grandfather and Great-Uncle, but they received a
letter about a family death. As far as we know they did not reply because
of fear of British authorities discovering their German nationality.
There was still much anti German feeling in the UK at this time. They had
no British papers and were worried that they, and their families may be
deported. They also had memories of their own fathers interment in the
First World War.
Family Photography's
To see any of the photo's full
size please click on the thumbnail picture...
Robert and Florence Haarburger
and their sons.
A photo of
the three Haarburger Brothers taken in 1914
Varoius Photo's of Wilfred
Graham (My Grandfather)
More to come soon !
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