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Posts in 2022 before 17th June were sent to personal WhatsApp accounts (before group formed) 12/02/2022 WPS (Grandad's Birthday). A picture of Grandad walking in Prague with his mother, to mark today, his 105th birthday.
11/03/2022 WPS (Great Grandpa's Birthday). A couple of pictures of great grandfather Henry ("Harry") Pettet to mark his 130th (born 11.3.1892)
27/03/2022 WPS (Great Grannie's Birthday). A photo of Great Grannie Eunice Pettet née Moss (27.3.1896 - 30.4.1994) on her 126th.
I’m also sending you the letter of thanks Great Grannie received after WW2 for "opening her house to strangers". Very topical! However, we don’t know any details, whether this was for refugees or for servicemen - I don’t think the subject ever came up in conversation. Signed by Queen Elizabeth (mother of the present queen). EWP-royal-thank-you.pdf [3 page pdf opens in new window] 17/06/2022 WPS. Created group "Schwitzer Stuff". 17/06/2022 WPS. Joan’s parents Harry and Eunice Pettet were married in Cressing Church on 17.6.1924, so today is their 98th anniversary. They had met the previous summer on holiday in Switzerland; Harry was 32, Eunice was 28; Eunice had to cut short her au pairing in Belgium to marry.
Here then is the wedding group, from left to right: Laura Moss (bride’s mother); Harry Birkin (bride’s uncle, home at Tiptree on holiday from Australia, to give Eunice away as bride’s father Mark Moss had died 12 years earlier); Mary Dyer (bridesmaid, 2nd cousin on Moss side); Henry Pettet (groom); Eunice Moss (bride); William Sutcliffe* (best man, bank clerk from Maidenhead), Olive Moss* (bridesmaid, bride’s sister); Charles Pettet* (groom’s father). *These three are listed on the wedding certificate as witnesses.
The Chelmsford Chronicle (report 20-6-2024) describes the bride’s dress as "ivory charmeuse, with a square silk lace train suspended from the shoulders; her veil was of Tambour lace, with a wreath of orange blossom, and she carried a bouquet of pink and white roses", and adds "her ornaments included a gold and ivory pendant, a souvenir from Switzerland". Olive "wore mauve georgette and charmeuse, with silver lace cap, and a gold slave bangle", and Mary was "dressed in cream net and lace, with a pink and mauve piping, with pink veil, and a gold pendant"; the two bridesmaids had bouquets of mauve sweet peas. The reception was at Rook Hall, Cressing with 50 guests. Bride and groom then motored to Colchester hospital where Eunice’s brother Stan was recuperating after a motorbike accident, before getting the Harwich boat for Belgium for their honeymoon in Switzerland. Immediately after the service the bride’s mother and sister left their bouquets on Clive’s grave (bride’s younger brother), who they had buried the previous summer. 01/07/2022 WPS. Grannie (born 1.7.1925) with one of her prize marrows, on the balcony at Shepherds Hill.
15/09/2022 WPS. Stage 2 of the International Cycle Race around Slovakia passed trough Tepličky this morning in front of Simon Schwitzer's tomb - church visible in the distance.
19/09/2022 WPS. On this day that we bury the Queen... 19.9.2009 we remember. Here is Grannie Joan with (from left) her Aunt Maud, her mother Eunice, and her grandmother (Laura).
12/10/2022 WPS. On this day... Alice Schwitzer, née Szilard, my grandmother, was born on 12.10.1893 in Hlohovec, Slovakia, the eldest of 3 children. She married Štefan at 22, they divorced when she was 35, which required the bishop's dispensation. They had 3 children. Later she had a partner Ernö Weisz, whom she never married. Living in Budapest during the war, they avoided deportation at that time, and returned to Hlohovec when the situation became more difficult in Hungary. Deported on 2.12.1944 to Ravensbrück women's concentration camp, with number 91464, she died there on 29.3.1945, a month before the Russians liberated it, and just 14 years before I was born.
Grandad devoted a chapter (chapter 5) of his memoirs to his mother Alice, you can read what he wrote here: www.schw.it/zer/mfty5.pdf [pdf opens in a new window] 16/10/2022 WPS. On this day... Henrietta Phipps, Grannie’s grandmother, was born, on 16-10-1865. Here she is aged 24 (I assume) around the time she got married.
You can see her date of birth in their family bible: she’s at the bottom, the youngest of 12 children. Yes twelve - that wasn’t unusual at that time. You’ll see their children came every two years, except for a gap of 5 years before Henrietta was born. There are three boys and nine girls. A sister (Ellen) had already died aged 12, two years before Henrietta was born; the death is recorded at the bottom below a line.
It looks as if their father spelled "Elizer" and "Henrietter" as they sound; spellings were not always consistent and their father Henry Phipps probably didn’t have much of an education. He was raised by a single mother; he dug wells for a living, which was probably about as dangerous and unhealthy a profession you could think of. But as you’ll see later - for there’s a photo of them - they are a fine looking couple. This bible was already a bit tatty so 67 years after she was born her son (Charles Pettet, my great grandfather) typed it up, which is a bit easier to read! Now I’m sending this list on to you after another 90 years!
I think this next photo is Henrietta’s parents, Henry Phipps (1812-1881) and Sarah Phipps (born Clark, 1816-1906). [added later: but it could equally well be a sibling] You’ll see Henrietta resembles her mother. Sarah was born the year after Waterloo.
Here’s another portrait of her mother Sarah Phipps [or a sister].
This next picture is I think my grandfather’s two grandmothers (they were all living in the vicinity of Borden and Maidstone, Henrietta’s mother was living with her). On the left with the long nose, Elizabeth Pettet (born Goodger), Henrietta’s mother-in-law; and on the right Sarah Phipps, Henrietta’s mother. The photo is presumably in the 1890s - there’s a very particular style of hat, skirt, blouse and jacket here! - does that date the period? - is this normal dress or are they dressed up for the photo or some occasion? [again, it could also be Henrietta with a sister]
Henrietta’s father died when she was 15, and she and her mother were left in poverty until she married 9 years later. She was the only one left at home looking after her mother, a brother and sister having emigrated, and all the other siblings having "gone into service" (become servants) in London. Here’s my grandfather (Henry Pettet, recorded in 1977 when he was 85) explaining how his parents met and how an uncle emigrated to Australia and an aunt to New Zealand: HCP audio [opens in new window]. One sister, Eliza Phipps (1860-1967), just above Henrietta in the list above, at some point emigrated to Canada, and lived to nearly 107. Here is Aunt Eliza (married name Hodge), picture possibly taken in 1960 for her 100th birthday. Grannie was in contact with her, and as children we were often told about Aunt Eliza, but we never met her. Eliza’s daughter Rose lived to at least 105, so there are some good genes there!
Henrietta was more delicate than her mother - in the full recording my grandfather mentions that his mother was often not well. They only had one child, my grandfather Henry (Harry) Pettet (1892-1983). It was Henrietta who encouraged Harry to join Boots as an apprentice, he later studied and qualified as a Pharmacist (which exempted him from fighting in World War I). He worked for Boots the rest of his working career. Here’s his pharmacy medal dated 1914.
Henrietta’s husband, Charles Pettet, was a carpenter and became works manager for a building firm, Elmore & Sons, in Maidstone. His son Harry worked there for a year after leaving school. Charles later bought the business and did well. He built a house for himself called Elmscroft, which Grannie always described as magnificent. Here’s the house, and Henrietta and Charles on the doorstep. The house looks enormous for a couple, the garden is perhaps newly laid out here. There’s a conservatory. No sign of poverty now.
You can see their address on his business card. Telephone numbers were not so long in those days!
Charles was a member of the masons ("Robinson Lodge") - I have his tunic, pouch, and certificate - so the couple got invites to lavish dinners with the mayor in the early 1920s. This invite is probably 1926.
They ran a car, here is Henrietta (sitting in the back seat!), Charles standing, probably 1927. I can’t tell the make, does anyone recognise it?
But it was not to last. The business failed in the economic downturn of the 1930s. My grandfather said his father had borrowed too much. After mortgaging his properties, he eventually had to sell the business and properties and they moved into the front room of my grandparents house in Haslemere during the war, and stayed there for about 10 years. My grandfather bought and retained two tenanted cottages which his father had built in the orchard of Elmscroft, but always considered them a nuisance and eventually sold them. This picture of Henrietta, taken (and signed) by my grandfather (who was a photographer) is in those later years.
Henrietta outlived her husband by 3 years, and died aged 89 in 1955. There is a picture of her holding Laura as a baby, which I can’t find at the moment! This has been a long one, I hope it is of interest! Let me close saying that everyone mentioned and pictured in this little thread is your direct ascendant (except Eliza & Rose who are a side branch). You carry some of their genes. They live on in you. 16/11/2022 WPS. Miroslav, the former mayor of Tepličky, has messaged me to say that once again this year on All Saints Day he opened great grandfather Simon Schwitzer's mausoleum and lit a candle, so people could approach the entrance and look inside, adding that some young people were interested in the history and he was able to tell them about Simon Schwitzer, and others were also talking about what their parents had said about him. He sent these pictures of the cemetery.
19/12/2022 WPS. On this day... was born Róza Schwarcz, my/our great great grandmother, on 19.12.1835
For Susan’s generation: please meet your 3x Great Grandmother! For Anna’s generation: she is their 4xGreat Grandmother! Today is Róza’s 187th birthday! From what I tell you today, it seems she was quite a lady, living to a great age, with a big and notable family, and very many descendants - including of course you! Róza was born in Szinye, now Svinia (in eastern Slovakia, near Prešov, north of Slovakia’s second city Košice). She later lived in a large house with estate in Forró Encs, now in north-eastern Hungary (there’s a photo of this house in Grandad’s memoirs in chapter 4 page 18). She had 2 sisters, and the three girls were taught by a tutor, Mor Hajós, who was 10 years older than her. Later Róza married Mor! They went on to have nine children: Isidor (b 1859, farmer), Emil (b 1860), Kornelia/Nella (b 1864, Barbara’s great grandmother), Paula (b 1865), Hermina (b 1866, my great grandmother, and also Barbara’s, as her grandparents were first cousins), Albin (b 1867, photographer, emigrated to USA), Géza (b 1869, lawyer, Tamás’s grandfather), Lajos (b 1870, judge), and then after a gap came Irén (b 1878). You can see these nine siblings set out on the right hand side of Grandad’s maternal family tree (see pdf). Grandad knew a little about them; cousin Tamás (who is Géza’s grandson) has a lot of detail on them and their descendants in his online database. Grandad lost touch with several of his second cousins, including Albin’s descendants in America. MKS materal family tree [pdf opens in a new window] Mor died in 1889 aged 63, when Róza was only 53, and their youngest (Irén) was just 10. He is buried in Košice (Tamás found his grave in 1999). Róza lived another 35 years. Róza was born Jewish, but converted to Catholicism, and was baptised on 30.4.1919 (which may or may not correspond to the time from which she attended church, which I would guess was much earlier). From her death notice (see below), you can see she died a catholic. In terms of family resemblance, I can’t help noticing that I have Róza’s philtrum (dimple between upper lip and nose). Grandad and Edward also had/have this to some extent. You may find other family resemblances. We don’t have much info what Róza was like, but Grandad met her, his great grandmother, when he was about 7, in his great aunt Irén’s flat in Budapest (as described in chapter 4 page 20 of his memoirs). This was the occasion that Grandad found himself playing battleships with Irén’s children (his mother’s first cousins) on a mirror with hidden magnets, but unfortunately Grandad did not understand the Hungarian word for mine (akna) so became rather confused when his much older cousins kept shouting akna! at him, the embarrassment of this childhood incident clearly sticking in his mind, as he recalled it perfectly for his memoirs. Róza died the following year (on 29.4.1925), aged 89, which was a good age for the time. Her death certificate states cause as stroke (agyvérzés), and indicates she was in Budapest at Nyúl u. 15 (near Széll Kalmán Square). A couple of years ago I found her death notice on one of the genealogy websites, here it is. All Róza’s living descendants are listed, so it’s fascinating to compare these names with Grandad’s family tree.
Surnames come first in Hungarian. Róza’s name has these abbreviations: In the left column of Róza’s death notice are listed 7 of her 9 children (gyermekei). Her married daughters are listed in the form "Mrs Smith John" (with né suffix) then "sz." (=born) with their maiden surname (Hajós) and their own first name. The eldest two children are missing from this list as they had already died: Isidor in 1906 aged 47, and Emil in 1918 aged 58. The next column lists 4 daughters-in-law (menyei). Nelly Clark is the granddaughter of the famous Scottish engineer Adam Clark who built (and later saved - but that’s another story) Budapest’s famous Chain Bridge. Jenny van Dousen is the "English or US girl" in Grandad’s family tree (she was American, from Chattanooga, Tennessee, which is also where their children were born). Then at the foot of the middle column are 3 sons-in-law (vejei). Note Simon Szilard (my great grandfather) is incorrectly listed as Sandor Szilard (this error is repeated in the left column). The last two names in this column are actually grandsons-in-law (another mistake!) the last one being István (Stefan) Schwitzer, my grandfather. In the right hand column are Róza’s grandchildren (unokai), the seven lines listing the grandchildren of Kornelia, Emil, Hermina, Albin, Geza, Irén and Isidor respectively. Grandad’s question mark against Kossuth (married name of Emil’s daughter) was correct! Albin’s two American children are listed as Emily and Charlie (Grandad did not have these names!). Géza’s daughter is marked as Märy (Grandad did not have this). Her brother Gyuri is the mathematician who wrote the Geometry book (Tamas’s father). Everything else Grandad had absolutely correctly! Finally at the bottom right are listed great grandchildren (dedunokai) in three lines, respectively the grandchildren of Kornelia, Emil and Hermina. The first name here is George Polgar (Polgár Gyuri), and the final line here is of course Grandad himself (Schwitzer Matyi) and his sisters. Róza’s family is the branch that Grandad describes as the most intellectual of his ancestors: of Róza’s nine children, three studied law, her daughter Hermina (my great grandmother) married a lawyer (Simon Szilard, my great grandfather). Géza (Tamas’s grandfather) was a practising lawyer, Lajos was a judge. Róza’s daughter Irén married Professor Pal Ranschburg, a professor of psychology. The Ranschburg Effect (see Wikipedia) is named after him, you can easily find more about Professor Pal online. Unfortunately this couple died of starvation in the Siege of Budapest in the winter of 1944/45 when one million Russian (and other) soldiers encircled Budapest (defended by Hungarian and German troops) and destroyed about 80% of the city with artillery, whilst the population cowered in basements, and according to legend many resorted to cutting meat from dead horses in the street. Well, that’s it about Róza from me! I hope you find all this interesting! Do let me know if you can spot other family resemblances!. 30/12/2022 WPS. On this day... seventy-eight years ago... on 30.12.1944 my great grandfather Simon Szilard died aged 83, at home in Hlohovec, Slovakia. That he had not been deported was a miracle, as he was a practising jew. There were no official exemptions from deportation, but somehow, perhaps through the frailty of advanced years making him unable to travel, or through being the local lawyer, he was not taken away. Instead he lived his final days peacefully; Micka, his niece, adopted daughter and carer, was with him when he died. His two surviving daughters, Alice and Boris, had already been deported, Alice only 4 weeks before he died, though this terrible news had been kept from him. One of eight children, Simon's parents were farmers; he studied law. Here he is doing military service in his early twenties.
His military service in the 1880s would have been in the Royal Hungarian Honvéd ("Defender of the Homeland"), one of the four armed forces of Austria-Hungary at the time. According to this scheme, two collar stars indicate Corporal; and Simon's cuff insignia is that specific to the Hungarian regiment. The distinctive braiding at the top of the trousers appears on other Hungarian uniforms of the period.
At 31 Simon married Hermina Hajós. Here they are on their wedding day in 1892 (digitally restored by me, apologies to those who have seen it before).
Simon and Hermina had four children: Alice (b 1893, my grandmother, died in Ravensbrück age 51), Erzsebet (b 1895, died aged 2), Boris (b 1898, Barbara’s grandmother, died in Auschwitz age 46), and Pista (b 1901, committed suicide aged 19 while doing military service). Here is a later picture of Simon, date unknown. As a practicing lawyer, Simon's name appeared in the Austrian press in connection with case reports. You can find mentions on anno.onb.ac.at [external web site opens in a new window] in Viennese newspapers and in some of weekly gazettes from various spa towns, which circulated names of people staying in the hotels.
This is Simon's house in St Michaels Square, Hlohovec, where he lived, worked, and died (2011 picture); it is right next to the church, and is now a shop. According to Grandad, the church bells irritated him; but not Hermina, who was catholic.
When he died, no funeral service would take his body to the Jewish cemetery. The story is that his body was taken in a hand cart, at night, the 1km from his house to the cemetery, and buried secretly. Some years ago Paul Szemzo (Cuki’s son) found records of the grave location, and in 2011 Grandad visited the cemetery and the location of his grandfather’s grave. He also arranged for a tombstone to be placed there, which was finished later that year, though no family member has visited it yet with the stone in place, as far as I know.
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