Hi Rena,
Thanks so much for your very detailed reply. I can trace every single
descendant of Diedrich Klinker and Catharina Sarah Hoepfner from the
1850s to the present day. I think they arrived in London early/mid
1850s and they married in 1861 although their first child was born 1859
so they were together before marrying. I don't know if they came
together from Germany or met in London after coming here independently.
Diedrich was born Hoya (nw of Hannover city) around 1834. His father
was also called Diedrich and was a shoemaker born around 1800 in
Hannover province but was shown as deceased on Diedrich junior's
marriage cert in 1861. Catharina Hoepfner was born Gieboldehausen (sw
of Hannover city ) around 1838. I have detailed maps of the Hoya area
and have extensive details of all the Klinkers mentioned in the
surrounding areas, including Eitzendorf, Holtum, Martfeld, Affinghausen
and others. Some Klinker families I can even trace back to 1300s. What
I can't do is link any of them to my Diedrich Klinker (my gg
grandfather). There was another Klinker family headed by Albert Klinker
that settled in Southwark, about two miles from Diedrich, at about the
same time, I know the two families went to the same church, but I've
never been able to establish whether there was any connection between
the two families. Tracing family histories can be so frustrating.
Thanks and regards,
Keith Sturges
ksturges@tiscali.co.uk
From: rena.mackenzie@virgin.net
Date: 10/01/2008 17:15
To: <hannover-l@genealogy.net>
Subj: [HN] Bremen Passanger Lists - KLINKER & HoepfnerHi Keith,
I see you have already done some research on the Klinkers in
Eitzendorf via
the IGI route.
As most of the Immigrant passenger lists to Britain were only kept
for 10
years, there are only a few overlooked records in the archives.
This
leaflet on the government website, nationalarchives.gov.uk explains
how to
find the few remaining records:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?
sLeafletID=106
From the names already published on the above site, there were no
Klinkers
serving in the Hannover Army nor applying for British Citizenship.
You didn't state which town your immigrant settled in, nor if they
were
married before they migrated, but on the above site it can be seen
that
there were Klinkers living in London in the 20th century and there
are
several Ev.Lutheran church books for that place settled in
existence. These
b.m.d records often give towns of immigrants origins:-
The Anglo German Family History Society Len metzner's list:
http://www.art-science.com/agfhs/len.htmlWithout direct documental proof we have to do a bit of lateral
thinking.
We can often work out birth month/years from ages given on
marriage/death
certificates and any age difference on UK census which were usually
taken
between the months of March to June. This is a boon when trying to
decide
which of several babies with the same name is our direct ancestor.
Plus we
can make an educated guess that the regular naming pattern was used
and the
1st son and 2nd daughter will have their paternal grandparents names,
etc.
During food shortages and war in particular areas many villages and
towns
had large exoduses for pastures new and from my own research found
members
of my family moved to Australia, America and England in the same time
span.
It is also noticeable that family members from younger generations
or
neighbours in the old homeland often migrated decades later to settle
near a
sponsor so it could be that this male applicant for UK citizenship
might be
Sarah's nephew:-
Hoepfner, Frederich William, from Germany. Resident in London.
Certificate
A3834 issued 2 January 1883.
On the German archive site: http://aidaonline.niedersachsen.de/
there are
no online migrants to the UK but I see that Hoepfner families left
Uelzen
in the 1850's and left Schöningen in the 1871
and on the same website Klinkers migrated from Affinghausen in 1866
and then
Eitzendorf in the 1880's.
The AA autoroute doesn't recognise any of the above places so I
couldn't see
how many miles distance they are.
Unfortunately I couldn't access early census to see if there were any
German
lodgers/relatives living with the Klinkers. From the IGI, I see in
the
1881 census that there was a Hannoverian "Reuter" lodger. Was he
given the
Klinker address by a relative or friend from a nearby village back in
the
old homeland?
Good luck,
Rena in LancashireFrom: "ksturges@tiscali.co.uk" <ksturges@tiscali.co.uk>
My ancestors, Diederich Klinker and Catharina Sarah Hoepfner, came to
England from Hannover around the early 1850s and probably embarked at
Bremen. I have not yet found any links to them in Germany. You would
have thought that England, being the major maritime nation at the
time,
might have kept comprehensive passenger lists for arrivals, but as
far