Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837 at the age of 18 and remained the English regent until 1901 when she died, the longest reigning English monarch to date. The 1800s in England have come to be known as the Victorian Era, a time of … Continue reading Four Victorian families
Category: Origins
Who was Gottfried Fischer (1821-1898)?
Caroline Fischer, who married my grandfather’s grandfather, John Holdorf, at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney in 1868, was the daughter of a German immigrant by the name of Gottfried and his wife Viktoria. Caroline was born in Germany, or more correctly, as far as I … Continue reading Who was Gottfried Fischer (1821-1898)?
A village childhood: young Johann Holtorf
Johann Holtorf was my grandfather’s grandfather. He was born in 1828 in the village of Bimöhlen, in the Duchy of Holstein, then under the Danish monarch. Bimöhlen is still there, a quiet little village nestled among the trees and woods of northern Germany, in the … Continue reading A village childhood: young Johann Holtorf
Bramstedt
Bramstedt in 1850 was a rural centre of some 3000 people. The town had been prominent in the region for centuries for two reasons: it was an important stopover on an old cattle route for traders driving their herds from the Jutland peninsula south to … Continue reading Bramstedt
Five names, five nationalities
For many years I have been aware of the multinational nature of my family tree. I have had four grandparents, with names that betray their origins. The first, Holford, is a bit misleading, being an English name, since this branch of the family tree is … Continue reading Five names, five nationalities
Forgotten tales 