Family Ashmele

Family Notes...Joseph Ashmele, his brothers and sisters.

It is believed (by the Ashmele family in Canada) that Jacob and Sarah had two older sons who left Poland after WW1 and emigrated to Canada, and that the Ashenmil family in Canada might also be the descendents of Sarah and Jacob and therefore related to the Ashmele family. Apart from the similarity in names, both families in Canada speak of two older brothers who left Poland after WW1 and emigrated to Canada, staying for a short while with another brother in England. 

According to the Ashenmil family, Israel Ashenmil settled in Canada with his wife Malka and their children, whilst the other brother, whose name is unknown, returned to Poland. However, it has now been determined that Israel's parents were Aaron and Pearl, not Jacob and Sarah, and that they are therefore not related to the Ashmele family.

Rebecca Ashmele (great-aunt)...

Rifka, daughter of Jacob Ashmele and his wife Sarah Rubenstein was probably born 1878 in Lodz or Warsaw, Poland.  She was taken to England with her sisters by her mother in 1891, eventually settling into the East End of London where she was known as Rebecca.

Rebecca played the violin and as such she raised sufficient money to pay for her younger brother's passage to England.

It is believed that Rebecca married Samuel Messerschnidt, a German acrobat; however no marriage certificate has been found for either Rebecca or Samuel. They had three sons - Mendel known as Manny (b.1897), Naty (b.1899) and Hymie (b.1903). It it unsure what happened to Samuel, but by 1907 Rebecca had met Gerhard Huelsen, another German national, by whom she had three children - Charlotte (b.1907), William (b.1911) and Eddie (b.1915). It is certain that Rebecca and Gerhard never married. It is perhaps significant that Rebecca's family by Samuel (who later used the name Samuels) were raised as Jews, but Rebecca's family by Gerhard (who later used the name Hilson) were not.

During WW1, Gerhard was interned as an alien on the Isle of Wight, and on his release returned to Germany. (It is believed that Gerhard originally left Germany following "financial irregularities" at the Dresden Bank.) Rebecca, Charlotte, William and Eddie followed him, but they were not received by Gerhard whom it is believed had a wife and family in Germany. Rebecca and her children lived as refugees until William, speaking no English, returned to England and around 1930 was able to arrange return passage for the rest of the family.

Rebecca died age 69 on 25th January 1948 at Hackney Hospital, London from cancer of the ovary. She was described as the widow of Samuel Messerschnidt of 92 Balls Pond Road according to information provided by her son Manny. The location of her grave, believed to be in East London, has not been determined.

This branch of the family tree includes the following family names - Samuels, Watson, Green, Ziants, Jones, Hilson, Klemp and Rogers. 

A curious story concerning the family name Ashmele being passed down the female line..

Whilst in Germany and still using her father’s name, 18-year-old Charlotte Huelsen met Jaroslav von Skrebensky, an Austrian, by whom she had a son, Anton, out of wedlock.  Leaving Anton in the care of foster parents, she returned to England to collect her new documents in the name of Charlotte Ashmele, now using her mother’s maiden name since being abandoned by her father. On returning to Germany, she discovered that Jaroslav von Skrebensky had run off to Italy!  Charlotte subsequently met and married Arture Jones, emigrating to Argentina. Not wanting her husband to know that she had an illegitimate child, Charlotte told him that Anton was her godson whom she wanted to adopt.  However, soon after adoption procedures started, contact between Charlotte and Anton’s foster-parents was broken. 

Anton’s birth certificate declared him to be Anton Huelsen.  However, when he was nine years old, a letter from the Mayor of Berlin-Charlottenburg stated “By order of the district court of Charlottenburg, the family name of the child’s mother is not Huelsen but Ashmele. Therefore Anton has to use the name Ashmele.  Charlotte’s mother was registered in Berlin as Rebecca Ashmele … the birth register concerning Anton has been changed.”. Anton’s family continues to use the name Ashmele as used by his mother and grandmother.

Dinah Ashmele (great-aunt)...

Dinah, daughter of Jacob Ashmele and his wife Sarah Rubenstein was probably born 1880 in Lodz or Warsaw, Poland.  She was taken to England with her sisters by her mother in 1891, eventually settling into the East End of London.

Dinah met John Barnett (ex Shulte) a barber and compulsive gambler, mostly on the horses. At the time, Dinah's family was very poor, and often moved when Sarah could not pay the rent. It got so bad that Johnny would ask Dinah where he could find the family the next time he visited! He gave Dinah an engagement ring, but each time he lost at the races (often) he would ask to borrow the ring so that he could pawn it and repay his gambling debts. He did this so regularly that Dinah would threaten to break off the engagement. Whereupon Johnny would throw himself downstairs moaning in apparent agony at the foot of the stairs. Sarah and Dinah would rush to his side and between them carry him carry him back upstairs and fuss over him. Dinah forgave him - and the engagement was back on. They really believed that Johnny was distraught over the broken engagement. This scenario would be repeated every time Johnny needed the ring to pawn. This might have continued indefinitely, except that one day Sarah, a mid-wife, had had a particularly hard day. She stood at the top of the stairs and said in Yiddish "Johnny, I don't have the strength to carry you upstairs". So he immediately sprang to his feet and walked upstairs unassisted.

Dinah eventually married Johnny on 27th November 1900 at the East London Synagogue in Mile End Old Town, London. They had five children - Fay (b.1901), Norah (b.1904) and Hugh (b.1906) were born in England; Sidney (b.1910) and Sylvia (b.1917) were born in Montreal, Canada.

Johnny was treasurer for a "tontine" in England, and in time gambled and lost the money entrusted to him. When the auditors announced a visit within the week, he put the books and financial records in his barber shop - and set fire to the place, destroying the evidence. At this point Johnny left England for Canada, later sending for his family.  After Sarah's death in 1910, Dinah took her sister Hattie to Canada with her.

Dinah was a careful and frugal housewife, and in the late 1920s they managed to buy a small resort hotel in the Laurentian Mountains, north of Montreal, in a town called St. Faustin. As a child, her niece Elma remembers Dinah, in a white cotten dress and apron, presiding over huge cooking pots on a wood-burning stove. They ran the hotel for 22 years; Dinah died in 1953.

This branch of the family tree includes the following family names - Rudner, Bendon, Schwarcz, Stroll, Lands, Gillard, Rubin, Hazen, Black, Shalinsky, Bishin and Rath. Visit Wendy Lands at www.wendylands.com 

Joseph Ashmele (grandfather)...

Joseph, son of Jacob Ashmele and his wife Sarah Rubenstein, was probably born October 1884 in Warsaw, Poland. He was given the Hebrew name Yosef ben Yacov h'Levi, and when his mother and sisters emigrated to England, he remained with his older brothers.

Joseph was educated at the Private School, Mostova Street in Warsaw, and at the age of 12 apprenticed to the upholstering trade. He joined his mother and family in England at the age of 14, and was later known as Joe or John.  He was employed as an improver for six months at Morris Green & Co. in Brick Lane, then for two years with Messrs. Lebus & Co. in Tabernacle Street, and then for 12 years by Messrs. Rubery & Stockwell in Curtain Road.

During this period, Joseph married Annie Herzfeld, the daughter of Hyman Herzfeld of Latvia, in June 1907 at East London Synagogue in Mile End Old Town, London.  They had four children - twins Fanny and Rosa (b.1908) who died soon after birth, Simon (b.1909) and Ada(b.1912). Between 1913 and 1915 Joseph and his family lived at Huntley Street in St. Pancras, London, and between 1915 and 1924 they were living at Pancras Street, London. 

Joseph was exempted from military service during WW1 on medical grounds, during which time he worked for T.W.Thompson & Co. making equipment for wounded soldiers at University College Hospital.  In 1922 Joseph applied for British citizenship, going to great lengths to have himself declared a Russian national and not Polish, which was granted in February 1924.

J.Ashmele, Manufacturing Upholsterer was established in 1911with offices and showrooms at 17-18 Pancras Street, Tottenham Court Road, with manufacturing taking place nearby in Shropshire Street....further information about Ashmele Brothers Limited to follow.

Joseph was a keen angler, and caught a pike which was mounted in a glass case inscribed "Record Pike for the River Kennet, Theal 1941 / Caught on the 1st February 1941 by Mr. J. Ashmele, Member of the Reading and District Angling Association". The pike, which measured 43¼ ins. and weighed 21 lbs., was later displayed in the offices of Ashmele Brothers, and is currently in the home of his grandson John.

A coronary thrombosis about 1930 meant Joseph had to retire from active business five years later. He died age 62 in February 1946 at his home in Staines, Middlesex from myocardial failure, and is buried in Willesden Cemetery.  

Hattie Ashmele (great-aunt)...

Yetta, daughter of Jacob Ashmele and his wife Sarah Rubenstein was probably born 1890 in Warsaw, Poland.  She was taken to England with her sisters by her mother in 1891, eventually settling into the East End of London where she was known as Hattie.

After her mother's death in 1910, Hattie lived with with her sister Dinah (and her husband) and emigrated with them to Canada. She worked as a supervisor at a Jewish orphanage in Montreal, where she met Meyer Kirsch.

Hattie and Meyer married in 1917 in Montreal, and had three children - Sidney (b.1917), Lionel (b.1924) and Elma (b.1931). During this period Hattie and Meyer traveled back and forth between Canada and England on business. Meyer lost his business during the Depression, and in 1935 the family returned to Montreal. Times were hard, and Hattie took in lodgers to make ends meet. During WW2 several members of Joseph Ashmele's family (including Ruth, Gerry, Bob and their respective mothers) were evacuated from England and stayed with Hattie.

Hattie died in 1963.

This branch of the family tree includes the following family names - Kirsch, Mirth, and  Dolansky.

Ernest Ashmele (great-uncle)...

Aaron, son of Jacob Ashmele and Sevel Rubenstein was born on 27 February 1892 in the East End of London shortly after his mother - pregnant and abandoned by her husband - left Poland and arrived in England with her three daughters. He was later known as Ernest Ashmele and admitted to the Jews Free School in Bell Lane.
After his mother's death in 1910, Ernest lived with his brother Joseph and his family. His aunt Annie had a younger sister whom she wanted Ernest to marry, but he was not interested. As a punishment, Annie would take the rug out of his room and serve him cold chips for supper!
Ernest was in the army during WW1 for only a short time before contracting typhoid fever. Shortly after he went to Canada, and was later jpoined by his sisters Hattie and Dinah. He returned to England and on 9th March 1924 married Eva Horwitz at the Central Synagogue in St. Marylebone, London. The marriage was witnessed by his cousins Harry Rose and Manny Samuels. They had two children - Shirlee (b. 1933) and Ashley Jefferson (b.1928).
Ernest joined his brother John at Ashmele Brothers, the upholstery business. He always took a delight in examining the construction of furniture and his daughter well remembers the three piece suites. Unfortunately, Ernest and Eva were to fall out with John and Annie, and he left the business. He later owned a small chain of sweet-shops, and the story is that he encouraged his staff to eat as many sweets as they wished knowing they would be so sick that they would never eat them again. When moving from one of the locations the new occupants, members of Oswald Mosley's fascist organisation put up a sign saying that the premises had been thoroughly fumigated from the previous tenants. Ernest took them to court for defamation, won the case and was awarded - one farthing. 
Ernest wanted to return to Canada, but when the family were all set and at the dock-side Eva refused to leave - so back home they went. They later opened restaurants, one of which was near the Royal Printing House (in Harrow?) and frequented by service personnel. Shirlee remembers a visit by an official who demanded to know how Ernest had predicted the day the war would end and how this information had been leaked - it was in fact a lucky guess on his part. 
In May 1945 Ernest and his family finally emigrated to Canada aboard the troop ship Ile de France, settling in Montreal. Because of war time restrictions, they could not bring out any large sums of money and lost a great amount. Ernest went into the catering business again, at one point having quite a large organisation.

Ernest died in 1972 at the age of 80.

This branch of the family tree includes the following family names - Pascal, Fox and Waxman.