Sam Ashmele and Family

Family Ashmele

Family Notes...Sam Ashmele and his sisters.

Fanny and Rosa, twin daughters of Joseph Ashmele and Annie Herzfeld, were born February 1908 in Bethnal Green, London.

Rosa died 12 hours later from debility from birth and was buried at Plashet Jewish Cemetery in London. The records of the Burial Society of the United Synagogue show that she was buried in section E, row 21, number 30+, indicating an infant buried with an adult, either at the head or the foot of the grave.

Fanny died in June the same year from bronchopneumonia and heart failure, and was also buried at Plashet Jewish Cemetery. The records of the Burial Society of the United Synagogue show that she was buried in section G, row 5, number 13+, again indicating she was buried with an adult.

The grounds, opened in the C19th, have a a neglected appearance, being covered in the most part by black cinder with no grassed areas. The majority of gravestones and headstones have collapsed, broken, or been dissolved by the elements, although there are several monumental pieces still standing. Many graves have no gravestone or headstone, merely having an edging filled with gravel. The rows containing the babies' grave (by reference in the burial register) are unevenly spaced and marked, making the exact location of the burial plots difficult to determine. In May 2003, more than 500 headstones were damaged in an apparent anti-semitic attack.

Sam Ashmele (father)...

Simon, son of Joseph Ashmele and Annie Herzfeld, was born May 1909 in Spitalfields, London. However, his father was late registering the birth and, fearful of the consequences, gave the date of birth as June. Simon was given the Hebrew name Shimon ben Yosef h'Levi, and known as Sam or Sammy.

Sam was appointed the managing director of Ashmele Brothers Limited, the upholstery business founded by his father. Being colour-blind may have been a disadvantage, particularly when his employees chose not to disagree with him. He was subsequently employed by Henscher's, the new owners of the business after Joseph retired, until the company was sold in the 1950s.

Sam married Anne Wise in January 1935 at the Western Synagogue in London, and they had a daughter - Ruth (b.1936). At the beginning of WW2, Anne and Ruth were evacuated to family in Montreal, during which time there was little contact between Sam and his family. After the war, Anne returned to England and started divorce proceedings against Sam.

Private Simon Ashmele (number 14572833) was called up into the General Service Corps embodied Territorial Army in April 1943. After six weeks training he was transferred to the Royal Army Pay Corps and posted to 38 Battalion in Leeds. In September 1945 he was posted to 33 Battalion in London, and demobbed in April 1946, remaining in the reserves until June 1954.

Sam was introduced to Sadie Freedman by mutual friends, John and Ethel Roberts, and they were married under the auspices of the reform movement at the West London Synagogue, Upper Berkley Street in Marble Arch, London in October 1946. They lived near Russell Square in central London, and shared the sixth floor landing with Sandy Powell, the music hall performer. Sam and Sadie had two children - John (b.1947) and Linda (b.1950). Sam also owned a chalet/bungalow on Eel Pie Island at Twickenham, which the family would visit at weekends. Sam also owned and managed a confectionery and tobacconists shop, first "Cottage Candies" in Swiss Cottage, then in Baker Street.

Sam was just under 5'5", with brown hair and eyes; he was also a well-built man who enjoyed his chip sandwiches and cigarettes. He died December 1962 at the age of 53, ten days after being admitted to hospital following a heart attack. He is buried at Golders Green Cemetery in north London. The inscription on his gravestone reads "<Here lies Shimon ben Yosef> / Simon (Sam) Ashmele/ Died 13 December 1962 age 53 / Beloved husband of Sadie / Father of John and Linda / Forever in our thoughts / Rest in peace)".

Sally Ashmele (aunt)...

Ada Ashmele, daughter of Joseph Ashmele and Annie Herzfeld, was born March 1912 in Bethnal Green, London. She lived with her parents and brother, Sam, at 75 Brondsbury Park in Willesden, London. During her childhood she was refered to as Sadie, and later called herself Sally.

Sally married Mark Schuman, a furniture salesman, in September 1932 at the Western Synagogue in St. Marylebone, London. They had two children - Gerald (b.1934) and Bob (b.1938). During WW2, Sally and her sons were evacuated to her aunt Hattie in Canada, returning to Paramount Court in University Street, opposite her father's upholstery factory, at the end of the war.

After Sally's divorce from Mark she opened a shop "Sally Page" selling babywear, cots and prams in the same premises in Tottenham Court Road as used by her former husband. Sally, who never remarried after her divorce, emigrated to USA with Bob in 1958, her elder son Gerry having emigrated a year earlier. She settled in Hollywood, California although she was not naturalised as an American citizen.

Sally is remembered as an attractive and elegant woman. In February 1963, just seven weeks after her brother Sam died, she died age 50 in Los Angelos from a stroke.

This branch of the family tree includes the following family names - Schuman, Appelbaum, Easley, Lacey and Quigley - and also appears to carry the the twin gene which has produced twin girls in three of the last four generations of the Herzfeld line.

Page last updated .. 21 May, 2003