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I am looking for UK descendants (may be in another country by now) of one "Henry Lawrence" who was known to be living in Merton, UK, during the period 1936-39.
He was born in Melbourne Australia in 1872 and his birth name was "Henry Lawrence Bernstein", but our research suggests he assumed (or possibly formally changed by deedpoll) his name to "Henry Lawrence" in UK during or before WW1.
He was my great uncle (brother of my paternal grandfather).
I believe his wife's name in the 1930s may have been "Ida Lilian Lawrence" (from Census records) and if this info is correct, then they appear to have had 3 children - Henry T. (born 1912); Edwin (born 1917); Vera G, (born 1924).
I would be pleased to hear from any descendants of these people. I still do not know where or when Henry lawrence (Bernstein) died (presumably somewhere in UK).
Further Background:
Born 1872 (Melbourne Australia); participated in the 1896 illegal Jameson raids in South Africa for which he was court marshaled as a witness back in UK.
Subsequently sacked from UK Army as a result, 1898/99. Went to Brazil (1899), then Bolivia where he married Mercedes, had 2 children (the youngest died young, the other called Ivy Clara born 1903). Returned to UK announcing to everyone his family had been killed in earthquake, but in reality (only found this out in last 2 years) he in fact abandoned his South American wife and family and returned to UK.
Happily, I have found descendants of the South American marriage (distant 3rd cousins) which is most exciting.
It appears he took some part in the UK military during WW1 (in UK - training/armaments).
As it turns out in subsequent years till mid 1930s, he took on a variety of names, aliases and disguises and got into trouble in possible selling of dum-dum bullets in the 1930s. Led a bizarre life (of involvement with Secret Service, selling arms and more).
Refer to the following websites:
1. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,756163,00.html
2. http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2415989
- I have further newspaper articles from the time (Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age as well as London paper).
Have no idea what happened to him after that, but hopefully there are some descendants (refer to the possible offspring referred to at the start of this article).
It is likely that he did not pass on the information about his secret South American family to his sunbsequent UK family (so the news of the South American connection may be new to any surviving UK descendants). I can give more detail to any interested parties.
If anyone reading this, happens to be one of the UK descendants or knows anything or may have some leads, please let me know.
Regards,
Peter Benson
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