There were parallel threads on this on ancestry and on Rootschat. For those interested the conclusion to the story is on the Rootschat thread. Rose was nee Birdsall and her husband was Victor. They married in Doncaster.
They did not live on a farm. Karen has made contact with descendants.
Dave

Hi Bev,

It's not a farm, but who knows - maybe it had more land back then. The place next door looks a lot newer.

We had found this Rose once before. She and Victor had one son, who died about 5 years ago.

I'll go into it a bit further.

Thanks!

Karen

Hi everybody,

Sorry not to have replied again earlier, but things have been a bit manic the past few days.

As Dave kindly wrote, "our" Rose did not have a farm. Bit of an enormous red herring, that one, but family history researchers are like terriers and we got there in the end.:relaxed:

Rose had a son, who passed away about 5 years ago. We managed to trace his children, but I was unable to find current telephone or E-Mail data for them. Just as I was about to reach for parchment and quill, I discovered a son (Rose's great-grandson) on a form of social media with which I am completely unfamiliar (I'm not a Facebook/Twitter/What'sApp kind of person :blush: ) and contacted him.

He replied very quickly and confirmed that we have the right family. I sent him a long mail, outlining the whole story, and am waiting for a reply. I sincerely hope that he (or perhaps his mother) does reply...

Apparently, Rose's daughter-in-law is still alive. It would be lovely if I could speak to her - maybe she remembers the German brothers from back then.

As soon as I hear anything (and I hope I do), I'll let you know!

Thanks again for all your help,
Karen

P.S. The Rootschat thread is mine, but I'm not on Ancestry. Maybe someone from Rootschat put the story on there for me. :slightly_smiling_face:

Karen, thanks for the update. My mistake: the thread on Ancestry is about a different Emil Lautenbach.
Dave

Hi Dave,

That's a bit of a coincidence..!

Karen

The name Peck caught my eye. I have just discovered the person who registered the death of my Father in Sheffield in 1986 was Ronald Peck. If I have the right one - he had been the headmaster at Lydgate Junior School and lived at that time at Crimicar Lane, Sheffield. He would have been born about 1913. Apparently he had a daughter Helen.

As I was not in contact with my father I have no idea what his relationship with Ronald Peck was. It would seem my father, who lived in Coningsbury House, Sandygate Grove, had no next of kin.

Mary

Hello Mary,

I am afraid there is no Ronald in the Pecks we have found, so I don't think I can help you. :disappointed:

Karen

Thank you Karen

Hi everybody,

Just wanted to let you know that I have spoken at length with Rose's granddaughter. We had a lovely chat and she told me something very exciting: Rose & Victor also had an adopted daughter who is not only alive but would also love to speak to me!

Yesterday evening I called her and we had a long conversation. It was absolutely lovely to speak to her. She remembers Gustav, but not Emil. She was, however, only 3 years old when Emil returned to Germany.

She says she definitely has some photos from that time, passed on to her by her parents. She is going to go through them after Christmas and send them to me!

So the suspense continues... (I love this story! It just keeps getting nicer and nicer.:-))

Karen, on behalf of everyone here, thank you for the update. It is so nice to see a successful outcome. You deserve a lot of credit for your persistence, but I am sure that the successful outcome is all the reward you need.
The adopted daughter fits very nicely with hand downs, and the timing with Gustav being the delivery boy.
In case you have not realised, the travel at that time would be fairly straightforward. Train from Doncaster to Newcastle then ferry to Hamburg.
I do hope that photos of Emil turn up.
Best Regards
Dave

Thanks, Dave.

It certainly is a lovely feeling to have found the people we were searching for!

We are, of course, also very excited about the prospect of photos. I am not getting my hopes up too high, but maybe there is one of Emil in there somewhere.

It was also fascinating to hear about life in the village back then, with the lady from the farm at the end of Rose's road selling fresh milk (none of your pasteurised stuff) from milk churns on a yoke, door-to-door.

Have a lovely Christmas everybody!
Karen