Friday 22 November 2013

The Dunn Family, a century ago in Chile





   The Dunn Family, Chile, circa 1910.  
 
This picture was very kindly donated to me by Henry Poirier, the grandson of the Henry Poirier who set up a trading post in Punta Arenas in the late 19th Century. It was given to me on the occasion of the Dunn-Romanofsky-Poirier family reunion which I organised in 2011, which was held at the West London Synagogue, near Marble Arch on Sunday 24th July, 2011.



The parents are: Simon, Rebecca, my Great Grandparents.
The children are (L-R) Robert, Sophie, Mary and Millie.
Note the Hebrew script on the back of the photograph. 


Millie was the oldest, born in London in 1898. She had a sister Bella, (perhaps Isabel) who died in infancy in 1901. The first boy to be born was Robert (Roberto), born 1902, in Punta Arenas. Next up was Sophie (Sofia), born in 1905, followed by two more sisters, Mary (Ana Maria) born 1906 and Frances born 1908, also known as Fanny (Francesca). The baby of the family was David, born 1911, my Grandfather.

This summary is copied from the excellently put together Pat Brit (British in Patagonia) site of researcher and historian Duncan Campbell, who lives somewhere out there, and has made it his passion to document the presence of the British in this remote region of the world.


I got in touch with Duncan in the April of 2011, and he created this page on his site for our families.


Source: http://patbrit.org/bil/supp/c0304.htmhttp://patbrit.org/bil/supp/c0304.htm


Simon DUNN (originally DON); b. c1875, Vilnius district, Lithuania into Jewish family; c1895 to Britain; 1901 Whitechapel, London; tailor; c1902 family emigrated from London (Whitechapel) to Punta Arenas; shopkeeper, furrier, trading in Indian goods; 1913 family returned on the Orita to Britain; settled in East Ham, London

m. c1895 Vilnius, Lithuania
Rebecca ("Rivella") ROMANOFSKY, sister of Sarah (below) and Golda (below); b. c1876 Vilnius(?), Lithuania into Jewish family; c1895 to Britain; c1902 with family to Punta Arenas; 1913 returned with family to Britain
Children:
1. Millie (Mabel Emilia); b. c1898 London; m. 1916 St. Austell to Norman H (Max) MAY
2. Bella; b. c1900; d. 1901 Whitechapel
3. Robert; b. c1902 Punta Arenas; m. 1922 Kingston to Gertrude F WHITE (Kliman/Kleiman/Clayman)
4. Sophie (Sofia); b. c1905 Punta Arenas; m. 1928 Poplar to Alexander KRITZ
5. Mary (Ana MarĂ­a); b. c1906 Punta Arenas; m. Maurice HORN
6. Frances (Fanny); b. c1908 Punta Arenas; m 1932 London to Maurice JACOBS
7. David; b. 1911 Punta Arenas; m. 1938 Clapton Synagogue, East London to Yetta HURST (Herscovitch/Herskovitch)