Connecting Toni, Twenty Years Later

In the mid-1990s, my grandmother Minnie Joshowitz Tolchin mentioned that she'd like to find an old pen-pal who had also been a cousin.  She recalled writing to her cousin Toni in England for many years--one of the few cousins she had who could write in English.  At one point, Toni wrote to her saying that she married a man named Kaplan, they were going to move to Australia and change their name to Kingsley, and she would send contact information once they were settled in Australia.  My grandmother never heard from her again.

My grandmother passed away in 2001, and I hadn't found Toni.  But a couple of years later, my uncle had an Australian working in his office and he asked her if she knew any Kingsleys--and she said that her doctor in Melbourne was named Kingsley.  She contacted her mother in Australia who contacted the doctor--and he confirmed that his late mother's name had been Toni!  I met some of the family when I was in Australia shortly after, but we weren't sure exactly how we were related.

Now that I have so many new records from my grandmother's side of the family, I wanted to see if I could link the Australian family to mine.  I found Toni Rutner's marriage to Jankiel Kaplan indexed on FreeBMD, and I ordered the original.

Marriage of Jankiel Kaplan & Toba/Toni Rutner; 1943

The British Intrigue Continues

I wrote earlier about how I found a potential British connection for my family and how I got a copy of my grandmother's probable great uncle's marriage license in England.  Thanks to the advice of JGSGB, I contacted the Office of the Chief Rabbi in London to request of copy of Meyer and Rachel Fine's marriage authorisation.

Meyer and Rachel Fine Marriage Authorisation, Manchester, 1896

The British Connection, Part 2

The British saga continues!  A couple of weeks ago, I found indications that my grandmother's great-uncle--and potentially her great-grandfather--had immigrated from the Russian Empire to England.  I ordered my great uncle Meyer's marriage record from England, and it came in the mail last night.  (I am very impressed with the speed of the UK's GRO office--less than 2 weeks to receive a certificate internationally, much faster than most US states!)

According to the certificate, "Myer Fien," aged 22, married Rachel Kaufman, aged 20 on August 2, 1896.  The married took place in Prestwick's Central Synagogue in Manchester & Lancaster Counties.  Myer's profession was that of a Journeyman cabinet maker, and Rachel was a Mantle Making Assistant.  (This reconfirms that the Meyer Fine found with his father "Hebel" in England's 1891 census was probably the same person, as Meyer was there a 16-year-old cabinet maker.)

A Fine British(?) Connection

My grandmother had told me that she had an uncle Mordechai "Motke" Fine who had come to America, but that because he was diabetic, he was sent back to Russia where he was drafted into the Russian Army to serve in World War One, and then he died soon after.

My great-great uncle, Mordechai Fine (picture taken around 1919)

I'd searched sporadically for a ship manifest to document this, but I'd never found it (Fine is a relatively common name), even using M followed by a combination of wildcards.  When transcribing my grandmother's story, I decided to give it another try.  I didn't know when Motke was born or when he came to the US, but I bounded the search for all Fines, Feins, and Fajns from Russia within what would make sense given his sister Sheva's birthdate (she was my great grandmother) and the fact that he was back in Russia to be able to serve in World War One.