Hermann

Izidore Hermann

From Alan Nathan

Sydney

13 April 2016

I was looking through the Kehila Links on JewishGen and came across a page for Oudtshoorn. I have been working on two kehila sites – Ramygala and Raseiniai in Lithuania where some of my ancestors hail from.

My great grandfather, Izidore Hermann, lived in Oudtshoorn for some time and one of his daughters was married in there to an English gentleman living in The Congo.

The extract that I have attached was given to me by their son Victor (now deceased) The lower portions appears to be an extract from a local newspaper.

The father Izidore had already migrated to Australia and I gather his wife must have stayed behind for the wedding.

In Oudtshoorn, they were in the auctioneering game and his son, Henry, went on to become a well known auction house in Cape Town.

Izidore was allegedly a doctor (no record of any medical degree), accompanied Rhodes on some of his excursions into Rhodesia and somewhere on the boat between Cape Town and Australia, he became a ‘Professor of Herbal Medicine’.

The bride, Gertrude, went to live in the Congo and was, so I have been told, the first Jewish woman in Elizabethville.

I have a few other anecdotes about the ‘bride’ if that would be of interest

Regards

Alan Nathan

14 April 2016

Alas, no photographs of the wedding nor of the bridal couple later in their lives.

I have attached a picture of the bride’s mother but she could be almost any stern looking old lady. This comes in useful if you need pictures of generations past but perhaps more useful with men and long beards where you cant identify features.

The attached document is a summary of the bride, groom and the brides family. Pappa Hermann was a ‘colourful’ character and it is rumoured that he changed his name by adding an extra ‘N’ at the end because he and his son were on opposite sides in the Boer war and that there was a price on the son’s head.

Because of Isidore, I can take great pride in claiming that my Great Grandfather is buried right in the middle of Sydney.

I remember sitting on my grand mothers lap (Gertrudes sister) and being told stories about the early days in SA. My granny Charlotte was born in Kimberley and told the story of the big fire – when a train full of explosives blew up. Also stories of her travels, cross country, on the back of horse drawn carts. Not sure of the authenticity but engrossing for young kids.

Gertrude had a parrot in later life and I clearly remember the family ‘squabbling’ over who was being left the bird in the old girls will. They all breathed a huge sigh of relief when Gertrude (commonly referred to as ‘the goat’) outlived the bird. As a young kid, I wanted the bird who was quite talkative.

I now live in Sydney, having made the ‘Aliya’ down under just over thirty years ago.

Glasstone – Hermann Wedding

‘On the Fourth day of the week, the twenty-eighth day of the month Tishri, in the year 5673 p.m., corresponding to the Ninth of October, 1912, the holy Covenant of Marriage was entered into in Oudtshoorn, between the Bridegroom –

Reuben Glasstone

And his Bride

Gertrude Hermann

The said Bridegroom made the following declaration to his Bride:

“Be thou my wife according to the law of Moses and of Israel. I faithfully promise that I will be a true husband unto thee. I will honour and cherish thee: I will work for thee; I will protect and support thee, and will provide all that is necessary for thy due sustenance, even as it beseemeth a Jewish husband to do. I also take upon myself all such further obligations for thy maintenance, during thy lifetime, as are prescribed by our religious statute.”

And the said Bride has plighted her troth, unto him, in affection and with sincerity, and has thus taken upon herself the fulfilment of all the duties incumbent upon a Jewish wife.

This Covenant of Marriage was duly executed and witnessed this day according to the usage of Israel.’

This momentous occasion was fulsomely reported by the Oudtshoorn Courant two days later:

WEDDING BELLS GLASSTONE—HERMANN

A very pretty wedding was solemnised at the Queen Street Synagogue on Wednesday, the 9th inst. The contracting parties were Miss Gertrude Hermann, third daughter of Mr. & Mrs. I. Hermann, and Mr. Reuben Glasstone, of Elisabethville, Congo Belge.

The bride wore a very pretty white costume and white plumed hat and carried a beautiful white shower bouquet and was given away by her brother, Mr. Henry Hermann.

The bride’s mother wore a handsome black satin, trimmed with emerald green and white toque with black sequin and carried a bouquet of roses and ferns.

Report in the Oudtshoorn Courant October 11, 1912

‘WEDDING BELLS GLASSTONE—HERMANN

A very pretty wedding was solemnised at the Queen Street Synagogue on Wednesday, the 9th inst. The contracting parties were Miss Gertrude Hermann, third daughter of Mr. & Mrs. I. Hermann, and Mr. Reuben Glasstone, of Elisabethville, Congo Belge.

The bride wore a very pretty white costume and white plumed hat and carried a beautiful white shower bouquet and was given away by her brother, Mr. Henry Hermann.

The bride’s mother wore a handsome black satin, trimmed with emerald green and white toque with black sequin and carried a bouquet of roses and ferns.

Possibly an extract from the Ketuba of the day

On the Fourth day of the week, the twenty-eighth day of the month Tishri, in the year 5673 p.m., corresponding to the Ninth of October, 1912, the holy Covenant of Marriage was entered into in Oudtshoorn, between the Bridegroom –

Reuben Glasstone

And his Bride

Gertrude Hermann

The said Bridegroom made the following declaration to his Bride:

“Be thou my wife according to the law of Moses and of Israel. I faithfully promise that I will be a true husband unto thee. I will honour and cherish thee: I will work for thee; I will protect and support thee, and will provide all that is necessary for thy due sustenance, even as it beseemeth a Jewish husband to do. I also take upon myself all such further obligations for thy maintenance, during thy lifetime, as are prescribed by our religious statute.”

And the said Bride has plighted her troth, unto him, in affection and with sincerity, and has thus taken upon herself the fulfilment of all the duties incumbent upon a Jewish wife.

Glasstone Hermann wedding in Oudtshoorn - 1912

1|Page

This Covenant of Marriage was duly executed and witnessed this day according to the usage of Israel.’

The Groom – Reuben Glasstone

A gentleman born in Edinburgh, Scotland. 1884 – 1968. Lived in Elizabethville in the Congo. Made his fortune twice with the department store Maison Glasstone. After a fire that almost wiped them out, he restarted and succeeded a second time.

The Bride – Gertrude Herman

Gertrude Hermann, was born in an ox-wagon, in Potchefstroom the second oldest city in the Transvaal founded by European settlers, in 1891.

Legend has it that her father wanted the child (Gertrude) to be registered in the Cape Colony (although by now Stanislas was a doctor, a district surgeon, to the Boer government), they paid a man to ride back to Kimberley. He got drunk with the money, and Gertrude was never registered. Thereafter, this omission required endless sworn affidavits to prove that she existed. . Apparently, registration of births and deaths did not commence in the Transvaal until 1900, and all the records for the Cape Colony for 1891 and 1892 were destroyed in a fire. The romantic tale will have to serve.

Six months earlier in May 1912, Gertrude, guarding against any reneging, had made her mother sign a SOLEMN DECLARATION before the Resident Magistrate, that, inter alia, ....... ‘the said Gertrude Hermann is under my parental control, my husband residing in Australia’; ‘the said Gertrude Hermann intends marrying one REUBEN GLASSTONE of Elisabethville, Congo Belge’; ‘that I herewith give and grant a full consent to my said daughter... marrying the said......;’ and, most timely; ‘that my daughter the said....... has never yet been married, and that there is no just cause or reason why she should not marry the said .......

Gertrude returned to the Congo with her new husband and the had three sons, only one of whom survived to adulthood.

Sydney, 1914, died as a result of an infection following his Bris. It was said that the Mohel used a rusty knife.

Reggy, 1917 died in Cape Town of rheumatic fever in 1931 in Cape Town. The parents made a mercy dash with the sick child and broke the then record for a flight from the Congo to Cape Town.

Glasstone Hermann wedding in Oudtshoorn - 1912

2|Page

Victor, 1924, The third son, became a renowned architect, writing numerous texts on theatrical design. He lived in the UK and later retired to Italy

Parents of the bride

Gertrude was hard of hearing - a condition resulting from a life of taking malaria medication. She was also a very difficult lady and often gave away presents that she had been given - in one case a box of chocolates with a chocolate missing. She had a parrot and in her later years it was a family joke that no-one wanted to be left the bird in the will. She outlived the bird.

Gerty was the first Jewish woman in the Congo.

Isadore (Izidore) Stanislav Hermann was born in Poland, moved to London where he married Sophia (Sophy) Spiers in 1881. Sophy was born in St Petersburg.

It has been suggested that Izidore was a medical student at Guys hospital in London and went to South Africa to help with a Cholera epidemic in Kimberley (Highly improbable). There is no record of his having graduated however he became a doctor in South Africa and travelled to Rhodesia with Cecil Rhodes.

Isadore must have had a difficult life, so must have Sophie. He moved around a lot...Konin, London, Kimberley, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Oudtshoorn, Wagga and Sydney, right up to age 60. After which Sophy moved back to Cape Town – probably after his death. Isadore is buried in Sydney

After, or because of, the Jameson Raid (30 December 1895) he fell ill, and lost a lung. This misfortune discoloured his view of medicine, and he ceased, for a time, calling himself a doctor, and became an auctioneer in Johannesburg, ‘more an agent than an auctioneer. He made money at all this.’ He could even afford racehorses, Tenderfoot, Drummer Boy, and another. His eldest son, Joe, became a ‘gentleman jockey’ to ride Drummer Boy because no jockey could. Neither could he. He was thrown, became unconscious and concussed, and later took fits. Meanwhile Lily and Rosa got diphtheria. ‘Dr. Jim [Jameson] could not save Rosa, and Lily was left with a throaty harsh voice.’

Glasstone Hermann wedding in Oudtshoorn - 1912

3|Page

I have not been able to verify the date after which medical professionals had to register in order to practice but it would not surprise me if it was around the young doctor retired from the profession.

Things were going fine, but then came the Boer War. Joe (his oldest son) was violently pro-British, and had to be smuggled out dressed as a girl. The ex-doctor was about to be called up by the Boers as a doctor, but discovering that he was one lung less, they changed their minds. In September 1899 (just a week or so before the first shots), Stanislas decided that it was time for his wife and children to leave for Cape Town. The train was packed, and squeezing children Sophia, Lily, Charlotte, Harry, Evelyn, Sylvia, Gertrude and Louis into one compartment, he accompanied the train as far as Vereeniging to be sure that they kept it; presenting each of his children with a few copper pennies, a commodity non-existent in the Transvaal"

Some time around 1911 Isidore, together with his younger members of the family, migrated to Australia. The older children remained in South Africa.

It is possible that the move to Australia was not voluntary. The ostrich feather industry was still booming, Oudtshoorn still had a large Jewish population and he was already over 50. Business troubles? Son Joseph in trouble with the law? He did get into trouble down under!

Glasstone Hermann wedding in Oudtshoorn - 1912