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Genealogy/memories

WW1 Internment

(7 Posts)
Dee1012 Tue 01-Oct-19 15:48:48

My great-grandfather was born in Germany and was living in the UK prior to WW1.
From what I can ascertain, he never gave up German citizenship and wasn't "interned" during that conflict....does anyone have any idea's or thoughts about this please.

Chestnut Sat 12-Oct-19 15:04:03

You need to provide a bit more info and say what it is you want to know.

Dee1012 Fri 25-Oct-19 13:54:06

Thanks for the reply Chestnut.

My knowledge of the time and internment isn't great but I'd imagined that as a German citizen, he'd have been interned.
He wasn't, this is what I'm curious about.

LullyDully Fri 25-Oct-19 17:23:03

I think they often anglicised their names. The royal family certainly did.

Chestnut Sat 26-Oct-19 12:22:37

I can only suggest you start searching on Ancestry which has documents of all kinds. Enter his name and all sorts of things may come up. You can find him in the 1911 census which is a start. He may well have anglicised his name around 1914 and sometimes Ancestry picks up connections like that. After that date you may find him under the new name.

Are you sure he was never naturalised? If he was then the records will be on Ancestry. I have researched a German who was naturalised in 1899 and then changed his name in 1914.

ayse Sat 26-Oct-19 12:31:58

My great uncle disappeared from records in 1915. He went awol. I’ve often wondered if he was hidden by his family. Would it be possible that your ggf to have been hidden too?

Chestnut Sat 26-Oct-19 16:59:39

Hopefully some of these mysteries will be cleared up when we have access to the 1921 census in January 2022. Only another two years to go (I've been waiting ten years!)

Just remember to open your search criteria as wide as possible as there are huge variations and errors in spelling, dates and places.