Dear All,

I am appealing for any leads on Caroline FRANK SCHWERIN. Caroline was the
housekeeper to Sir Moses MONTEFIORE, first of all at his London home in Park
Lane and then for the most part at his country home, East Cliff Lodge in
Ramsgate. Caroline FRANK was born around 1806 in Rimpar, near Wurzburg,
Bavaria. This was gleaned >from her Will in which she left £3417 1s 10p net,
mainly to her late brother's widow and children but numerous others also
received bequests.

Her brother was Joseph FRANK and his widow Lena BACHMANN. Their children
were Abraham, Judah, Loeb, Ella who married Abraham ADLER and Rachel who
married Gabriel STARK. To date we have not found any records on the three
sons having married. Rachel and Gabriel STARK had six children, five of whom
perished in the Holocaust, three with their spouses. We have found no record
of the ADLERs having children.

I am not related to Caroline FRANK SCHWERIN but I am trying to help two
local Ramsgate historians who are currently compiling the records of the
Ramsgate Jewish Cemetery, where Caroline is buried, and who are also trying
to find out through local records about the lives of those buried. Although
we have found material on her brother's descendants, we have become stuck on
finding out about Caroline herself. We have found no marriage record or
any evidence of the existence of her husband SCHWERIN. Were they married in
the UK or in Germany? What brought Caroline to the UK in the first place?
Caroline appears in the UK Census' for 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1881 but there
is no mention of Mr SCHWERIN, alive or dead. SCHWERIN is also a surname not
local to Bavaria (re: Lars MENK's "Dictionary of German-Jewish Surnames").

In her Will Caroline states she is a widow but was she in fact ever married
as it was customary for housekeepers at that time to sometimes style
themselves as Mrs - (e.g. Mrs Hughes in Downton!)? We know she made her
Will on 25th September 1884, added a Codicil on 27th October 1884, died on
12th November 1884 and was buried on the 16th November 1884. The only clue
possibly of Mr SCHWERIN's existence is mention in her Will of her niece,
Rachel, wife of David GOLDSTEIN - we have not been able to work out where or
how Rachel fits in.

Caroline was also a beneficiary in Sir Moses' Will but predeceased him.
There are also records of Caroline having given generously to charities.
Two family trees have been put on Ancestry: SCHWERIN Family Tree and the
FRANK and SCHWERIN Family Tree but so far nothing has turned up on her
forebears, not even her parents.

Any help on the mystery of Caroline FRANK SCHWERIN's life, and in particular
her ancestors, would be most welcome.

With many thanks, Diana GOMES da COSTA MOHR, JewishGen number 166938.
Hon. Secretary: Ramsgate Montefiore Heritage:
http://www.ramsgatemontefioreheritage.org.uk.