Centenary of the death of Hyman (Avram Chaim) Davidovitch

 

Our grandfather, Hyman (Avram Chaim) Davidovitch died one hundred years ago today, August 3rd 1925.

He was born and grew up in Poland in 1866 or 1868. There is no definitive information about his early years, but it seems likely(see below) that he was born in the village of Kraszewo near Ciechanow (about 50 miles north west of Warsaw) and his father was Leoric Davidovitch and his mother Estera Elka Katz (who came from Plonsk).

We do know from correspondence that when Avram Chaim left Poland the family was living in the village of Hordzieska, not far from Lublin. He arrived in New York in 1890 landing at Castle Garden (this was two years before Ellis Island was established as a place for processing immigrants). He found work in the rag trade where he was employed for several years, but he did not seem to be happy with the work and at the end of August 1896 he travelled to Paris. In 1898 he moved to England, arriving in London in April, then travelling to Leeds and on to Hull  

In his diary he tells of his struggles with work, his social life, his concerns re health and several romantic encounters.  However by 1898 he was living in Hull, and in 1899 he married Annie Salit (Grandma Davidson). They went on to have six sons and three daughters (unusually all of them surviving to adulthood) and thus established the Davidson family. When in the 1930s the three daughters married the three Noble brothers the Davnob family was created. 

A word about the surname

Davidovitch is a Polish name meaning son of David. It is variously spelled as Davidovitch, Dawidowicz, and Davidovitz. In the 1920s (probably after he died, as on his grave and death certificate he is named as Hyman Davidovitch) the family name was changed to Davidson, but one branch of the family to this day retains the historical Davidovitz name. 

A word about the birth certificate 

Information about Avram Chaim's birth comes from a possible birth certificate: 

which says: Act 125 - the village of Krazh.  It took place in the city of Ciechanow in the year 1868, on the first day of July at nine o'clock in the morning. Leorik Davidovich, a worker living in the village of Krazh, 23 years old, appeared in person, in the presence of skolniki, Abram Vontroba, 53 years old, and Gershon Totengreber, 31 years old, living in the city of Ciechanow, and presented us with a male child, born in the village of Krazeh on 22 June at 4 o'clock in the morning to his wife Estera Elka, née Katz, 26 years old. The baby was given the name Abram Chaim during the religious ceremony. This act was signed by us and witnesses after it had been read. The father cannot write.

signatures: Abram Vontroba, Gershon Totengreber,    Person. in charge of the Civil State Acts.

Uncle Lionel believed this was not his father's birth certificate - but this was largely because he thought his father was born in 1866. However if it is our Avram Chaim, then we find his mother Estera-Elka Katz was born nearby in Plonsk in 1841, which he later (in the 1911 UK Census) he records as his place of origin. (Lionel also mistakenly objected to the birth certificate on the grounds that his father was well-educated and certainly could write. In fact the reference to not being able to read was about Leoric and not Avram Chaim.)

(Incidentally as a sidenote Estera Elka's father was called Eydel - which just happens to be the Yiddish for Noble!)  

 

July 29th

One year on - Steffi died on July 29th, the day that Jane would have been 80. Sad - but happy memories.

Mazal Tov to Margie

Whilst it would indiscrete to discuss a lady's age, 

Davnob is delighted to wish (Safta) Margie 

a very happy significant birthday.

!מזל טוב מארגי

From the archives

 

One source of interesting family detail can be found in old prayer books. Steve Noble recently came across a number of interesting lists in old siddurim.

Here, below Min's name (apparently written when she was at the Boulevade School in Hull though the handwriting was the same as some eighty years later) is the list of all the Davidovitz birthdays.. 

Here are listed various names and addresses with dates between 1910 and 1933. Of note is Cyril's work address at the News Chronicle Accounts Department in 1932 (it looks like 1922 but Cyril was only 7 years old then).

This list was written after the family changed their name from Davidovitz to Davidson (later Lammie's son, Colin, reverted to Davidovitz, preserving the original name amongst some of today's generations). For some reason Edie's name is missing, strangely replaced by G. B. Shaw (alias) Charles Peace.

The final list gives the Hebrew names of the children (but not of their parents) with the date of Hyman and Annie's wedding, and the year the name was changed from Davidovitz to Davidson. Some things to note: 

1/ There doesn't seem to be a formal record of the name change, and Grandma Davidson was called Davidovitz on her death certificate.

2/ Letters from his family show that the village Hyman came from was Hordzieska (near Lublin in Poland)

3/ Records do not show where Grandma (Annie Salit) came from. Her sister, Sorretel, married and lived in Kovno (Kaunas); her brother, Tuvye, lived in Vilna (Vilnius). Grandma herself variously spoke of coming from Shirvint (Sirvintos) and Vilna. Records show that Tuvye originally came from Gedrovitch (Giedraiciai). Some possibilities: the main road of Giedraiciai is called Sirvintos Street. Sirvintos is in Vilnius county.

4/ According to various of her children, Grandma used to say she was born in Vilna. In yiddish that would have been 'ikh bin GEBOREN gevoren in Vilna' It is just possible that she was saying that she was born in Vilna GUBERNYA - Gubernya being the name of an administrative division when Lithuania was part of the Russian Empire. Whatever the facts, unlike her brothers and sisters, we have little documentary evidence about Grandma before she left Lithuania in 1895.

Jane Frost (nee Riley) 1948 - -2025

 
Davnob is sad to pass on the news that Jane Frost (nee Riley) died today after a long battle with cancer.

She leaves behind her husband David, her three sons James, Will and Tom, her daughter in law Rebecca (James's wife) , her three grandchildren Camilla, Tristan and Nathan, as well as her sister, Nicky Templeman, with Andrew and their son Harry. 

Nicky writes: Jane has been so strong throughout it all and I am in awe of her and so proud to have been able to call her my sister. I am going to miss her so much.

Jane and Nicky are the daughters of Audrey and Jack Riley, and the grand-daughters of Joe and Dorrie. Joe was the oldest of Grandma Davidson's children.

Davnob will pass on any messages if you are unable to contact Nicky directly.

Liz talks about her research and ideas

Liz Davies was recently interviewed by Bernard Beitman on his Podcast, Connecting with Coincidence. In this episode, entitled Yes, Thoughts Influence Physical Reality, Liz talks about her research in the areas of Physics and Biology (especially the effects of electromagnetic fields on chemical reactions and biological processes), her ideas on healing and consciousness, and on communication within the collective human organism and telepathy. Spanning fields, often considered incompatible, drawing on ideas from orthodox science, philosophies and religion, and spiritual beliefs, Liz’s talk is fascinating. This short video samples extracts from the podcast, but it’s worth listening to the whole interview on the following You Tube link.

https://youtu.be/VF8brDzF73w

Philip Davidson - Eulogy

 The following are extracts from the eulogy at Philip's funeral on Tuesday 18th February.

 

PHILIP DAVIDSON was born in Southwark, London, 19.09.1952. He died aged 72. He was pre-deceased by his mother, Fay, his father, Lionel, and his younger brother Nick. He was the last remaining member of his immediate family. Philip was the son of Jewish parents, Lionel Davidson and Fay Jacobs, and one younger brother Nick Davidson. He was a second generation immigrant, with a very large family of uncles and aunts and cousins on his father’s side, as his Russian Jewish grandmother had 9 children, all born in Hull, of whom the three Davidson sisters married 3 Noble brothers from another Jewish family. Phil enjoyed enormously the many large and lively family gatherings and celebrations, weddings, anniversaries, festivals and picnics, and social events. He was always very happy feeling part of the animated interactions around family members, and as an adult, he enjoyed sharing in these gatherings. As a teenager and young adult he had very happy memories of his warm relationship and supportive interactions with his Scottish Jewish grandparents on his Mother’s side of the family, and enjoyed spending time with them in Glasgow. Philips father, Lionel Davidson, was famous as an English best-seller Author who wrote spy thrillers, adventure stories, and childrens’ books… 

    Having a famous author as a father was an inspiring but hard model for Philip to follow. Philip was quite neurodivergent, as many of you will recognise, and very creative in his own way, and strove to find his own unique path in life. His adolescence coincided with the hippy era, and the new paradigm shift that was taking place in society and in consciousness. And he felt elated and supported in that new awareness...When the family moved to Israel, Philip was in his early teens. He never quite settled in Israel and did not want to go into the army and fight, which led to a conflict with his father. Philip had a deep aversion to war. He ran away from home, and eventually he returned to England ahead of his family...

    His father initially supported Philip’s early training in Film School, and although a new conflict with his father resulted in his leaving the course early, this led to a life-long creative pursuit for Phil, in making films, particularly depicting the places and cultural history of the areas in which he lived. He was particularly drawn to the early pagan and earth-centred ceremonies and ritual expressions and new-age philosophies surrounding the communities in Glastonbury. He developed a life long interest and involvement in the teachings and philosophy of the Indian teacher, Prem Rawat, who advocated a natural way of being, and taught simple practices for empowering the experience of joy and delight and appreciation in the world and nature as it is. Philip travelled abroad, and lived in New York for 3 years, working at the World Trade Centre, and he also worked in Los Angeles and San Diego. He enjoyed travelling and visited, Athens, Gdansk, Paris , Barcelona, Rome, imbuing the ethos and cultures of these places, and storing up details and images, which must have fuelled many of the scenes in his more recent creative writing...

    He really enjoyed and appreciated spending time in the countryside and by the sea where he lived. He joined the Green Party in West Sussex, and the Peace movement. His film -making skills came in useful in creating a film he made to support the anti-fracking campaign locally, and then showing it in different venues...

    Phil really did enjoy life in the modern world, despite realising and lamenting its failures and destructive aspects. With this realisation of the growing need for finding a new way to live in the world and manage the world, he began to formulate a story in his mind, based on the historical past but reaching into the future and a new world order. The idea incubated over many years, starting as a film script, but changing into a novel that was intended for publication, but with a view to becoming a film...

    His trilogy became like an outward expression of the many contradicting and deeper aspects of Philip’s own psyche and experience, in a sense a wonderful reflection of his inner life, which is also a reflection of the world outside. Unfortunately during this process, Philip was diagnosed with cancer. Although at first the initial treatment he received at the beginning of the covid epidemic, seemed to have been successful. But by the time he came to completing his second novel, the cancer had spread, and further treatment left him weak and increasingly unwell. As he worked hard to complete it, he realised that he might not live to fulfil this ambition. He really tried hard to stay alive, and his sense of urgency to leave a legacy in the form of his trilogy. To this end, he engaged his two cousins, Liz and Arnon, to save, in digital form, typed drafts of his final completed 3 novels. Birth of the Tiptons, Courtship, and 2020 – Tiptons 3 (the family that saves the world)...

    He wanted to dedicate his final book to his mother and father, He writes in his dedication: “This book is dedicated to Mum and Dad for having me. And for Humanity on earth to make it through”...

    His cousins Liz and Arnon, and some of his friends, hope to be able to make his work of fiction available for all who care to read it. It really is a very good read, and a wonderful expression of Phil. Phil enjoyed his life until his cancer made it too uncomfortable. It is wonderful to know that he did not have to suffer for too long, and that he was able to leave some expression of that enjoyment for us to enjoy still, in our happier memories of him, and in his creative legacy. 

Philip Davidson - Funeral Arrangements

 Following the sad death of Philip Davidson, Cousin Liz has sent us the following details for the arrangements for his funeral.

Philip Davidson

 

Davnob has just received the sad news of the death of Philip Davidson, son of Lionel and Fay Davidson, and brother of Nick Davidson. In recent years Phil had developed a series of travel websites and tourist guide films, and had just started writing fiction. His first novel, The Birth of the Tiptons, was part of a planned trilogy ‘The Tipton Saga’  and is available on Amazon. You can read Phil’s thoughts on the book on www.tiptons.tv