Alexander James Grossmann

1834 —
A brief biography

Ancestors


Alexander James Grossmann 1834 —
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Spouse/Partner and Children


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Sophia Fletcher Ada 1833 —   Julia Sophia Grossmann 1858 —  

Alexander James Grossmann


Born in 1834, the fourth year of the reign of King William IV.  He has 14 direct descendants in the family.

An extraordinary childhood


The following was related to Tim Richardson by Charles Escoffery:

My grandfather, Grandpa Grossmann as we always called him, was originally Jewish. I don’t know anything about his father, Gabriel Grossmann, but I remember he told me his mother was Elizabeth Julia Bettelheim, of a well known family and related to the Esterhazys of Budapest, and that he had  

The journey to England

Alexander was on a boat bound for England which was wrecked near the Island of Malta. He was cared for by an Anglican clergyman who converted him to Christianity and gave him the name of Alexander James Grossmann. He got to England in 1851 and settled in Dover as a watchmaker, then went into photography and painting,


A Royal Photographer


Naturalized as a British Subject, he was christened at St Mary’s, Whitechapel, London in 1855 and joined the 95th Rifles renamed the Rifle Brigade in 1881. An early posting was to Dover where he met and married Sophia Ada at the Holy Trinity Church, in the Pier District. While in the army, Grossmann was patronised by Prince Arthur (1850 -1942),  

The Pommerania Incident

In 1878, Grossmann received international appreciation as an interpreter when on 26 November the 3,382 ton Hamburg-American mail packet Pommerania, on a voyage from the US to Germany, was in collision with iron sailing ship Moel Eilion off the South Foreland. 172 passengers, mainly German, from the Pommerania were landed at Dover and taken to the Seamen’s Mission. There Grossmann  


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Julia Sophia Grossmann

Augusto Sandino's mother
While in Managua, Julia befriended Margarita Calderón, an indigenous servant with the Sandino family and mother of Augusto Calderón Sandino. Both families' children were friends, which is why Augusto...

268 relatives found

Julia Sophia Bingham is the latest relative on the Ada website - thanks to Tim Richardson for this contribution.
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Bob Ada

Bob Ada is the latest Ada to join - welcome!