Isaac Epstein (1884 - 1941)

Isaac Epstein is the husband of Tilly Morris, born Tilly Dik, the sister-in-law of Rachel Levin, my 2x great aunt. Morris family HERE

Parents: Eliyahu

Born: February 1884 in Włocławek, Poland

Hebrew name: Yitzchak son of Eliyahu Yaakov

Migration: It is unknown when he first arrived in England but as I cannot find him in the 1901 census it was probably sometime after that, but before hbis marriage in 1910

Naturalization

NOTICE is hereby Given, that ISAAC EPSTEIN. of 99 Granby Street, Liverpool 8. is applying to the Home Secretary for NATURALISATION, and that any person who knows any reason why Naturalisation should not be granted should send a written and signed statement of the facts to the Under-Secretary of State, Home Office. S.W. 1. (Liverpool Daily Post, Wednesday, March 30, 1938)

Isaac applied for naturalization and it was granted on 20 February 1939 (London Gazette 7 March 1939, p. 1541). His previous location is given as Palestine. His youngest child, Zahava, was born in Tel Aviv in 1927 so it is probable that the family emigrated to Palestine sometime after 1920 (when his 2nd youngest child, Sarah, was born in Liverpool, England. I don't know when they returned to England

Occupation: Draper and clothier, then a master butcher. According to his great nephew, David Morris, he was very religious. 

Married: Tilly Morris in (January - March) 1910 in Liverpool, England

Children

Their first child was born in 1911 when Isaac was 27 and Tilly 24 years old and their last child was born in 1927 when Isaac was 43 and Tilly 40 years old 

• Baruch Epstein 1911 - 1982
• Leah Epstein 1913 - 1985
• Naphtali Epstein 1914 - 2000
• Esther Epstein 1915 - 2013
• Sarah Epstein 1920 - 2003
• Zahava Epstein 1927 - 2024

Census

1911

In the 1911 census taken on 2 April that year, Tilly and Isaac have been married for one year and are living in a 6 room dwelling at 15 Vine Street, Liverpool, England. Isaac is age 26 and a travelling draper and clothier on his own account and Tilly is a housewife age 24. Living with them is their infant son Baruch who was born on 12 March 1911. Also living there is a boarder, Milly Morris age 21 who is a dressmaker, and a domestic servant, Maggie Graley, age 15

1921

In the 1921 census taken on 19 June 1921, Tilly and Isaac are living in a 6 room dwelling at 48 Erskine Street, Liverpool, England. Isaac is age 37 years and four months and a travelling draper and clothier working from home. His place of birth is given as Wloclawek, Poland.Tilly is a housewife age 35 years and six months and born in Poneviezys, Lithuania. Their children are Boruch age 10 years and four months, Leah age 8 years and 10 months, Naphtali age 7 years and one month, Esther age 6 years and one month, Sarah age 1 year and one month

1939 Register

In 1939 the family are living at 99 Granby Street, Liverpool, England. Isaac is now a master butcher with his own business. Living with Isaac and Tilly are their children Leah and Esther who both work in the family butchery, and Sara. Baruch and Naftali had already emigrated to Palestine

Directory

1911

In the 1911 directory Isaac is listed as a draper at 15 Vine Street, Liverpool, England

1938

In the 1938 directory Isaac is listed as a butcher at 99 Granby Street, Liverpool, England

Death

1 April 1941 (4 Nissan 5701) in Liverpool, England, age 58. He is buried in the Rice Lane Cemetery there, plot B35:02

Tombstone for Isaac. The Hebrew translation is: "Here is buried / R' Yitzchak son of R' Eliyahu Yaakov / Epstein / Departed 4 Nissan 5701 / May his soul be bound in the bind of the living"

Liverpool Jewish burial record for Isaac

Probate

RE ISAAC EPSTEIN, Deceased.-Will any Persons having Claims against the Estate of ISAAC EPSTEIN deceased late of 99 Granby Street in the City of Liverpool, Butcher, who died on the First day of April 1941 please send particulars thereof to me the undersigned the Solicitor for the proposed Administratrix. Dated this Twenty-seventh day of May 1941.

S. B. LEVIN, Bank Chambers, 3 Cook Street, Liverpool (Liverpool Echo, Wednesday, May 28, 1941). Simon Bernard Levin was the nephew, by marriage, of Isaac's wife Tilly)

EPSTEIN Isaac of 99 Granby-street Liverpool died 1 April 1941 Administration Liverpool 3 July [1941] to Tillie Epstein widow. Effects £772 7s. ld.

ISAAC EPSTEIN. Deceased. Pursuant to the Trustee Act 1925. All persons having Claims against the Estate of ISAAC EPSTEIN deceased late of 99 Granby Street in the City of Liverpool who died on the First day of April 1941 and to whose estate Letters of Administration were granted out of the District Probate Registry at Liverpool on the Third day of July 1941 to Tillie Epstein are required to send particulars thereof in writing to the undersigned on or before the Sixteenth day of October next after which date the Administratrix will proceed to distribute the assets having regard only to the claims of which she shall then have had notice. 

S. B. LEVIN, 3 Cook Street, Liverpool 2. Solicitor for the said Administratrix. (Liverpool Echo, Friday, August 22, 1941). 

Residence

In 1911 Tilly and Isaac and family are living at 15 Vine Street, Liverpool, England. The building no longer exists

In the 1921 census Tilly and Isaac are living at 48 Erskine Street, Liverpool, England. The building no longer exists

In 1938 until his death the family lived at 99 Granby Street, Liverpool, England

Tilly Morris (1886 - 1981)

Tilly Morris, born Tilly Dik, is the sister-in-law of Rachel Levin, my 2x great aunt. Morris family HERE

The original name of the family was Dik (Dikiene in Lithuanian) and the family, while registered in Raguva, Lithuania, lived in what is now Panevėžys, Lithuania. However, when Dinah's eldest brother Jacob arrived in England the clerk did not understand Yiddish and since Jacob called himself Jacob "Monnes" (Menachem), the clerk thought he said Munes was his last name. This was not English enough so the clerk anglicized it to Morris. Later when Jacob brought out other members of his family they changed their name to Morris as well

Parents: Joseph Dik (1851 - 1924) and Golda Chaya (1846 - 1923)

Born: November 1886 in Ponevezh, Kovno District, Russian Empire, now Panevėžys, Lithuania,  Ponevezh [Russian], Ponevezh [Yiddish], Poniewież [Polish], Ponewiesch [German], Panevēža [Latvian]

Hebrew name: Tova daughter of Yosef

Siblings

• Jacob Morris (1870 - 1947) married Rachel Levin (1873 - 1952) in Liverpool, England in (October - December) 1892
• Rachel Morris (1874 - 1982) married Nochum Aaron Steckoll (1867 - 1933)
• Dinah Morris (1879 - 1969) married Barnett Bryer (1878 - 1958) in Liverpool on 1 January 1903
• Ely Morris (1880 - 1973) married Annie Katz (1888 - 1967) in Johannesburg, South Africa on 15 November 1911
• Michael Dik (1883 - ?)

According to AI searches there were several other children who were born in Panevėžys as well, but I have yet to corroborate this

Migration to England: In Lithuania, at that time, the eldest son was drafted to the Russian army when they reached the age of 18. Therefore, Tilly's eldest brother Jacob left Lithuania planning to travel to America but on arrival in Liverpool did not have enough money to complete the journey. The local Jewish Leadership offered help on condition that he marry a Jewish girl and settle in England.  Once settled in England he brought all his family to join him in Liverpool and all his siblings changed their name to Morris. Tilly came to Liverpool sometime before 1910

Married: Isaac Epstein in (January - March) 1910 in Liverpool, England

Children

Their first child was born in 1911 when Isaac was 27 and Tilly 24 years old and their last child was born in 1927 when Isaac was 43 and Tilly 40 years old 

• Baruch Epstein 1911 - 1982
• Leah Epstein 1913 - 1985
• Naphtali Epstein 1914 - 2000
• Esther Epstein 1915 - 2013
• Sarah Epstein 1920 - 2003
• Zahava Epstein 1927 - 2024

Census

1911

In the 1911 census taken on 2 April that year, Tilly and Isaac have been married for one year and are living in a 6 room dwelling at 15 Vine Street, Liverpool, England. Isaac is age 26 and a travelling draper and clothier on his own account and Tilly is a housewife age 24. Living with them is their infant son Baruch who was born on 12 March 1911. Also living there is a boarder, Milly Morris age 21 who is a dressmaker, and a domestic servant, Maggie Graley, age 15

1921

In the 1921 census taken on 19 June 1921, Tilly and Isaac are living in a 6 room dwelling at 48 Erskine Street, Liverpool, England. Isaac is age 37 years and four months and a travelling draper and clothier working from home. His place of birth is given as Wloclawek, Poland.Tilly is a housewife age 35 years and six months and born in Poneviezys, Lithuania. Their children are Boruch age 10 years and four months, Leah age 8 years and 10 months, Naphtali age 7 years and one month, Esther age 6 years and one month, Sarah age 1 year and one month

1939 Register

In 1939 the family are living at 99 Granby Street, Liverpool, England. Isaac is now a master butcher with his own business. Living with Isaac and Tilly are their children Leah and Esther who both work in the family butchery, and Sara. Baruch and Naftali had already emigrated to Palestine

Electoral Registers

1948

In the 1948 electoral register Tilly and her children Naphtali and Zahava are living at 99 Granby Street, Liverpool, England. Her husband Isaac died in 1941

1960

In 1960 Tilly and her child Zahava and her husband Martin Dover are listed as living at 2 / 3 Croxteth Grove, Cheshire, England

Death

6 April 1981 in Johannesburg, South Africa, age 94. She was buried on 7 April 1981 in the Westpark Cemetery in Johannesburg, grave block H, grave no 3375

Tombstone for Tilly. Inscription: "In loving memory of Tova Epstein passed away 6th April 1981. Deeply mourned by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. M.H.D.S.R.I.P."

Hebrew translation: "The honorable and honest woman, beloved and dear mother and grandmother Tova daughter of Mr Yosef who died 3 Nisan 5741 / 1981"

Westpark Cemetery details for Tilly

Jewishgen Cemetery record for Tilly

Place of Birth

Tilly Morris was born in Panevėžys, Lithuania

PANEVEZYS (Panevezhis; Lith. Panevežys; Rus. Ponevezh), city in Lithuania. In 1766 the Jewish community numbered 254; in 1847, 1,447 Jews were registered, and in 1897, 6,627 Jews (50% of the total population) lived in Panevezys. An ancient Karaite community is also known to have existed there. A number of noted rabbis officiated in Panevezys, among them Isaac Jacob Rabinovich (Itzele Ponevezher), Joseph Kahaneman, and Jeroham Leibovich. The Hebrew poet Judah Leib Gordon served as a teacher in the city from 1853 to 1860. Naphtali Friedman, a noted advocate, served as delegate from Panevezys to the third Duma.

In May 1915, during World War I, the Jews of Panevezys were sent along with other Lithuanian Jews to the interior of Russia by the Russian military authorities. Most of them returned after the Russian Revolution. In 1923 there were 6,845 Jews living in Panevezys (35% of the total population), most of them occupied in small trade and crafts and some in larger business enterprises and industry.

The community had an active social and cultural life. Its educational institutions included Hebrew and Yiddish primary schools, two Hebrew secondary schools (one belonging to the Zionist-orientated Tarbut educational system and the other, for girls, to the religious Yavneh), a Jewish pro-gymnasium, and libraries.

The Panevezys Yeshivah, which had a high reputation, was founded by Liebe Miriam Gavronsky, daughter of K.Z. Wissotszky. When the Jews were expelled during World War I, the yeshivah was first moved to Ludza in Vitebsk province and then to Mariupol (Zhdanov) in the Ukraine. After World War I Rabbi Kahaneman founded the great Ohel Yiẓḥak yeshivah in Panevezys with about 200 students. In 1944 the yeshivah was reestablished by Rabbi Kahaneman in *Bene Berak, Israel.

Panevezys was occupied by the Germans in 1941 a few days after the outbreak of the German-Soviet war. A ghetto was established from which Jews were transported and murdered in September 1941. They were buried in 12 mass graves. In 1968 the Jewish cemetery at Panevezys was destroyed.

Residence

In 1911 Tilly and Isaac and family are living at 15 Vine Street, Liverpool, England. The building no longer exists

In the 1921 census Tilly and Isaac are living at 48 Erskine Street, Liverpool, England. The building no longer exists

In 1939 the family are living at 99 Granby Street, Liverpool, England

From 1949 to 1962 Tilly lived at 3 Croxteth Grove, Cheshire, England