Morris Lazarus marries Flora Cohen in 1854

Morris Lazarus, journeyman butcher, married Flora Cohen, on 6 December 1854 at the Great Synagogue, Drury Lane, London.

At the time of their marriage, Morris was living at 56 Middlesex Street, Aldgate (now Petticoat Lane). Flora was living at 33 New Street, Gravel Lane.

(Copy of the Marriage Certificate of Morris & Flora - thanks to Julian Phillips)

Soon after they moved to 3 Princes Court, South St. Giles, where their first child Mary was born on Nov. 23, 1855.

Seven Dials, London WC2 and the Lazari

The name "Seven Dials" describes the area around the junction of 7 streets, laid out in the late 1690's by Thomas Neale. Plans were submitted to Sir Christopher Wren, Surveyor-General in 1692,and the rest of the development was carried out by individual builders over the next 15 years. (see Link)

"By the middle of the 18th century, the area had 'declined' to the extent that 39 night-watchmen were needed to keep the peace. By the early 19th century the area became famous, together with St. Giles to the north, as the most notorious rookery in London.

Shaftesbury Avenue was cut through along the north-west side of Seven Dials in 1889 as a combined work of traffic improvement and slum clearance. The Woodyard Brewery closed in 1905 and its old premises were converted into box, fruit and vegetable warehouses serving Covent Garden Market.

Covent Garden Market moved out in the 1970s, which led to many changes of ownership and uses and dereliction. Seven Dials was declared a Conservation Area in 1974 and since the mid-1970s much restoration has been carried out within the parameters of the former GLC Covent Garden Action Area Plan, one aim of which was to safeguard and improve the existing physical character and fabric of the area. The reconstruction of the Sundial Pillar is a symbol of the regeneration of this area." [Thanks to www.sevendials.com]

(Extract from 25" 1894 London Map)

The Lazarus Family lived and worked in the Seven Dials District of London for two generations, starting (as far as we know) with John Lazarus [a Master Veal Butcher - see 1851 Census, the father of Morris Lazarus], who lived at 13 West Street, above his Butcher shop, with his wife Sarah (née Solomons) and their 7 children:

Ralph, Lewis, Samuel, Clara, Morris, Mary & Judah.

Morris took over the butcher's shop at 13 West Street, Seven Dials. In 1871, Morris was registered as working at 3 West Street, in partnership with his brother Samuel, who kept the shop, when Morris & family moved to Newington Butts, near Elephant & Castle, Surrey in 1878.

[Morris' brother Samuel continued at 3 West Street until 1891, after which the shop relocated to 6 West Street. Samuel retired or gave up the shop in 1900.]

As yet I have been unable to trace any of the descendants of Morris' siblings... I would be glad of any help!]

[Map © maps.google.com]

The sound of Bow-Bells...

It is a well-known saying that if one was born "within the sound of Bow-Bells", one is a Cockney (or rather a "true Londoner").

The bells referred to are from the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow on Cheapside, in the City of London. Studies made in the 1990's (concluded that at today's sound levels, anyone born within 1.8 miles of St. Mary-le-Bow could be called a "Londoner", and in the 19th Century, the range extended to 3 miles.

Both Morris & Flora Lazarus and most of their children (except for Sophia/"Lily") were indeed born "within the sound of Bow-Bells" at various locations around London. (The distance as the crow flies from St. Mary-le-Bow to Drury Lane is 1,327 miles/1,823km - see the GoogleMap at the end of this post.

I include a quote below, and a map showing the range of the bells...

"Another tradition has it that to be born within the sound of the Bow Bells makes you a Cockney. There has been much discussion on various genealogical newsgroups concerning whether an ancestor was a Cockney. The first major problem occurs in determining in which church the bells are housed. Many think, wrongly, that the church is St Mary's in Bow which is just over three miles further to the east than the true home of the Bow Bells, St Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside. The next problem is just how far away from the church can the bells be heard. If the legend of Dick Whitington is to be believed then the bells could be heard on Highgate Hill fully six miles distant from the source. In 1991, Dr Malcolm Hough carried out research taking into account such things as weather, wind and landscape to map where the Bow Bells could be heard. The map shown below illustrates the limits when the background sound levels are taken into consideration. Dr Hough estimated that before motorised traffic the sound levels would be in the region of 50 decibels during the day, reducing to 30 decibels at night. The equivalent reading today would be 60 reducing to 45 thus greatly reducing the Cockney area."
[Source: The East End, then and now; Winston G Ramsey]

To see the GoogleMap showing the distance from St. Mary-le-Bow (on the right) to 46 Drury Lane (left), see this LINK

Ancestors & Origins of the Lazarus Family of Seven Dials

Content to Follow

Getting Started on the Project

Sometime in the early 1990's, cousin Gavin Posner and I were sitting over a meal in Toronto, trying to work out how we were related. We started charting the tree in an architectural fashion, and soon got confused who was "yours" and who was "ours", etc. I went back and wrote to my Dad, and Gavin interviewed his Dad Wally, and thus the start of this ongoing and growing search for the Extended Family of the "Lazari" came into being.

This Blog is intended to be the beginning of a document of the journey I have undertaken, one that consumes and thrills me, and fascinates and intrigues many of the extended Family. As of today (April 15, 2005), there are 402 people (including spouses of direct relations) on the Tree (which I ultimately intend to upload to its own website), of which their are now 6 generations subsequent to the Core Family: Morris & Flora Lazarus.

I have had incredible help from many members of the Family, but most of all from Julian Phillips in Melbourne, and Ginny Counard, in Hamilton, New Jersey, for which I am very grateful! And my thanks to my parents Julian & Doris Lurie of Johannesburg, for their ongoing support and contributions to this vast project.

I seem somehow to have taken on the task to meet as many Family members as possible, and to try to document in very rudimentary detail, the legacy of Morris & Flora!

Le Chayim!