Members of this branch are
descendants of Chaim Yona Turkeltaub (John Henry Tobin), born about 1895 in Wloclawek,
Poland. The name Chaim was added to Yona, presumably since he was a very sickly child and
possibly the only son to
survive infancy. He had one sister - Hella (Chaya). Chaim's father was
Abraham - born probably about 1845 and mother, nee Poynsker, Sarah. Abraham's father was
called Nathan and was a rebbe either in Wloclawek or a
nearby village. Abraham Turkeltaub was a roof tiler by trade - a very poor
man. Probably before he was Barmitzvah, to escape the army, Chaim was
sent to England. A cousin Solomon Turkeltaub (father was called Isaac)
lived in or near London, but Chaim went to some other friends of his father who lived in
Gateshead - a rabbi named Grey (no relative). Chaim volunteered for the army in 1914 and
served in the First World War in the Lancashire Fusiliers. In about 1940, the family lost
contact with Chaya, who had married in the 1920's (? Brill ? Brell ?) and had 2 children -
Shlomo and Rachel. Presumably a grandfather had been Shlomo, since two family members were
called after him. Abraham Turkeltaub probably died long before the Second World War and
Sarah Turkeltaub died in 1936. |