Having reached 3/4 of a century I thought I would start sharing some of my family history. I’m going to start with me and my parents and then work back through grand-parents, great-grandparents, etc.
So here goes …
I was born on December 17, 1945 at Royal Northern Hospital to Sarah Ilter/Marlborough and Alfred Edward Marlborough.
Sally Marlborough
I’ll start the family history with my Mum. I don’t really know when she was born. She told my father that her birthday was September 15, 1919 but she later claimed that she was actually older than him. I believe she was born between 1913 and 1919. She was born in Istanbul to Jaques and Marguerite Abravanel. The family changed their name to Ilter sometime after she was born – probably after the revolution that brought Attaturk to power. Here are some pictures of Sarah (or Sally, as she was known in England) taken before she was married.
It’s very unlikely that I will be able to find any records of my Turkish family because many have been destroyed and what’s there is written in Cyrillic or Hebrew. Most of what I know is anecdotal and I will write about it another time. The main focus of my family research so far has been my English family.
However, I do know she married my father in 1944. There were three marriage certificates and two ceremonies. This was all done on the same day – 14th December.
First they were married in a Turkish Registry Office. I don’t have that certificate. Secondly they were married by the British Consul General. He issued a marriage certificate and so did the British Army. Sarah came to Britain in 1945, some time before the war ended.
Here are some more pictures of Sally and Alf from the time when they were in Istambul.
Alf Marlborough
Born June 8, 1919 to Alfred Thomas Marlborough and Jane Maria Brittain Marlborough my Dad lived at 73 Arlington Street with his parents; presumably he was born there. This is a picture of Alfred at an early age. I believe he is in the garden at Arlington Street with Annie Lys who lived in the same house and was a good friend of my grandmother.
This is a picture of 73 Arlington Ave (the street names have all been changed and it’s possible that the house numbers are different too. However, most of the houses look the same as they did when I was a girl and I can remember my Dad showing me the actual house.
If this is the right house, it was badly damaged in WWII.
Alfred Edward was apprenticed to the Cleansing Department of Islington Borough Council in 1936 to learn the trade of “fitter and turner”. His apprenticeship should have lasted for 5 years (till 1941) but it was extended because he was called up to serve in the Army during World War II. His apprenticeship finally finished in 1946.
Below are a couple of pictures of Alf holidaying with his parents followed by a couple of photos of him in Istambul.
Alfred Thomas Marlborough, Jane Brittain Marlborough and Alfred Edward Marlborough about 1932 
Alfred Edward Marlborough, Jane Brittain Marlborough, Alfred Thomas Marlborough about 1937 
Alfred was sent to the Middle East with the REME and ended up in Istanbul where he met and married Sarah Ilter on December 14, 1944. His marriage certificate shows him to be a Staff Sergeant (No. 7617341). He returned to England with Sarah before the end of the war. Sarah reported that they expected to live with Alfred’s parents, but they were living in a bomb damaged house.
More later …..