Presenter: Michael Shade
Format: Download MP3 Audio

Whilst researching my own Frankenstein family in England, I became intrigued by the figure of Isaac Frankenstein, born in Poland in 1825. Was he one of mine? My interest was heightened when I discovered that he had married in Brighton, my home town. I gradually realised that his wife?s family was connected to a number of other Polish Jewish families living in towns across southern England. They were jewelers, hawkers or dealers. In this presentation, we trace their footsteps from Portsea to Brighton, across the ocean to New York and on to Savannah, Georgia, searching out the places where they lived, worked and died. We consider the impact on their lives of events such as the Napoleonic Wars and the American Civil War. We ask where in Poland they came from, attempt to disentangle their family relationships, and meet some of their descendants to see what they can tell us.