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Hi!

I am looking for my grandfather. I know very little other than he was born in Poland near Lodz and his name was Von Keil. After WW2 he was in Wooton-under-edge Gloucestershire in 1951. Any advice?

Zane

Did he marry in the UK?

Not seeing any marriage for that name

If he wasn’t married to your grandmother then there’s not much chance of identifying him without further info

no such name appears on ancestry fmp or family search

One assumes he had a forename, but as you haven’t posted one, presumably you don’t know what it was

No he didn't marry my nan, they had an affair and my father was the result. This was suspected for a number of years but recently confirmed with a gene test. I do not know a first name. All I know is a family tale from his polish relatives descended from his fathers sister. There was an accident where a horse and cart went off a bridge and killed both parents. The children consisted of a number of boys and a girl. After they were orphaned the girl lost touch with the boys and she went on to found the the remaining polish lines. One of the boys was about five years old in 1900 when it happened. He is suspected to be the father of my fathers father. In 1919 the Germans abolished the monarchy. In Germany von was a designation of nobility. The sister would not have known him after 1919 so he may have dropped the von in line with the law. There is an Abraham Keir who was born in Poland somewhere in 1894 which fits if he dropped the von. He appears in someone's family tree here. If he was born near Lodz that would be a good possibility. Also there is a Keir who married a polish woman in like 1956 in Paddington... This could possibly be the son who went on to marry... But... How can I try to find out for sure?

Alfred p keil is the name of the guy who married in 1954. He married a woman called Dekowski.

Alfred p keil is the name of the guy who married in 1954. He married a woman called Dekowski.

Get the marriage cert
It will give his age and fathers name if known

That Alfred was born 1923


Name: Alfred Paul Keil
Death Age: 68
Birth Date: 17 Aug 1923
Registration Date: Oct 1991
Registration district: Market Harborough
Inferred County: Leicestershire
Volume: 6
Page: 2310

And his wife

Ms Gerda Emma Elisabeth Keil
Gender: Female
Age: 87
Birth Date: 8 Sep 1923
Last Residence: Newark, Nottinghamshire, England
Postal Code District: NG24
Death Date: 25 Feb 2010

Thank you Shirley! We expect that my grandfather was born around 1920, so that's close. We had assumed he was born in Poland though not really based on anything... We never thought he could be born here. Obviously its a stretch, but everything is a stretch at this point with so little to go on, what if Abraham Keil from Poland born 1894 is his father! Such a pity I didn't start to look sooner!!! I use to live next to Newark! I could have just asked Gerda!!! I'm very new too all this, so the marriage certificate should have his fathers name if known on it? How do I get a copy of a marriage certificate? Write to the registry? I can get a copy of his birth certificate from market harborough right? :0)

There is absolutely nothing to suggest he was born in the UK.

You have been given his death, which includes D O B, not its location

The death cert should say where he was born - IF the informant knew

Order certs from the following:-

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates

BUT...........none of these documents will give you any proof that he was the man who was in Wotton Under Edge in 1951

The aim isn't to prove he was in Wooton under edge, it is to tie him to one of the dangling limbs of our polish cousins family tree. Keil is not a very common name outside of Germany so if it traces back to Poland their is a good chance he is a son of the missing brothers... So he died in market harborough?

My marriage certificate has country of birth on it but not place and it has fathers name... Would they still have this information on marriage certificates from the 50s?

for what it is worth from a tree on family search

Alfred Keil
View Tree
Sex
Male

Birth
17 August 1923
Gdansk

Death
17 October 1991
Lutterworth, Leics



MARRIAGES (1)
Spouse
Gerda Emma Elisabeth Dekowski

Marriage
15 April 1954
London



NOTES (2)
During WWII, Alfred was with the German Luftwaffe working as a navigator. He flew in the tail section of planes - a very dangerous place - and I believe was shot down over England. He became a prisoner of war. After the war, it took him 8 years to trace his family back in Germany.
Gerda and Alfred met when they were both working at the German Embassy in London after WWII. Gerda had moved to the UK when working as a nanny. Alfred had been a prisoner of war and settled in England. When they were married, one of them had to give up working at the Germany Embassy, as married couples could not work together. Gerda stayed at the Embassy and Alfred got work in the shoe industry - I believe buying leather for the company he worked for.
Show Les

gerda's father

Joseph Dekowski
View Tree
Sex
Male

Birth
10 September 1886
Lissewo/Kulm

Death
20 December 1959
Berlin



MARRIAGES (1)
Spouse
Martha Mathilde Franziska Maronn

Marriage
28 April 1914
Treblin, Pomerania


NOTES (1)
Joseph was a master cobbler in Berlin. He made shoes and boots for the disabled. In WWII he made boots for the Nazis in Berlin. When the Russians invaded Berlin, his daughter, Gerda, was wearing a pair of his boots. A Russian soldier saw them and told her to take them off and give them to him. Gerda refused and lived to tell the tale.

gerda

Gerda Emma Elisabeth Dekowski
View Tree
Sex
Female

Birth
8 September 1923
Berlin

Death
estimated 2014


PARENTS
Father
Joseph Dekowski

Mother
Martha Mathilde Franziska Maronn

Father
Willi Ott

Mother
Marta Mattick

MARRIAGES (1)
Spouse
Alfred Keil

Marriage
15 April 1954
London

Definitely not...........at least until 1970.

Google for info about what is on UK certs

I thought you wanted to identify the man who fathered a child - presumably in Wotton under Edge in about 1951????????

Wow, that's really interesting! Where did you find that??? That's weird cause I'm a navigator... But for ships not airplanes. Wrong side of the war though!!! Sure he wasn't free polish??? Lol!

I am looking for a the man who fathered a child in wooton under edge in exactly 1951. It was in fact september 1951. The child was registered as being the son of the man the woman was married too, however he was not. A genetic test has shown that we have cousins in a mixed german\polish family in Silesia, modern day Poland. It is them that have given us the surname Von Keil. Sadly that branch of the family is unknown to them after the accident in 1900 resulted in all the kids going to an orphanage. So I am looking for a con keil, probably just keil due to German abolishion of the monarchy in 1919 who was born about 1920 and ended up in england shortly after the war...

you could try the national archives for german prisoners of war records