Archibald Carle Heckmann (b. 1883), son of Napoleon Joseph Heckmann and Susie Lane, married Daisy Rhoda Day (b. 10 Feb 1881), daughter of Arthur Stephen Day and Mary Ann Ray (and sister of Arthur Wilton Day), at St Faith’s Church, Ebner Street, Wandsworth, in the first quarter of 1900.
The couple had two sons:
- Archibald Wilton Napoleon Heckmann b. 1901 M Quarter in WANDSWORTH Volume 01D Page 785
- Cecil Arthur Heckmann b. 1903 D Quarter in ONGAR Vol 04A Page 537
In 1901, they were living at
60, Fullerton Road, Wandsworth, with Archibald Heckmann (21) - he was actually only 18 - Gas stove fitter from
Loughton, Essex, Daisy Heckmann (20) and son Archibald Heckmann (0).
Archibald Carle Heckmann must have left shortly after the second child was born and there's no sign of him after that: completely disappearing, as I've not found him under that name, on any subsequent records, neither census, nor electoral rolls, nor death, nor passenger lists going abroad.
Son Archibald W N Heckmann died, aged 15, in 1916, in Marylebone, London.
On 25 Apr 1919,
Daisy Rhoda Heckmann, daughter of Arthur Stephen Day, Photographer, married
William Arthur Clancy at
St Mary's Church, Leyton.
So far, I've found no further trace of William Arthur or Daisy Rhoda Clancy.
Cecil Arthur Heckman married Bessie Henderson Soutar, in 1932, in Victoria, Australia, so we can probably safely assume he settled there.
But whilst we don't yet know where Archibald Carle Heckmann went, we do have some information on where he came from:
Firstly, we have his grandfather's petition for Naturalisation in 1846:
Johan Heinrich Heckmann of No 5 John Street,
Chicksand Street,
Brick Lane in the Parish of
Whitechapel, in the County of Middlesex,
Fur Skin Dresser, states that he was born in
Eissen,
Warburg, then in the
Kingdom of Prussia. He had been married for 13 years at that point, so married in 1833. His wife, also German, was Catharina Boss - the mother's maiden name on some of the children's births was Boss - and had lived in
Tower Hamlets for 15 years, so since around 1831, when he would have been around 19 or 20. I've not found any record of his birth, or marriage so, we'll have to take his word for it.
In 1841, Johan Heckmann (30) Skin dresser, wife Cathe (30) and daughters, Helena (4) and Sophia (2) along with four others who were described as fur dressers, were living at John Street, Christchurch,
Whitechapel.
In 1851, now listed as John H Heckmann (39) Skinner & furrier employing 20 men, still at 5 John Street, Christchurch
Spitalfields, Whitechapel, with Chatherina (sic) (39) from
Homberg,
Hesse; Chatherina (sic) (18), Christina (16), Helena (13), Sophia (11), Margretha (10), Napoleon (5), Anna Sophia (3), Cleopatra (1) and Karl Boss (20) Brother-in-law, Fur skin dresser.
In 1861, J H Heckmann (49) Proprietor of houses, from Prussia Naturalized British Subject, had moved to
30, York Hill, Loughton, Essex, with Catherine (49), Catherine (27), Sophia (21), Margretha (17), Napoleon (15), Anne (13), Adelaide (12), Theodore (5) and Adolf Leity (33) Visitor from Berlin, Prussia.
On 4 Jul 1865, John Henry Heckmann of John Street and Samuel Street, Spitlefields and of Loughton, Essex, Skin Dresser and Brewer, was declared bankrupt. He was discharged from bankruptcy on 5 Dec of the same year.
In 1871, John H and Katherine Heckmann were still at York Hill, Loughton, as they were also in 1881. John Henry Heckmann of York Hill, Loughton, died on 11 Sep 1887. In 1891, widow, Catherine Heckmann was still living at York Hill, Loughton with two of her daughters, spinsters, Catherine (56) and Anna (43) and one servant. Catherine Heckmann died, aged 86, in 1898.
Napoleon Joseph Heckmann (b. 1846), son of Johan Heinrich Heckmann and Catharina Boss, married
Susie Lane at
St John of Jerusalem, South Hackney, in 1879. Susie claimed to be from
High Beach (or High Beech), Essex, but I've not found a record of her birth and cannot identify her parents.
 |
| Dr Septimus Swyer |
In 1871, Napoleon Joseph Heckmann (25) 'wife's brother', had been living in the household of Septimus Swyer (35) at 32 Brick Lane, Spitalfields, Whitechapel. Dr Septimus Swyer, General Practitioner, had married Napoleon's sister, Agnes Christina Heckmann, in 1857. Much has already been written about this contentious character, from his apparent partnership with a medical fraudster Edward Morass who went under a number of aliases and his second wife's alleged bigamy, but most of all, in relation to Jack the Ripper, as a person of interest and a possible suspect. Circumstantially, at least. It's relevant, I feel, to mention that Septimus Swyer emigrated the United States and one of his sons emigrated to Australia and changed his name.
In 1881, Napoleon Joseph Heckmann (36) Living on income, Susie (22) and son Napoleon J (1), with a Domestic servant and a Nurse, were at York Hill.
Second son, Archibald Carle Heckman, born 1883 S Quarter in EPPING Volume 04A Page 223 and baptised at High Beech, Essex on 4 Jun 1889.
In 1891, Susie Heckmann (30) Widow, was Living on her own means, still at York Hill, Loughton with her two sons, Napoleon (11) and Archibald (7). There's a record of Susie Heckmann remarrying in the 4th quarter of 1893, in Holborn, London, but I've been unable to establish to whom.
If one were to follow every line, there might be more clues, but it's clear there's a laundry list of circumstances that might be motivations for disappearance in this family and they have practice: I'm not hopeful.
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