The Shrimski Family story - from Posen to the Antipodes
John Shrimski of Sydney tells the story of the last 200 years of the Shrimski family from Posen (Poznan) in Poland to the Antipodes…
I was born in Auckland in 1945 and grew up knowing very little about the Shrimski family, other than it was a difficult name for a youngster to say. I was aware that I had a famous 3rd great uncle, the Hon. Samuel Edward Shrimski, who was born in Posen and later founded Waitaki Boys High School in Oamaru. I also knew that the Shrimski family were Cohanim (descended from Aaron, brother of Moses).
For many years that was all I needed to know, but by the 1990s when computers and genealogy became friends I decided to start investigating my paternal line using a variety of resources, such as online family trees; birth/death/marriage records; digital newspapers and a plethora of other resources.
Fortunately, I had a copy of Samuel Edward Shrimski’s will, which conveniently provided me with the identity of his siblings who were all named as beneficiaries. That was the starting point of my journey into reconstructing the Shrimski family. The following is the result of my investigations, starting with my 3rd great grandparents Elias Schrimski and Hannchen Basch.
The Family in Posen
Hannchen Basch and the tailor, Elias Schrimski, were married in the city of Posen (within the Grand Duchy of Posen) around 1819. Over the ensuing years they had five children, Jacob (1820), Michaelis (1822), Pauline (1826), Samuel Edward (1828) and Isidore (1831). Hannchen and Elias must have divorced in the early 1830s. Hannchen then married Michael Aron Weissbein and had a child, Rosalie, born in 1833 in Krotoschin, also within the Grand Duchy of Posen.
After the various partitions of Poland in the late 18th century, there was a significant increase in the number of Jewish people living in the areas within the newly formed ‘Grand Duchy of Posen’. This area was supposedly autonomous but in fact was subordinated to Prussia. This together with the Polish uprising of 1830-31, led the Prussians to offer the Jews of the ‘Grand Duchy of Posen’ the possibility of becoming naturalised. This was a Prussian plan to ‘civilise’ the Jews and neutralise the Poles.
In Edward Luft’s, “The Naturalized Jews of the Grand Duchy of Posen in 1834 and 1835”, he indicates that only about 13% of Jews at that time were naturalized and the individual people are listed in his publication. It appears that those naturalised were the best-educated and richest Jews living in one of the poorest territories of Prussia. Several of Hannchen Basch’s siblings are listed as being naturalised.
Following Elias Schrimski’s death in October 1846 and given that their mother was no longer close by, one could imagine the topic of conversation around the Schrimski siblings’ dinner table. Should they follow the other smart people and emigrate, or stay. At this stage none of the siblings were married.
The first to make a move was Samuel Edward. He is recorded as arriving in the UK in August 1846, so in fact had left prior to his father’s demise.
Jacob married Hannah Baer in Posen and their only child, Mark (Mordechai) was born in Posen in 1847. They moved to London sometime in the 1850s.
Pauline married Robert Nathan, a merchant, in Stargard, in the Duchy of Pomerania and had five children there from 1850 to 1859. In the 1860’s they emigrated to London and their family is still there to this day.
Michaelis is recorded as being involved in the 1848 Polish uprising centred in Krakow. He took part in the ‘Battle of Miloslaw’ (a town in the ‘Province of Posen[1]’). Clearly Michaelis was not a great fan of the Prussian assimilation policy. In 1865 he emigrated to America with his wife Roschen and child, Mathilde, however no clue as to his wife and child’s existence since that date can be found. Michaelis returned to Posen and later married Berta Mielzynska there in 1875. Michaelis was a horse dealer and general agent. Michaelis and Berta had six children. Like many Jewish families who lived in Posen at that time, they eventually moved to Berlin and many of their descendants would later perish in the Holocaust.
The youngest of Elias’ children, Isadore, married Seraphine Herzberg in the mid 1860s. Their seven children were all born in Pinne, about 50km west of Posen. They returned to Posen in 1880s where he was a glazier. He died in 1891 in Posen. The fate of their descendants is quite well documented but unfortunately most perished in the Holocaust. A few made it to America and family contact has been established with them.
In 2013 I was in Berlin on business and decided to take a day trip on a slow train to Poznan (Posen) to reconnoitre the city. I had done my homework and was aware of the Polish names of the streets where many of the family had lived when the addresses were in German. I had also used ‘Streetview’ to assist. I had some 9 addresses to follow up and 8 of the 9 addresses and buildings from the 1870s still existed.
The old market square of Posen was delightful. All the streets where my family had lived ran directly off this main square.
The buildings, some of which had been modernised, were typically 3 to 5 stories but the outside character remained. I also visited the baroque ‘new synagogue’ built around 1900. During WWII the Germans converted part of this magnificent structure to a swimming pool for use by their soldiers. I noticed that the run-down building was still half swimming pool and half synagogue.
I attempted to find my 3rd great grandfather’s grave, but whilst his death record had been preserved his gravestone, along with many others, had been re-purposed as road base. I didn’t feel entirely comfortable in Posen.
Journey to the Antipodes
Once in the UK, Samuel very quickly anglicised his name to ‘Shrimski’ and Jacob followed suit. Samuel made the voyage to Australia arriving in 1858, staying there for a few years then went on to bigger and better things in New Zealand, settling in Oamaru.
Jacob and Hannah lived in the East End of London. Their son, Mark, a shoemaker, married Annie Myers in 1871 and lived in the same area. Between 1872 and 1884 they had five daughters and one son.
It is apparent that Jacob made a trip to Oamaru in New Zealand to see his brother, Samuel, around 1868. This cannot be confirmed by shipping records but an entry in North Otago Times in 1868 indicates that both Samuel and Jacob were sitting on the jury of a coroner’s inquest into a drowning. Maybe his visit was just to suss things out, because he was back in the UK for the 1871 UK census, where he was once more living with his wife and son. His occupation was listed as a tailor.
By 1880, Jacob had returned Oamaru and was living in premises provided by his generous brother. It appeared he was there for the long haul and was listed as an agent. Jacob stayed in Oamaru until his death in 1904. He outlived Samuel by two years and it appears that Samuel gave him much support over that 24 year period. Records show that Jacob was buried at the Southern Cemetery in Dunedin but his actual grave has not been located. In reviewing the year of 1904, the Oamaru Mail noted his passing and mentioned him as “one of the pioneers of settlement”.
Meanwhile, back in London, in the late 1880s, Hannah was without her husband, Jacob. Mark was trying to provide for his family and things were pretty tough in Victorian England especially in the overcrowded East End.
In 1887 Mark arranged for an assisted passage on the Helena Mena to move his family from London to Fremantle in Western Australian. One has to wonder whether his wife, Annie, knew she was pregnant when she embarked on this voyage. The register of deaths at sea shows that she had twin boys. One of the twins died on 1stJuly 1877, Annie died a few weeks later aged 33 and the other twin died aged 2
months after that. It’s hard to imagine Mark arriving in Fremantle having lost his wife and 2 children on the voyage and wondering how he was going to cope with looking after six healthy children.
There is no evidence that Mark’s mother, Hannah, came on this trip on the Helena Mena, but she certainly arrived soon after, one assumes to help him with the family[2]. Jacob and Hannah had been living separate lives for some time now and that did not appear to be about to alter. Mark and his family initially remained in Fremantle where he had pre-arranged work as a shoemaker. This didn’t work out and resulted in Mark taking his employer to court on a wrongful dismissal charge.
In 1890 Mark applied for a hawker’s license for the southern district around Perth. One could assume that life was a bit of a struggle for him in Fremantle, however in 1892 he made the long voyage to New Zealand probably with the encouragement of his well-known uncle Samuel and his father, Jacob. Shipping records show that he was away from Fremantle for about 2 months, but there are indications that this trip was not a great success. It is evident from Samuel’s will that he specifically did not want Mark to inherit from his estate. The precise reasons are unknown.
In 1895 Mark set up a drapery business with his only son, Alfred, in Barrack Street, right in the heart of Perth. In 1898 Mark and family presented a sefer torah and breastplate to the Perth Synagogue as a memorial to the “late Mrs Shrimski and her twin sons”. A special service was held to consecrate the new sefer torah.
By 1900 Mark also had a business in High Street, Fremantle with the tag-line “The Fremantle Working Man’s Friend”. Mark’s eldest child, Rosetta, married Gustus Luber in 1889 and in 1908 they built Rosetta Lodge, a large comfortable house in the Mount Lawley suburb of Perth. This place became a focal point for the Shrimski/Luber families.”
Of Mark’s six surviving children, four married over the years 1889 to 1908 resulting in many descendants. Of particular note are:
· Granddaughter, Edna Luber-Smith: awarded a C.B.E. in 1977 for services to local government and the community;
· Grandson, Sir Albert Wolff: rose through the legal ranks to become Chief Justice of Western Australia from 1959-69 and Lieutenant-governor of Western Australia from 1968-74;
· 2nd Great grandson, Rabbi Marcus Solomon: appointed to the Western Australian Supreme Court in 2021 and became the first orthodox rabbi to hold such a position in Australia.
Mark Shrimski with his family at Rosetta Lodge, Perth, circa 1920s
Alfred Shrimski’s store, circa 1920
© Auckland Libraries digital collection
Baby Ron with parents Alfred and Essie Shrimski, 1920
Barnett & Levy's Theatre Royal 1924
© National Library of New Zealand
The 2nd wave of Shrimski arrivals in New Zealand
Around 1901 Alfred, Mark Shrimski’s only son, met Esther (Essie) Barnett. She was in Perth visiting her brother, Harry, who also had a business in Barrack Street. Essie and Harry were children of Isaac Barnett and Catherine Solomon.
Isaac was a well-known Auckland identity especially during the 1860s and 1870s. He and his business partner, Barnett Levy, had built the Theatre Royal on the corner of Queen Street and Victoria Street, Auckland. It was opened in 1876 and could accommodate about 1500 people. Eventually, due to a world-wide run on the banks, this led to financial ruin for Barnett and Levy resulting in the Barnett family moving to Australia.
Alfred and Essie were married in 1904 and set up house in Perth. Alfred continued to work with his father, however in 1906 Alfred and Essie sold all their household goods and departed Perth. The reasons are unknown but maybe he was looking for a new start. Their next port of call was Bermagui on the south coast of New South Wales. This was a coastal trading town where some businesses were struggling. Over the next few months Alfred bought and sold several businesses in Bermagui - these days you might call it ‘asset stripping’. From this, he must have accumulated sufficient monetary assets to set sail for Auckland with his wife, Essie.
For Essie, Auckland was her birth place and for Alfred he had a New Zealand connection through his grandfather, Jacob and his great uncle Samuel. Since Samuel had died in Auckland in 1902, Alfred would never have met him but he would have been well aware of his good name.
Very quickly Alfred set up a men’s outfitters business in Queen Street, on the site where the Civic Theatre currently stands. The tag-line over the business entrance was “The working man’s friend”. They built a large house in Westbourne Road, Remuera with a tennis court. Their house stands to this day, but the tennis court now has a dwelling on it. Business was going well, they made new friends and mixed easily in society. No doubt the Jewish community made them very welcome.
Essie was soon joined in New Zealand by several of her Barnett siblings. Sadie who stayed in Auckland, George who went to Wellington, and Monty and his wife Vera who also remained in Auckland for a few years.
In 1909, Essie and Alfred had a son, Ronald Martin. At about that time, Sadie’s husband, Issie Danglow, deserted her so she and her daughter, Nancy, moved in with the Shrimski family. Alfred’s father, Mark, made a few visits to New Zealand and at one stage had a business in Auckland. Alfred was in the reserves during WWI but when the war ended he was one of the many casualties of the world wide flu epidemic. Alfred died in 1919 at the age of 42.
Fortunately for Essie and her family she was left in a reasonable financial situation but she recognised that she needed to downsize and she also felt that she needed to consider her son’s future. He was without a father and living in a house full of women, so Waitaki Boys High School in the South Island seemed to be the ideal solution.
Life continues…
My dad (Ron) did his primary schooling in Auckland and later attended Auckland Grammar for a year. It was in 1924 that the decision was made that he should board at Waitaki Boys High School (WBHS) for the remainder of his secondary schooling. This must have been quite some life-style change for him. My wife Jacqui and I visited the school in 1969 and saw first-hand the miserable-looking open dormitories that Dad had described with just a canvas blind on one side to keep the weather out. No doubt the dormitories weren’t all as basic as this but toughening up the teenage boarders was all part of their education. Dad returned to Auckland between terms so that gave him a chance to get back to the home comforts.
In his final year at WBHS (1927), Dad kept a detailed diary for the entire year. This gave me a fantastic insight into his school life and his social activities. In that year he was up early each morning and off to the rifle range to practice, then a run and perhaps a bit of study before a shower, then breakfast. After school it was rugby training, study at night and on it went day after day. Girlfriends and other social activities were mentioned from time to time. He was obviously a very well organised person, who studied hard and was keen on many forms of sport. In his own way quite self-sufficient.
Dad’s other interest was the piano. In 1927 the Duke and Duchess of York toured New Zealand and Australia. WBHS was considered a somewhat ‘posh’ school so it is not surprising that the royal couple visited and attended the singing of hymns with Dad playing the piano. What Dad wouldn’t have known is that when the royal couple visited Australia on the same tour, his 1st cousin Maisie Barnett, a professional singer, sang for them. No one would have predicted at that stage that the royal couple would eventually become King George and Queen Elizabeth.
Waitaki Boys High School shooting team circa 1924. Dad in back row 2nd from left
The boarders at Waitaki Boys High circa 1925. Dad is in back row 5th from left
Dad decided that dentistry was his calling and embarked on his study at Otago University, (like Medicine, the only place in New Zealand you could study this course). So, five more years in the South Island. Early in this time period Dad met Betty Shenkin, one of the very attractive Shenkin sisters. I think they were somewhat smitten with each other.
The Shenkin family had arrived in New Zealand in 1911. There was William his wife, Eva and four children: Morris, Dolly, Flora and May. Mum (Betty) and Essie were the 4th and 5th daughters, both born in Auckland. William’s brother, Choneh had arrived in New Zealand with his wife and family at about the same time.
Dad studied hard at University, won a University Blue in shooting and also gained the attention of the police by speeding too often on his motor bike. After Dad graduated he returned to Auckland and set up practice in Manukau Road, Epsom.
In 1936 my parents married and moved into a home in Epsom Avenue, Epsom. In 1938 my oldest brother, Bill (William Alfred), was born, He was named after both his deceased grandfathers. Dad moved his practice to Dilworth Buildings in the city, but by 1941/42 he had closed his practice and was serving in the NZ Army Dental Corp.
During this war period, Mum and Dad moved to the North Shore of Auckland and built a family home in Takapuna. Eventually several of Mum’s sisters were living in quite close proximity to each other. Ron and Betty in Hurstmere Road; later May and John Hoadley just around the corner; Flora and Maurice near Milford; and Eva (Mumma) Shenkin near Milford Beach. At that stage we made up the bulk of the Jewish population living on the North Shore of Auckland.
Fortunately Dad did not serve overseas during the war. Most of the time between 1942 and 1945 he was stationed at the Waiouru Military camp in the centre of the North Island doing what he was trained to do, that is, looking after soldiers’ teeth. He eventually he rose to the rank of captain and I recall his full captain’s uniform plus leather leggings, hanging around in a cupboard for many years. At one stage Mum and Bill lived at the military camp with him, but he evidently had home-leave reasonably often. Ian was born in 1941, Richard in 1943 and I was born in 1945.
Ron and Betty Shrimski wedding, May 1936
Eva Shenkin and her daughters, Milford, 1950s
The four Shrimski boys, Bill’s bar mitzvah, Takapuna, 1951
The four Shrimski boys Mumma Shenkin, Bill’s bar mitzvah, Takapuna 1951
Bill and Ian, circa 1951
I would describe our homelife as being comfortable. We weren’t wealthy but money was never a particular topic of conversation and we never went without. Dad worked hard and always took four holiday breaks a year and usually the entire family went to Taupo or Rotorua. Mum and Dad weren’t afraid to have a ding dong argument. Dad learnt to do this over time. If you have ever been in a room with the Shenkin sisters you would know that arguing was a way of life for them.
Something that was sorted out very early in Mum and Dad’s married life was the education of the children. Dad had it in is mind that all of our secondary schooling should be achieved by sending the children to his old school, Waitaki Boys High, as boarders. Mum was never going to let that happen and fortunately it didn’t!
One of Dad’s interests was race horses. He and his old friend Ralph Hudson leased a few horses and later Dad owned a few. Over about a 15 to 20 year period he owned/leased about 12 horses but never more than one at a time. Of these probably three performed really well. One, Peter Dale, was brought to Auckland from the South Island and won with very long odds a few times. Another, Our Ida, was good enough to be transported to Australia and pitted against some top horses. Overall, after many years of fun Dad reckoned he was one of the lucky ones. He said he came out about even. I’m sure this racing preoccupation of Dad’s put a strain on their marriage and I recall Mum saying that at one stage when Dad was off to the races (again), she ran off to her mother’s (Mumma) in a terrible state. Her mother’s advice was that next time Ron said he was ‘off to the races’ she should get dressed up in her best race-going outfit and join him. And that’s what happened. What wise advice!
Eventually Dad felt the pressure to be involved in more family-inclusive activities. The compromise was that Dad was going to keep his racing interest but get the four boys started on learning how to ride properly. By the time I was five years old, Dad still had a current race horse but we also had another four horses, one for each of the boys. We all went to the North Shore Riding Club, (now the site of the North Shore Hospital), where we kept our horses and learned to ride.
Dad was president of the club for many years. Bill, Ian and Richard excelled in this activity, riding many times in the Hunts and at the Major Shows. Richard rode in the Auckland AMP Show at eight years of age. There is no doubt that Bill showed exceptional promise in this sport. He also learnt to play polo.
Sunday was our riding day, but this was also the day that many of the Shenkin family gathered at Mumma’s place in Milford. We often arrived late in the afternoon to share in afternoon tea, (probably smelling a bit horsey), but it was always great to have the interaction with our cousins and our aunts and uncles. Aunty Flora just loved to entertain all the kids by mimicking various people. I look back on those times very fondly. I’m sure it was the foundation of the very close relationship that all my first cousins have today.
Well, things were about to change again. We had always been very involved in sport, but the horse phase was becoming all-encompassing. The decision was made to end the pony club involvement and get more aligned with school activities, specifically organised school sport.
All four boys went to Takapuna Grammar, (attending during the period 1953 – 1962), and my parents were very much of the mind that you should play sport for the school, not the local club. We all played at some time for the 1stXV rugby team. Ian and Richard excelled in this area. I played for the 1st XI cricket team and Bill and I did well in athletics.
Well, Dad still had his race horses, but eventually it ended. He must have been kicking himself when he learnt that the last horse he owned, Cuban Fox, had a foal called Silver Knight who went on to win the Melbourne Cup in 1971. Silver Knight then sired Black Knight who also won the Melbourne Cup, in 1979.
Around 1960, Dad had a new idea. He was set on owning a serious farm. He always had a hankering to be a farmer and for some reason felt that he had been denied this opportunity. Mum and Dad bought Twin Valleys on the South Head of the Kaipara Harbour. It was a dairy farm but also ran pigs, cattle and sheep to say nothing of the wild deer. The justification for this was that Bill had shown an interest in farming and had gone to Massey College to study sheep farm management. Bill and Richard ended up running the farm but Mum and Dad were closely involved. I was about 14 at the time. We still lived on the North Shore of Auckland but weekend trips to the farm became the norm.
Over time Dad had gradually moved his dental practice to the North Shore, for many years leasing rooms from Dr. Gaby Tetro in Lake Road. Later he moved his practice to our home in Hurstmere Rd. Mum and Dad did quite a bit of leisure travelling. Mum could take it or leave it, but always ended up enjoying herself. They often went away on golfing/bridge holidays with friends. Golf had always been a big thing in their lives and they gained immense enjoyment from it.
Overseas travel was what Dad really loved. They travelled to UK, Europe and the USA several times, did Island cruises and crossed the Tasman to Australia on countless occasions. In the late 1970s Mum and Dad sold the Hurstmere Road property and moved to The Circle in Milford, a great move for them. They continued to travel but in 1982 Dad died suddenly from a stroke. Mum was still very active for many years and eventually moved to Remuera where her 3 sisters, Dolly, Flora and May were now located. She made many trips to Sydney and was in fine health until her death in 2003 at the age of 89.
The Shrimski Boys
Bill and his family
Bill was always very confident and a great person to be with. As a youngster I probably had him up on a pedestal somewhere. In short, he had the gift of the gab, looked extremely handsome and fit and walked through a room as though he owned it.
Around 1960, after Mum and Dad bought Twin Valleys, Bill commenced running the day-to-day workings of the farm. Richard, who had boundless energy, was there to help in the running of the farm and learn the ropes. Pauline and David Jaffe, a terrific couple who lived down the road, were very helpful to Bill and Richard.
On occasions David’s cousin, Estelle Bolot, came to stay on their farm and that is how she and Bill met. They married in 1962 and Estelle became a farmer’s wife. Their son Geoffrey was born about 10 months later. Bill and Estelle had an opportunity to buy the farm but decided not to, instead Bill moved into the world of pharmaceuticals where he became a sales representative and a very good one. They moved to Hamilton (south of Auckland), where Stephen was born in 1965. A few years later Bill was offered a promotion by his employer which necessitated moving to Sydney. Estelle’s parents lived there so it was a great opportunity for her to be closer to them.
They initially lived in Bondi then moved to their own home in Sylvania, one of the southern Sydney suburbs. Bill changed jobs a few times within the pharmaceutical world and in parallel with this, like Dad, had the dream of buying a property. Over the years he and Estelle bought and sold many properties, moving several times. Bill was also very involved with polo, not only playing at a high level but also assisting some aspiring players with the fundamentals of the sport.
Bill was introduced to the Lions Club by Estelle’s father, Leon. This was a great interest for Bill. He went from strength to strength in that environment and eventually became a District Governor. Estelle was also very involved and took an active part in all activities.
In the 1980s Bill had a very serious heart attack whilst working on one of his properties. This curtailed his activities for a short while, following which he took a new direction in Insurance sales. Eventually Bill and Estelle relocated to Gosford, Estelle’s home town. Bill suffered poor health for several years but never complained about it. He died in 2017 and Estelle died a few years later in 2020.
Geoff went into the Royal Australian Air Force when he left school and trained as an aircraft maintenance engineer. This complemented his obvious interest in motor cars, aeroplanes and motor boats. After his first six year term with the RAAF he decided to return to the civilian world.
He soon opened a Scuba Diving training school, the first one on Sydney Harbour’s foreshore, and in an interview in 2000 he indicated that his career highlight so far had been taking a group of divers to the top end of Papua New Guinea where they dived some of the lost shipwrecks of WW II. Geoff also did Bachelor of Buildings Studies at the University of NSW. Geoff married Liz Givorshner in 1999 at the Temple Emanuel in Chatswood, Sydney. Mum came from Auckland for this great event, with the reception at the Taronga Zoo in Mosman. Liz is a talented fashion designer and these days has her own business running workshops for school age children.
Several years ago Geoff formed his own building business involved mainly in renovation work and this is still going strong today. Geoff and Liz live at French’s Forest with their two teenage daughters Natalya and Zoe.
Steve
As a youngster, when he wasn’t playing Australian Rules football, Steve was always interested in the kitchen activities. It was no surprise that when he left school, he obtained an apprenticeship with the Royal Australian Yacht Club in Sydney whilst at the same time studying at the Ryde Catering College. I’m sure this was a hard slog but no doubt worth the effort. It wasn’t long before Steve was involved with major hotel groups helping to open and run their kitchen facilities in various places in South East Asia, Burma and others.
In Burma, Steve’s boss was the food and beverages manager, Eya Rapes from Cebu, Philippines. In the early 1990s Steve brought Eya to Australia to meet the family and soon after they were married in Cebu. Bill and Estelle made the trip to be there. Their son Jaymes was born in Cebu in 1996.
A few years later Steve and Eya decided to move to Australia. They bought an existing restaurant in Hornsby (north of Sydney) called The Northern Lights and by combining their skill put their own stamp on it. They named the restaurant Steps reorganised it totally: new menu, new service, and it was a great success. We had many family functions there. Eventually Steve and Eya sold the restaurant and both decided to teach at a Tafe college imparting their skills to a new wave of students.
After 10 years in Australia they decided to move to Cebu and open their own restaurant. They ended up opening more than one restaurant, all very successful and highly ranked. Recently they have taken a step back from this somewhat hectic life but I know more entrepreneurial activities will be forthcoming.
Jaymes, now 24, lives in Manila, is multi-talented and it will be interesting to see where life takes him.
Ian and his family
Ian was the second born and as a young child walked in Bill’s shadow, however he was not to be underestimated. At primary school, besides horse-riding, he was a keen rugby player and in his last year was chosen in a rugby representative team to play in the prestigious Roller-Mills competition. An important achievement in our family and one which Richard repeated a few years later.
Ian was also a keen sailor and entered the Cornwall Cup with his friend Grant Horn on many occasions. This regatta was an annual event, held over several days on Auckland harbour for z-class sailing dinghies. Ian continued this interest in sailing right throughout his life. He was also a keen golfer.
After Takapuna Grammar, Ian gained entrance to Auckland University to study dentistry. He would have preferred to do pharmacy but didn’t like the idea of working during the day and having to then attend night school. With the opening of the new Pharmacy College in Petone, Wellington, this gave Ian new options.
After much consideration, Ian changed direction and enrolled in pharmacy. After completion of the course, a period of working for a registered pharmacist was required and who better to work for than Naty Ross, the husband of Mum’s first cousin, Rena. This went extremely well. Once registered and with some experience under his belt, Ian then decided to pack his bags and do his overseas thing that every adventurous qualified person in their twenties did in those days.
He worked in London for a few years, earned enough for his frequent European escapes, bought a Jaguar (car) and had a thoroughly great time. He returned to Auckland in the mid 1960s and his beloved Jaguar followed a few months later. Ian had gained great experience in London opening up a few new pharmacies for Boots the Chemist. It gave him the confidence to enter the retail world, in earnest.
Over the next few years he had a few different pharmacies. The ones I recall are Rockland Pharmacy, Manukau, and another one on the North Shore in the new Shore City complex. Both of these were extremely successful but I think Ian was slowly developing more interest in the non-script preparation part of the business.
During this period Ian starting going out with Judy Braham, daughter of Sid and Claire Braham. They married in 1967 in Auckland. Mum and Dad had always been friends of the Brahams in fact a few years after Ian and Judy married they did a trip to Europe with Sid and Claire and shared a car for several weeks whilst they toured Europe. They got on well. Unfortunately Ian and Judy didn’t and their marriage ended after about 7 years.
Ian had met Kirsty Bain during his time in Petone, Wellington, whilst she was also studying pharmacy and they renewed their acquaintance many years later after Ian and Judy had gone their separate ways. Kirsty had married James Bates and had three children with him but unfortunately her marriage had also ended. Kirsty’s children Jonathan, Tim and Belinda were delightful, and it wasn’t long before Ian and Kirsty were married, with the ceremony at Mum and Dad’s place at The Circle.
After marriage, Ian always considered the children his own and Mum and Dad welcomed them as grandchildren. Ian very willingly took on the responsibility of helping Kirsty to raise them and there is no doubt that together they did a fantastic job.
Eventually Ian left the world of retail pharmacy and this is where he really came in to his own. He was incredibly entrepreneurial but had the ability to work out the risks. He did things like importing coconut oil-based soap from Fiji, exporting yogurt to China, providing large international hotel chains with packs of goodies to go in each room.
Ian set up a small factory in Mount Wellington, employed a few people and manufactured all sorts of products such as jams, yogurt and ice-cream. It was a great success and made it possible for Ian and Kirsty to travel to many parts of the world and generally have a pretty exciting life.
In late 2007 Ian was unexpectedly diagnosed with brain cancer. The primary was a melanoma which had metastasised. He died a few months later.
Jonathan had a fantastic record at Auckland Grammar. He excelled at everything and ended up as Head Prefect. At Auckland University he did a Law degree and also a BA majoring in economics. He went to the UK for work, study and sport, where he eventually met and married Marlena Ochman, an academic from Warsaw.
Eventually Jonathan set up his own business with one particular product playing a major role. It related to governance of board members of large public companies. It sold well and meant that Jonathan did a certain amount of world travel to service his clients.
They had twins in the late 1990s, Michael and Kasia who are now both currently at University. Kasia at Durham and Michael in Delft. All of Jonathan’s family have visited New Zealand and Australia on several occasions.
Unfortunately Jonathan and Marlena went their separate ways and Jonathan now lives in Guernsey.
Tim also had an excellent record at Auckland Grammar in sport and academia and he also did a law degree at Auckland University. He has set up his own legal practice in Auckland, but still manages to fit in many other activities some involving long, arduous bike rides. He has always had a great singing voice.
He married Hana Xharra, a child psychotherapist, in Auckland in 2007. They have two children, Orsa and Noah.
Belinda went to St. Cuthbert’s College in Auckland and later to Auckland University where she completed the “Bates’ triple” and obtained a law degree and also a BA. At one stage Belinda lived in Sydney and worked as a lawyer for BT Telecom. She later moved to London and then to Paris.
In Paris she met and later married Bruno Smadja in 2010. Their son Thomas Ian was born 1 year later. It was difficult for Belinda to gain full-time work as a lawyer in Paris. Her French language was more than adequate, but not being French was a significant handicap.
In 2018 Belinda died unexpectedly with heart complications. This came as a total shock to everyone. Fortunately Bruno keeps in touch with all the family (via WhatsApp) and we are able to take part, although at a distance, in Thomas’s birthdays and other significant events.
Richard and his family
Ric is only 18 months older than I am, so as children we did many things together. He was my playmate then and although for many years we have lived in different countries, we are still very close. We talk on the phone a couple of times a week and up until COVID we were crossing the Tasman on a regular basis to catch up.
Like me, Ric went to Takapuna primary then on to Takapuna Grammar. He excelled in rugby, was selected for the Roller-Mills at primary school and was one of the youngest players (aged 15) chosen to play for the Takapuna Grammar 1st XV rugby team. As a teenager he enjoyed tennis, horse riding and spending time at the beach with his friends. His social life was never dull.
Ric was a happy student at Takapuna Grammar. He was Form Captain for 3 years, but with a love of the land, Ric left school just prior to his 16th birthday and joined our older brother Bill, managing our parents’ dairy farm, Twin Valleys, at South Head, north of Auckland. He continued playing senior rugby for Helensville and was later selected for the Kaipara rep team, but milking cows took priority.
Around the age of 20, Ric’s excellent voice was put to good use. He was interested in ‘light opera’ and was a member of Theatre Arts. He performed in a couple of seasons at His Majesty’s Theatre. I specifically remember The Desert Song and still hum the theme song from time to time. I also recall an early TV ad that he featured in, promoting Cadbury Pinky Bars.
When the farm was sold, Ric returned to city life. He commenced a new career path with a manchester/textile company, as their sales rep. and was often referred to as, ‘the man with 7 suitcases’. Later he moved to Holeproof NZ Ltd as their commission agent for Waikato/Bay of Plenty.
In 1966 Ric travelled to Melbourne and Adelaide to see what work opportunities might be available to him. Whilst there he didn’t miss the opportunity to check out the local talent. This resulted in him moving to Melbourne and marrying Adina Rubinstein in December 1967.
Melbourne’s Flinders Lane was the heart of the garment and textile industry. By ‘door knocking’ in this locality Ric was able to make many contacts, some of whom made him their sales and marketing agent. Many of these people were Holocaust survivors and Ric was able to establish good rapport with them. It was certainly a competitive market. Ric and Adina eventually returned to New Zealand where they had two children, Miriam and Daniel.
Ric’s first women’s fashion shop opened in the Downtown shopping centre opposite the Central Post Office, trading under the name Shrimpi's Fashions. Later he opened another five shops including Queen Street, two shops in Orewa and one in Takapuna. Shrimpi’s Fashions used to conduct three fashion parades a year with staff as models and Ric as compère. This was a very successful operation.
Ric and Adina eventually parted ways and Adina returned to Melbourne with the children. After this, Ric moved into other things such as selling motivational programs and share trading systems, (a very good product that I used myself for a while).
Fast forward to 1984 and Ric had met Margy Horowitz whose husband Harry Svirskis had died prematurely of cancer, leaving Margy and their son, Darryn. Ric and Margy married in 1984 and Darryn became part of our family. Lisa was born in 1985. Ric had never quite got the farming phase out of his system and he eventually bought 60 acres in South Head, not far from our Twin Valleys property. This new property had a reasonable house on it and eventually the family made the decision to move there.
They moved back to the city when Ric entered the real estate field, which he was a natural at. As we all said, “he should have been in it years ago.” Ric and Margy parted around 1998.
With no immediate family in New Zealand, Ric moved to Kerikeri continuing in Real Estate. His other activities included Toastmasters and Rotary. He is now retired, living in Gulf Harbour north of Auckland. He has a great companion in his dog, Shani, and is still a fast mover around the tennis court. He is in contact with all his Australian children and family, and visits as often as he can.
Miriam lives in Melbourne. She works in the area of early childhood development. She first married David Elsner in Melbourne and they have a son, Ryan, who is pretty hot on the basketball court. Her second marriage in 2013 was to Alain Behar. They have a son, Jackson.
Daniel also lives in Melbourne and since my wife Jacqui is his godmother, we have been in close touch with Daniel right throughout his life. He is a natural sportsman, studious and also a great people person. A few years ago Daniel competed in the annual Iron Man competition in Melbourne and whilst he didn’t win, he completed the course in a very creditable time. This includes a full marathon so is not for the faint hearted.
Daniel qualified in commerce and accounting in Melbourne. He worked for PriceWaterhouseCoopers for a few years, then joined then joined GE Plastics and later GE Capital. During this period he was sent to their head office in the USA for a few years, came back to Melbourne and married psychologist, Dionne Schneider. GE then sent them to Holland for few more years then back to Melbourne again. They have 2 boys, Matthew and Samuel.
After GE, Daniel joined the worldwide investment firm, Vanguard and rose within their ranks in Melbourne to CFO. The company then transferred the entire family to Philadelphia and they have just returned from there after a four year stint. Matthew had his bar mitzvah whilst in Philadelphia under strict COVID conditions. Recently Daniel was appointed Managing Director of Vanguard in Australia.
Lisa went to St. Cuthbert’s College in Auckland then to Auckland University of Technology to obtain a Bachelor of Business degree. In Australia she did further study in Human Resources. She married Adam Rubner in Queenstown in 2014. They have 2 children, Levi and Asher, and live in North Bondi, Sydney. Lisa currently works as a digital account director and Adam works for Linkedin.
John and his family
John: Being the fourth born, I was probably given a lot more latitude than more older siblings and consequently encountered less parental pressure. I went through Takapuna Primary (Mum’s old school) and in standard 6 was a foundation pupil at Belmont Intermediate where my cousin Dame Lesley Max, (née Shieff), and I were in the same class. We had the good fortune to be in the same class for the next five years right through Takapuna Grammar.
I did well in sport and academia at school and went on to obtain a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Auckland University. The engineering campus was 13 miles out of Auckland in Papakura and it would take an entire book to expand on those years!
I joined IBM after graduating then later took a position at Melbourne University in computerisation of students’ records. It was at that time that I met Jacqueline Kurycki* who was just completing a Bachelor of Town and Regional Planning degree at Melbourne University. We married in September 1969 and very soon after that I was offered a position by an American subsidiary in Sydney to travel to Belgium to assist in the development of a computerised telephone switching system for world-wide use.
Jacqui and I then spent the years from 1970-72 living and working in Antwerp and travelling as much as we could. Jacqui was a French national, so was able to work in Antwerp in her chosen career. She was eventually working in the private practice of the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning.
We returned to Sydney in 1972, built a house in Turramurra, (northern suburbs of Sydney), and are still living in the same dwelling 47 years later. Sandi was born in 1975 and André in 1976.
After a few different roles with the multi-nationals I eventually formed a software business with two partners, after which I started my own software company that still keeps me busy. Over the years I have developed a package used in radio and TV for doing market research. It has been sold through a media consultancy to some 30 countries.
For over 20 years I owned a yacht with one of my business partners. We had it moored in the Pittwater region of Sydney and put it to good use. I am now semi-retired, therefore have time to go for frequent walks, potter about with genealogy, read and do the occasional bit of cooking. Once COVID-19 is under better control Jacqui and I hope to resume our Australian travel, eating out and entertaining.
Sandi obtained a degree from Macquarie University in media and communications and has done further study at Oxford University in the history of fine art. Sandi has worked for a variety of organisations in internal communications. She is the person you want on your team for trivial pursuit!
André qualified from the Sydney Conservatorium with a bachelor’s degree in saxophone performance; a diploma in jazz studies; and a master’s in sound production. He has played in many jazz groups and organised concert bands for a variety of performances.
He has worked for many years for the Australian public broadcaster, the ABC, as a classical music producer. His other interests include martial arts and tennis.
*A note about my wife, Jacqui:
When Jacqui and I were married in 1969 at the St. Kilda Synagogue in Melbourne, I was well aware of her undoubted charm, grace, beauty and brains. What we were both to learn many years later was that she also came with a bagful of Yichus ie, a prestigious Jewish lineage.
Jacqui’s father, Chaim Kuritzky, was born in Vilna and the family oral history was that he was a direct descendant of Joseph Karo, (born in Toledo in 1488). Joseph was the author of the last great codification of the Jewish law, the Beit Yosef and its popular analogue, the Shulchan Arukh. To date this oral history has not been confirmed but the research goes on.
Jacqui’s mother, Anna Lewin was born in Warsaw and always said ‘my family had many Rabbis’. During my pottering around with genealogy I managed to find that the identities of Anna’s maternal grandparents were Naftali Mendelsburg and Chana Chinda Horowitz. Naftali’s registered birth in Kazmierz Dolny, Poland from 1840, showed that his father was Rabbi Meshulam Mendelsburg a known person on a well-researched and documented rabbinic family tree.
Chana Chinda was buried in Warsaw and as was the custom, her gravestone recorded the names of some of her illustrious ancestors, which were also in well documented rabbinic line. Both Naftali and Chana’s lines eventually took us back to Rabbi Shlomo Itzhak Tzarfarti, better known by the acronym, Rashi (born in Troyes, France in 1040). Rashi was a medieval French rabbi and author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud and the Tanakh.
Those of you who are familiar with Jewish prayer books will be aware that commentaries by Rashi are prolific. Amongst other things he lends his name to the typeface used for the Hebrew alphabet, known as Rashi script.
Rashi is Jacqui’s 23rd great grandfather and her descendant line is via his 2nd daughter, Miriam. There are thousands of direct descendants from Rashi. Some well-known examples are Moses Mendelssohn (philosopher); his grandson Felix Mendelssohn (composer); the Baal Shem Tov (founder of Hassidic Judaism); Saul Wahl Katzenellenbogen (king of Poland for a day); Yehuda Ben Betzalel LOEW (aka MAHARAL of Prague and known for the Golem legend); Albert Einstein; Judge Judy and many more!
16th Century depiction of Rashi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashi
Post Script
In 1900 the Hon. Samuel Edward Shrimski decided to retire from public life and move to Auckland. To mark this occasion several public bodies in Oamaru decided to have a testimonial meeting to present him with an Illuminated Address.
After Samuel Edward died the Illuminated Address disappeared, until around 1990 when Mum was advised that it had been seen in a pawn shop and an older couple had bought it. Mum managed to locate this couple and tried to negotiate purchasing it, but they weren’t interested in selling.
A few years later Ian thought he would try to negotiate with the couple himself. He took a somewhat different approach and acted as a facilitator to have the couple donate the Illuminated Address to the North Otago Museum in Oamaru. This was a very satisfactory arrangement for everybody. Ian and Kirsty were at the museum in Oamaru when the return was officially carried out.
At around that time, at Ian’s instigation, the four Shrimski brothers decided it would be an excellent idea to fund an annual award to be presented at the annual Waitaki Boys High School prizegiving in honour of Samuel Edward Shrimski (founder of the school) and our father, Ronald Martin Shrimski (an ex-pupil). Ian discussed this idea with the dean of WBHS and subsequently we had a very impressive trophy made which is now one of the prestige awards made annually (with a book voucher) as a citizenship award, known as the Shrimski Citizenship Award. Ian and Kirsty were invited to the inaugural awarding of this prize in 2005. Ian made a speech and presented the prize. Richard and I continue to fund this award.
Find out more about the Hon Samuel Edward Shrimski