1. Johann Gottfried Albrecht , was born in 1803 in Germany, died on 23 Jan 1859 in Blumberg, South Australia, Australia, at age 56, and was buried in 1859 in Blumberg, South Australia, Australia. The cause of his death was Peritonitis.
At this time not a lot is known for sure about Gottfried's life as at this time the only documentation we have on him are immigration records and his death certificate. He was probably born around the Kries (County) of Züllichau Schweibus, Neumark, Prussia in 1803.
Neumark
At baptism, it was common to give the child two or
more given names, the first given name was a spiritual or saint's name. The
second given name was the secular name, which is the name the person was known
by, both within the family and to the rest of the world. The spiritual name
usually to honour a favourite saint was often used repeatedly for ever child of
the same gender for example Johann Gottfried may have had a brother Johann
Heinrich. For more on German
naming customs.
Church records show
there were Albrecht's living in the area in the early 1800's unfortunately I have been unable to make any connection with any individuals mentioned in these records.
Three Albrecht's were also recorded in the town roll in the mid-1700's (which was a list of important citizen of the town), one being a court official, one a watchmaker and one a harness maker.
For more information on Albrecht's in Zullichau
Schwiebus.
We do know that the years of Gottfried's youth would have
been full of turmoil with Napoleon controlling most of the continent including
Prussia for a short period. After Napoleon's defeat in 1815, Prussia was in a
political struggle with Austria the other major power for control of the
German Confederation.
Conscription of all young men was ordered in the early 1800's to boost the
Prussian Army. All men no matter what their social position had to
undergo about 2 years of military training from about the age of 20 so Gottfried
would have done his military service between 1823 and 1825 which seemed to be
relatively quiet years for the military. The army had garrisons usually based in the larger towns through out Prussia, Frankfurt on Oder and Glogau being the closest to Züllichau, so Gottfried probably did his military service at one of these, each regiment had its own church and clergy, who kept records of Christenings, Marriages and Deaths in the regiment. However a search of the church military records of the regiment garrisoned at
Frankfurt on Oder failed to find any record of him so he was probably single and
waiting until he finished his military service. However it seems he must have
married in the years following as his first known child was born in 1831. In the
1830's King Friedrich Wilhelm III's attempted to force all Protestants to
worship using a new book and service of the state religion which many old
Lutherans objected too. Pastor Kavel who had a congregation in the area had been
persecuted by the authorities not complying to the new order of worship and he
with members of his congregation had decided to seek their fortune else where,
emmigrating to the South Australia in the late1830's & 40's.
By the time Gottfried and his family had decided to immigrate they were living at
Glogsen, a little village with a population of approximately 150 people about 9 Km west of Züllichau
he was a shepherd so probably worked for Mr Kubisch as he rented the
property at the time. The church closest to Glogsen was in the village of Kay a
couple of Kilometres away and there would have more than likely been
records of baptisms of some of Gottfried's children there, but it seems no
records have survived. There is also a cemetery at this village which may have
held relatives but these records too are missing.
Züllichau was the main town of the area with its population being maybe about 2000 people at the time. Recorded some years later in 1875 shows the population growing to 7378. Unfortunately I can only find church records for one church in the area that being in Züllichau itself again there where several Albrecht's mentioned but neither Gottfried or any of his family were mentioned.
In this area many of the local church records were destroyed at the end of
the second world war and the inhabitants were driven from the area by the
Russians who expelled them and replaced them with Poles from northern Poland.
Over the years various bits of information have come to light but unfortunately
known so far have shed any light on Gottfried's life or that of his family in
his homeland. There is for example no record of any Albrecht in the list of
refugees from Glogsen after WW II.
Züllichau
The years in the area had been poor with very tough years in 1844 and 1846 and a generally depressed economy, and Gottfried would not have been able to secure a livelihood for his family by purchasing land on which they could grow food for their needs, smaller acreages held by the cottagers, or huftners were not enough for a family to live off so outside work had to be obtained working for the large landowners or by working at a trade. And so it was, hearing reports from those who had left for Australia over the previous 20 years that there was opportunity to own enough land to support yourself and your family and to prosper Gottfried and his family made the decision to emigrate to South Australia. There is record of a Johanna Mueller, nee Albrecht and family from Schmoellen/Zuellichau arriving in Australia in1853. Also a Johanna Caroline Petrach, nee Albrecht and family from Schmoellen/Zuellichau immigrating to Australia in1856, these two women appear to be sisters, were they related to Gottfried?
In 1857 Gottfried when he applied for permission to
emigrate he had a wife Johanna Rosine aged 36, a daughter Johanna Elenora who must have been from a previous marriage as she is only ten years younger than Rosine and 26 at the time. He also had another daughter Johanna Louisa 11 and son Carl Heinrich 8 who it seems may have also been from his previous marriage and a son Gustav Reinhold who had not quite turned
a year old. (It seems likely considering the gaps in the age of the children that he may have had other children who may have died or if old enough may have remained in their homeland when the rest of the family emigrated).
As there were no decent roads and there was no railway in the area at that time, they would have packed the few possessions they were taking. Boarding a barge travelling along four different rivers (Oder, Spree, Havel and Elbe) and on the Friedrich Wilhelm Canal that connected the Oder and Spree rivers, a total distance of about 600 km which took about three weeks to reach Hamburg. There the family boarded the ''Peter Godeffroy" the vessel which was to take them half way round the world to South Australia. She was a ship of 350 tons and carried 268 passengers bound for Port Adelaide and Melbourne, the captain was S Johansen.
They departed Hamburg on 11th May 1857 arriving in Adelaide on the 7th of September 1857. Gottfried's eldest daughter Johanna Elenora is recorded as being one of those to board the Peter Godeffroy but there is no record of her ever arriving in Australia and it is believed that she may have perished on the voyage with no record made of this in the ships log.
On arrival a number of passengers made there home at Mt. Torrens and Blumberg, linking with Pastor Fritzsche's
congregation at these places. And so it was that the remaining members of the
Albrecht family moved to Blumberg. Gottfried would have worked in the area
probably obtaining any work he could find, while he made plans to obtain his own
block of land however 16 months after his arrival in South Australia, Gottfried became ill and died on the 23rd of January 1859 of Peritonitis or Appendicitis as it is called today. Leaving a wife and young family, he was buried in an unmarked grave in the cemetery behind the Lutheran church which was completed a year after his death in 1860.
Gottfried married (name unknown).
Children from Gottfried first marriage were:
2 F i. Johanna Eleonora Albrecht
was born in 1831 in Germany.
Born in 1831 in Prussia Elenora was 26 when she left her homeland, listed as Gottfried's daughter on the Prussian emigration records, however as she was only 10 years younger than Gottfried's wife Rosine it seems she was from a previous marriage.
No record of Eleonora can be found after her being listed as a passenger onboard the "Peter Godefroy" on 11/5/1857.
There was no record of a marriage on route to Australia, and no record of her was found in the births, deaths and marriages of South Aust, Victoria or New South Wales. There is also no record of her in any confirmation or marriage in any of the parish records in the Lutheran Archives.
It appears she may have died on route to Australia and no entry made in the shipping records.
However there is a story in the family that she may have met someone onboard and continued on to America but I have been unable to find any proof of this. I have come across many such stories, and on research, have found many to be true so this cannot be discounted.
+ 3 F ii. Johanna Louisa Albrecht was born on 16 Sep 1846 in Germany, died on 30 Jul 1888 in Palmer The Gap, South Aust. Australia, at age 41, and was buried on 1 Aug 1888 in Palmer, South Australia, Australia.
+ 4 M iii. Carl Heinrich Albrecht was born on 25 Dec 1848 in Germany, died on 13 Mar 1922, at age 73, and was buried on 13 Mar 1922 in Kingston On Murray, South Australia, Australia.
Gottfried next married Johanna Rosine Appelt , daughter of Georg Appelt and Unknown , in Germany. Rosina was born in 1822 in Germany, died on 22 Jan 1918 in Gerang Gurung, Victoria, Australia, at age 96,and was buried on 24 Jan 1918 in Kiata, Victoria, Australia. The cause of her death was Bronchitis and Heart Failure.
Born in 1821 to Georg Appelt probably in the Züllichau,
Schweibus area. Rosine emigrated with her husband and family in 1857. After the death of her first Husband Gottfried in 1859, she was left with 3 children. So on the 11th of November 1862 at Lobethal, she married Carl Wilhelm Erdmann Bretag. Wilhelm as he was known, was a widower who also had a family of 6 surviving children the youngest 3 years of age when they married. They moved to the Mannum
area situated near the banks of the Murray River where they had a farm about a mile from town. There she spent her life until the death of Wilhelm on the 5th of December 1906.
After the death of her second husband Wilhelm Bretag, Johanna Rosine moved to Victoria to live with her son Reinhold. The exact date of her arrival at Gerang is unknown however her death certificate says she was a resident of Victoria for 12 years prior to her death, which means she arrived soon after the death of her second husband in about 1907. It is known that she gave Reinhold & Maria £274-11-7 on the 26th of February, 1908 so it can be assumed she was living with them at this time. She lived with them until her death due to bronchitis and heart failure on 22nd of January 1918 aged 96 years and was buried at the Kiata Cemetery on the 24th of January 1918. Her death certificate lists only Gustav Reinhold when asked about any children this seems to suggest that Gottfried's other children Elenora, Louisa and Heinrich were all from a previous marriage.
The child from this marriage was:
+ 5 M i. Gustav Reinhold Albrecht was born on 31 May 1855 in Glogsen District Of Zuellichau, Province Of Brandenburg, died on 12 Apr 1939 in Nhill, Victoria, Australia, at age 83, and was buried on 14 Apr 1939 in Kiata, Victoria, Australia.
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