Heinrich "Harry" Mörzer / Morser (18??-19??)
Birth
In Vienna, Austria, possibly around 1887
(oral history: "He was a couple of years younger than Hans [Margulies]..")
Parents
Father: Bezalel (Zallel) Mörzer
Mother: Jutte (Jeanette) Sommer (1844-1986)
Siblings
My first source for details of Harry's siblings was a letter from the daughter
of his first marriage. No chronological details were given.
???? [Self]
???? N.N.
???? Dora (2 daughters)
???? Josephine (unmarried, Sophie ?)
???? Wilhelmina (2 sons)
???? Rosa (no issue)
In May 2016 I was contacted by a Morser relative through this website. His information
is slightly different.
1868 Dora Mörser (2 daughters, 1 son)
1869 Pepi Mörser
1871 Fanni Mörser (2 daughters)
???? [Self]
???? Hermina
???? Rosa
Click on the link, to the left, "The Morser Families", for more information about his siblings.
Marriage
1) 1900 : Harry married Edith Caldecott in Capetown, South Africa
Family folklore has it that Edith was a titled English woman.
She was related to the artist, Randolph Caldecott.
Harry was already in South Africa and he married his wife
"straight off the boat"
In 1916 Harry divorced her. [source ?]
One version of this story, is that, when
marrying Edith, he deliberately waited with the ceremony, till she
joined him in Capetown, in 1900. The reason for this was that by marrying her
in South African it made it very much easier for Harry to divorce her later, than it
would have been in England !
Children
1906 Frances Margaret "Peggie" Morser
3) 1938 Harry married Dora Sophie Kellner.
The Vienna Morsers were very friendly with the LEON KELLNER family
(prominent Viennese newspaper person and author) and during the war,
Harry, long since divorced from both wives, married Dora Kellner, in
name only, in order to to facilitate her getting out of Vienna and getting
legal entry into England.
It's an interesting story - read more here: Dora Sophie Kellner.
Children
None.
Death
We don't know when or were Harry Morser died. The last references to him
were as a "South African business man", so perhaps he died there.
Heinrich - or in his anglicised 'identity', Harry - lost the umlaut legally in 1912 at Peggie's mothers insistence.
He became a British citizen in South Africa about 1906 so that there would be no doubt about Peggie's nationality.
According to the electoral rolls for 1902 he was a jeweller.
There are various documents about Heinrich, Harry and Edith Frances Morser at the National Archives of South Africa (NASA) http://www.national.archives.gov.za/naairs.htm including Mortgage bonds and accounts of various court proceedings.
If this is "our" Harry, then, amongst other, he seems to have sued a C. Oppenheimer (one of the "the owners of De Beers" Oppenheimers ?).
This could also be "our" Harry Morser:
In "The West Australian" from July 8, 1931 there is a report of a court trial in London, England.
COAL FOR JEWELS.
INSURANCE COMPANY SUED.
Diamond Merchant's Claim.
('The Times' Special Service.)
LONDON, July 1. That diamonds, emeralds and aquamarines were extracted from a parcel and coal substituted was alleged bv Harry Morser. diamond merchant, who is suing the Eagle, Star and British Dominions Insurance Company in the King's Bench Division, and claiming £5,938. The defence is a denial of the loss and an allegation that the claim is fraudulent. [...] Source: "The West Australian" newspaper, July 8, 1931
All U.K. Census Data included in these pages is Crown Copyright, see www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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