Vera Menchik - family tree

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

I've been quite surprised how difficult it is to flesh out Vera Menchik's family tree.

Her mother, Olga, was born on the 28th November, 1879, according to the 1939 register. However when she died, along with her two daughters, in 1944, the age that was recorded in her death record was 59 (i.e. a year of birth around 1885).
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/pe ... s/GSBZ-TM3

Vera Menchik's maternal grandmother, who moved to Hastings sometime in the second decade of the 20th century, was called Marie but I haven't been able to ascertain her maiden name:
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/pe ... s/GSB8-31N

I found a Marie Illingworth living in Hastings in the 1921 census - her place of birth being Budapest and her age indicating that she was born around 1862:
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/colle ... 7c8fd59f90
(that link will only work if you have a subscription with Ancestry)

The address of Marie Illingworth in the 1921 census is 15 Devonshire Road, Hastings, which is not an address I've seen associated with the Menchik family. The little information I could find indicated that Olga Menchik and her two daughters, Vera and Olga, moved to England in 1921 and lived with Marie Illingworth at 13 Saint Johns Road, St Leonards-on-sea.

[John Townsend]

Jon, I wasn't sure from your post whether you have seen the will of Marie Illingworth. If not, it should be worth a peep. I found this on Familysearch, but, for some reason, I didn't spot the will on the government website:

Name Marie Illingworth
Death Date 28 November 1934
Beneficiary's Name Olga Menchik
Second Beneficiary's Name Franz Menchik
Event Type Probate
Event Date 24 June 1935
Event Place

St Mary Magdalen, Sussex, England, United Kingdom
Event Place (Original) St Leonards-On-Sea

One up for Familysearch!

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

Thanks John. I had indeed seen that. The transcription is not completely accurate - Franz Menchik is not a beneficiary, the only named beneficiary is "Olga Menchik (wife of Franz Menchik)".

To find it on the government site (https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/) I had to put 1935 for the year of death, Illingworth as her surname, leave out her Christian name and add "Olga" as a keyword.

It's not very important, but the date of death on her death certificate (attached on her Family Search page) and probate differ by one day.