Francis Henry Alexander Theodore Gervers (1851 - 1935)

Born 1851 in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia

Ancestors

Husband of Annie Coombes Soutter — married 1872 in Kimberley, South Africa

Descendants

Died 9 Apr 1935 at about age 84 in Guildford, Surrey, England

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Biography

He was born in Java, then a Dutch possession. At 6, he and his mother left for Holland where he was educated, before coming to London to train as a cotton broker. His meeting with Samuel Soutter, a born adventurer of Scottish stock, changed the course of his life. He fell in love with and eventually married Annie, Samuel's daughter.

He sailed for South Africa with his future father-in-law, where they both staked claims for diamond mines in Kimberley. There he married Annie and they settled down to a camp-life for 15 years.

Francis and Otto Pahlke were partners in Kimberley and they also had a business in Hatton Garden, London, in the diamond trade. ^[1]

Census: 1891
14 Grand Junction Rd, Brighton, Sussex adjacent Royal Albion Hotel. Age: 41. Occupation: Diamond Merchant.
Children:

Francis R S Gervers 17

Theodora C Gervers 16

Charles T Gervers 14

Ada G Gervers 13

Louisa H Gervers 12

Annie M G Gervers 10

Alice E W Gervers 6

Herbert D Gervers 4

Ronald J W Gervers 3

Ludwig N J Gervers 1

+8 servants.

Census 1901
South African Merchant, Francis Theodore Gervers + 5 servants. 3, Buckingham Gate Flats, St Margaret, London. Age: 51.

Travel 20 MAR 1909.
Liverpool to US with wife on "Lusitania". Passenger List.

Travel 6 MAR 1910.
Aboard "Mauritania". Passenger List. Ellis Island, New York.

Electoral Roll 1911
Diamond Merchant, Age 61, Married 38 years, 9 of 11 children alive, + 1 servant, Mary Burns. Chelsea North, London. Age: 61.

Electoral Roll. 1918
Annie Coombes Gervers & Francis Theodore Gervers. Flat 33, Alexandra Court, Queens Gate, Knightsbridge.

Electoral Roll. 1929
Annie Coombes & Francis Theodore Gervers. Junior Army & Navy Club, 24 Whitehall Court, Westminster, London.

Travel 1929
Aboard "Rajputana" . B/Gen retired - from Marseille. Destination Amat Lodge. Plymouth, London. Age: 79.

Sources

1. ↑ Correspondence with Sharleen Nell, great-granddaughter of Otto Palke, South Africa, May 4, 2017

• "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:482G-HZM : accessed 13 June 2016), Francis H A T Gervers, Brighton, Sussex, England; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Sussex county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

• Source: S500002 Passenger Listing