Research summary of the ABENDANA line

Mary Ann's story is complicated, still more so when told backwards from a research perspective. We reach her from her son, Henry ANTHONY. His census appearances as an adult suggest a birth date and place, but there was no matching entry in the birth indexes under Henry ANTHONY. His 1884 marriage certificate gives a father, Edward ANTHONY, and also feature a Mary Ann ANTHONY as a witness. Searching the 1881 census turns up an ANTHONY family with Henry of the right age and birth place, a father Edwin, and a mother and sister both Mary Ann, as well as other siblings. Working back to 1871 shows the same family, though with Henry and one of his brothers under different names, Moses and Israel. So I went back to the birth indexes looking for Moses ANTHONY - no luck. Our cousin and collaborator Rachel Barreca told me that Mary Ann's maiden name had been BENDON, and I confirmed this with one of the birth certificates for the younger siblings, whose births did show up in the indexes under ANTHONY. Looking under BENDON did show birth registrations for Moses and his siblings of about the same age. Getting those certificates confirmed that the mother was Mary Ann and that BENDON was her original name.

However, there was no birth entry matching her age in the censuses. Allowing for some error in those ages turned up a birth registration for a Portuguese Jew called Miriam BENDON in 1839, in which her father was given as Elias BENDON, a singer, and censuses for that family in 1841 and 1851 (in which Elias turns out to sometimes be called Isaac BENDON and sometimes Elias ABENDANA, and there are other inconsistencies, but enough in common that, with the rarity of the matching names and occupations, we can be fairly sure that they are all the same family). However, we needed to confirm that Miriam born 1839 was the same as the suppposedly rather younger Mary Ann who was Moses/Henry's mother. This came from Rachel Barreca again, who told me of Mary's later marriage to Frederick TIZLEY. It was as TIZLEY that she appears on the marriage certificates of some of Henry's siblings. Her marriage certificate to Fred TIZLEY (the only one we have for her) gives her surname on arrival as ANTHONY but her father as Elias BENDON, vocalist, just as in the birth certificate (and also shows continued flexibility in her reported age). And her death certificate is as Miriam TIZLEY, with the first name providing an additional link to the birth, and the informant, one of her daughters with Edwin ANTHONY, linking to her family in the 1870s.

Elias BENDON, singer, is given as Miriam's (Mary Ann's) father on her birth certificate, with mother Nancy BENDON formerly HARRIS. Her childhood censuses have them as Isaac BENDON, concert singer, wife Betsey, and Elias ABANDANA, confectioner, wife Ann. There are enough similarities between the children to keep it alive that they are the same couple, and I am very reassured that Mary's birth and marriage records take the name from one census and the occupation from the other. Also his death record gives him both first names, Isaac Elias. The synagogue records apparently always have him as Elias ABENDANA, confectioner or general dealer (and the wife as Ann, Nancy, Hannah or Yantla, with former name DE JACOB).

So it is rather confusing and inconsistent, but there is enough mix-and-match between the different versions of the man that I'm convinced he is all one person with a few different guises.

His birth record I have only second-hand, I think from synagogue records.

Now here we get into the bit I haven't been able to corroborate myself at all. All their information comes second-hand, I presume from Bevis Marks synagogue records. I have it from a couple of different internet sources. I'll need to try to get as close as I can to the originals.

Again their information is second-hand, I presume from Bevis Marks synagogue records. I have it from a couple of different internet sources. I'll need to try to get as close as I can to the originals.

Likewsie Moses' information is second-hand (and very scanty - I think just that he is given as Isaac's father in one or more of Isaac's records. I have it from a couple of different internet sources. I'll need to try to get as close as I can to the originals.