I discovered rather late in life that my father and mother, both separated from their respective spouses, had a wartime relationship. It took a long time to discover his surname -- Duranch on his death certificate -- and a visit to the Family Records Office failed to uncover details of his wedding or his children by his marriage. When I went online six years ago, I at last found details of his early life through the 1911 Census: it seems his parents were Lithanian in origin, and lived in Stepney, London. With advice from one of the Lithanian web sites I found that at birth he had been registered as William Derringh. Moreover, it seemed that his parents were illiterate, and that the most likely family name was actually Derencius (misunderstood by registrars and census takers and given a rough transliteration). To add to the confusion, my father used the name Derringh for the rest of his life, but was named as Duranch on the death certificate, his widow continuing to use the name Duranch until her emigration to the US in 1960. In line with the site rules, I shall not name his two sons by his marriage, still alive in the States (who have given no replies to seven emails and letters and presumably do not want to communicate with me). Unfortunately, although I have pieced together the outline of his life in the US and then on his return to the UK, the trail has gone totally cold regarding the Derencius family in Stepney. It appears there were other branches of the family in the East End and also in the North of England (in fact my mother and father first met in Warrington) but no clear connections between them. My grandfather was Anthony Derencius (1869-1923); he was a shoemaker. My grandmother was Catherine (or Cathraine), maiden name possibly Strakem, ca. 1863-1927. There were 5-6 children. It seems that many official records in Lithuania were lost during the war and I have been hoping that maybe someone in the Stepney/Whitechapel Lithuanian community in the 1890-1920 period might have left accounts or photos of the family somewhere. For the record, my father emigrated to the US in 1923 and spent most of his life there as a steward on cruise liners going to Hawaii and Cuba. He was naturalized between 1929 and 1934, when he was caught up in the Morro Castle fire. He apparently rescued a fatally burnt Cuban boy from his cabin and with the aid of a waiter carried him to a doctor; he died soon after. My father was rescued by the Monarch of Bermuda, and subsequently gave evidence at the offical enquiry into the tragedy. He came back to the UK in 1936 to marry, then returned to the States, then back to the UK during the war. I was born in 1949. As he worked as a live-in waiter at The Park Lane Hotel, I have only one or two memories of him. He died in 1954.
Welcome in Carl. Looking around the web, I see you have been busy searching, & I can probably only find repeats of those searches. I did note 4 people of the original name, Florence ,Elizabeth, Frank & Edward going to N. York on the Queen Elizabeth" on 23 Nov. 1955. ........... 1 Nov. 1915 Mary Derencius age 24 left L'pool for N. York + Dorothy aged 1 [listed as Panthy]. ........... Joseph Derencius -Find a Grave Birth: 1926 Death: Aug., 1998 Burial:Cheltenham Cemetery, Cheltenham Charles Sturt City South Australia, Australia ...... In 2000+ there was still one Derencius member in London, & one in Norfolk. So many in America & variations in spelling. Is the tree on 'My Heritage' yours? ------------------- 1939 has a Lady Eileen 'D' b. 1910-married, waitress & William 'Derringh' crossed thro' & Durard written in-married Hotels waiter & traveller b.15 May 1902.Res. Lake st. Stepney.
Wendy, thanks so much for your rapid reply to my query. Firstly, yes, I do have a tree on My Heritage, although I have been building a better one using their software but not trying to upload it as it will exceed the size allowed for a free subscription. You have managed to find several bits of info that I hadn't, so I am very grateful for your efforts. The reference to 1939 is interesting -- I didn't know my father's wife was a waitress. Their residence was given as Lake St in the marriage record. It seems the widow visited America with all the children in 1955 then, maybe making plans with relations there to move permanently a bit later. I have been told that a lot of Lithuanians moved to the UK but regarded it as a stepping stone on the way to the US. It seems logical that the Derencius clan would keep in touch despite wild variations in their official name (Duranch, Derench, Derringh, etc.). What you have told me is extremely valuable and suggests some more clues to follow up. Many thanks Carl
