The West London Observer of 16th September 1910 reported on a ruling by the local Revising Barrister (a sort of magistrate with responsibility for settling disputes relating to electoral rolls and voting rights). Our grandfather Gaston Victor Kahn claimed for refund of 3/6d from the Liberal canvasser who had questioned his nationality (and therefore his entitlement to vote) on the grounds that the canvasser could find no record of naturalisation, and Gaston’s wife was German. Grandfather was able to prove that he was born in Lancashire by producing his birth certificate and now he demanded refund of the purchasing fee. Oddly, there’s no repudiation of the claim that his wife was German, though we know that Amy was British.
A quote from the cutting reveals one of those human characteristics so often missing from genealogy. It was mentioned in court that “He spoke with a pronounced Lancashire dialect – (laughter) – …” I’ve never considered that grandfather would have had a Liverpool accent, although he was born and educated there, spending most of his time in Liverpool until the late 19th century, some 40 years. Dialect of course is not the same as accent, but perhaps we can be given an elastic licence to assume that granddad sounded like John Lennon and went around greeting acquaintances with “ey up cocker.”
As usual, we come away with more questions than answers. Thanks to David for sending the news clipping. The image shows GVK obviously keenly anticipating tucking into a pie buttie.
Kahn Family Genealogy 
Leave a Reply