RE Book on 'Burghers of Ceylon Worldwide incorporating the Abraham Joseph Genealogy"

OBSERVATIONS MADE TO MR ALLEN F JOSEPH OF MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA, BY WING COMMNDER E H OHLMUS, (SLAF Retd) OF
SRI LANKA, ON THE BOOK TITLED “The Burghers of Ceylon Worldwide incorporating the Abraham Joseph Genealogy” BY MR IVO KELAART OF MELBOURNE.


25th July 2008

My dear Allen,

Thanks for lending me the book with a ‘misleadingly odd’ (my view) title i.e. “The Burghers of Ceylon Worldwide incorporating the Abraham Joseph Genealogy”.
I don’t blame you for being disappointed ( as I am), both with its title and content
especially pertaining to the genealogy aspects of the Joseph Family which have not been
given pride of place. If I knew that your own Joseph line [ Cyril Louis] was going to be
included only in a portion of a book , I would not have spent my energy and money on
the data and photos I sent you. No, Thanks Allen, I do not want to keep the book as it is
of no value to me. You do not have to buy one. I will return it to you through someone
who is due to make a trip to Melbourne soon. Uncle Walter must be turning in his grave
to see many Joseph ‘entries’ not being ‘genealogical’ ---- and that ‘genealogy’ has been
confused with ‘family tree’! I have already written to you about the meanings of the terms ‘genealogy’ and ‘blood line’ which are totally different from the term ‘family tree.’

I do not consider this a work on genealogy as it is flawed, contains uncorroborated
data and lacks historicity; and I am making my personal observations separately as
requested by you (See Annex “A” below) .

Many listings on pages 69-81, 158-159 and 177-178 are amusing ! There were (and are)
many greater achievers and of better social standing who have been ‘excluded’.
No doubt the author had the final say as to whom he included; and he says he regrets
that some names have not been included as there was no data on the life span(sic), but if
the DBU journals especially, were carefully scrutinized the names of many distinguished
Burghers of yore would have cropped up! I will get back to you on this in due course.
I do not see the book as being one about the Burghers of Ceylon Worldwide. One
would have expected references to (Ceylon) Burghers, not only in Sri Lanka but also to
those dispersed around the globe, particularly in the countries I have mentioned in my
article “About Burghers and burghers” which will be on the net soon .

I am glad that Leonard and I were able to be of assistance when you uploaded your
own DBU-authenticated genealogy onto your site. Mine , from Jan Carel Ohlmus down is being
gradually updated and will be put on a CD and then on a website through Gerry Taylor from
Perth. Thereafter, I hope to work on our Family Tree with Granpa & Ma as the ‘centre branch of the Tree.’


PS : These are very interesting:-


1. FAMILY TREE PROFORMA
I have got with me a blank Family Tree proforma , published by State Trustees
Limited (ABN 68 064 593 148 ) . No State, postal or email address is indicated, only
these telephone numbers: 9667 6444 and 1300 138672 (Toll free outside Metropolitan
Area ). If you can, please try to get me their email address. The form has columns for
husband & wife, husband’s and wife’s parents and grandparents, but in the columns for
their children and grand children, no mention whatsoever is made of their husbands or
wives, but only ‘partners’ . That is why, perhaps, the form very correctly refers to
“Family Tree” and NOT to “Family Genealogy”. We can take a cue from this !

2. MY DISAPPROVAL I note that my name had been listed on page 159 without my
consent , which Iwould never have given as I would not have wanted my name to be in the company ofcharacters with proven iniquitous and dissolute track records !
[In any event my particulars as recorded in the book are incorrect , including the date of
birth which is found in DBU Vol 28 . So much for authenticity !!]


Annex “A”


“The Burghers of Ceylon Worldwide incorporating the Abraham Joseph Genealogy”

(a) Page ii. States that the book is copyright , though a lot material has been copied from
DBU Journals, which carry no copyright .On page 69, two other sources are quite
rightly acknowledged. In the bibliography (Page 387) , the Dutch Burgher Union of
Ceylon is correctly and rightly acknowledged, but the journals (JDBU) are
mentioned as being by courtesy of Mr Victor Melder. This very odd !

(b) Page iii. It would have been more appropriate if chapters 9 to 11 constituted a separate
book and an appropriate title may have been,” The Abraham Joseph Family Tree
( 1763 – 2007)

(c) Page iv.

(1) Acknowledgements. The sentence “….those genealogists who passed on
to me invaluable information obtained from archival sources.” , without
amplification, is unacceptable and the archived sources are not mentioned.

(2) Author’s note. No genealogy can be 100% complete, but whatever is put in
print/on record must be 100% accurate . Also I wonder why a reference
has been made at all to ‘some members who prefer to remain incognito’
[incognito = having one’s real identity concealed !]

[There are those whoprefer to keep their family information to themselves –
as in the case of onein our own clan, born out of wedlock- yet having the bloodline –
which is What matters , rather than being adopted and not having the Burgher
bloodline at all - and therefore being ineligible to be included in a
genealogy .Well known Sri Lankan Novelist , Columnist and literary
critic, Carl Muller, residing in Kandy also posed a relevant question in his
article “What is our gutless “Dutch Burgher” ranting about?” ( ‘The
Lanka Guardian ,March 2nd, 2008 )] .

(d) Page v. I would not use the words “revise” or ” revision” in the context of a
genealogy, but would refer to updates by way of “additions”, “amendments”
and “corrections” References to and material about members of the
Joseph family are found in the following volumes of the JDBU:
12 Part 1(Your grand-dad’s family entry-Page 24)
24 Part 1
44 Part 4
45 Part 2
51 Part 1 (Uncle Walter’s family entry - Page 19)
70 Part 1 (Your own family entry - Page 19)

(e) Page 2. The Calendar of Events given is informative. Historical Events from 483 BC
(Arrival of Vijaya) to December AD 1991 are officially recorded in the Sri Lanka
Ferguson’s Directory (Pages 21-48)

(f) Pages 62 & 63. Our Jewish Roots:. On page 62 it is stated that “….some of their
ancestors may have been(emphasis mine)Sephardic or Azhkenazi Jews.” A tentative
statement such as this has no place in genealogy. On page 63 , a title is “Some Burgher-
Jewish surnames as recorded by historians.” A vague statement without the names of the
historians, even in the bibliography on page 387, also has no place in a genealogy.

(g) Pages 70 – 81, 158-159 & 177-178 :Lists out Pre-eminent Burghers of a by-gone era,
Burghers prominent in the Modern era and The Burgher Ladies.

(h) Pages 82-157& 160-175. The Pen Pictures are very interesting. While some Burghers
get a half or full page, others get 3 or 4 lines. I wonder if the families/ descendants of the
latter category would cry “ Foul ” if they read the book !

(i) Page 85 . Example of the Genealogy work of DV Altendorff_-The Paternal Lineal
Descent of PHYLIS ALEXANDRA JOSEPH. All Mr Altendorff’s work was published in
the JDBU, and certified extracts from the genealogies were made available to prospective
migrants to prove their “European Descent’ to be eligible for migration to Australia,
mainly in the 1950’s. (See attachment for my own genealogy certified by Mr Altendorff in
March 1957)

(j) Page 184.

(1) Alice Helen Joseph is shown as having married Peter John Fernando, but
her children are listed as carrying their father’ surname name, which is incorrect .

(2)There are many similar listings (under the female sibling) which will not find
any place in the JDBU, as their surnames are not “Joseph , but those of
their respective fathers ! More similar ( incorrect) listings of children under
the female Joseph siblings are found on pages 185 (Cornelia Lucretia ),
186 ( Josephine Laura ), 190 (Mary Harriet ), (Ada Harriet), 192 (Julia
Rosamund ),(Edith Mabel), 193 (Florence Clare), 198 (Grace Florence Adina ),
199(Edith Blanche ),200 (Lena) 201 (Muriel ),204(Violet Myrtle Jane),(Vivienne
Iris Minette ), 205 (Georgiana Helen), 206( Majorie Alexandra Edna),
207 (Doreen Iris Helen), 209 (Dorothy Brenda),211 (Noble Georgiana Frances),
212 (Freda Christine), 213(Corinne Blanche), 220(Phyllis Nora), (Audrey
Maureen),221 (Mylcey ),(Lucy), (Melissa), 222 (Elaine),(Louise),( Doris Lucille)
223 (Kathleen Emma), and so on, from pages 224,225,226,227,228,229,233,235,
237, 236,239,243,245,246,247 , and 248.

(k) Page 275. The Joseph Clan in numerical order is a good thing, for easy reference.

(l) Page 306. This separate mention of Vivienne Dagmar Joseph (LVIII) and Deanne
Veronica Joseph ( CXI) or their children has no place in a genealogy.

(m) General : A work on genealogy – be it English , Dutch, Portuguese, Sinhalese
Tamil, Veddah, Aborigine or any race for that matter, must always be precise,
though not necessarily complete or comprehensive. Contributions from sources
(family or other) are best checked for authenticity/accuracy.* General or vague phrases,
such as “born about…”, “born in Ceylon lives abroad”, “estimated”, “approximately,”
“ date presumed to be..”, “married –name not known- about…” and generic terms like
“Administrator”,”Civil Servant”, “Clerk”, “International UN” “Executive”, “Sportsman”,
“Olympian”, “Army Officer”, “Air Force Officer” etc cannot be used in genealogies
and do neither the individual nor the writer/source any good.

(* There are instances where a birth certificate indicates “Burgher” even though the child is not .This could have happened at infancy through bribery or the mix up (accident or otherwise) of infants in the hospital. The informant’s name i.e. individual reporting the occurrence, is often a clue!)
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email : ohlmus@sltnet.lk