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The earliest record that I currently have relating to the Miller / Abrahams family is the birth certificate of my great grandmother, Miriam in 1870.

Here is an extract from it: Miriam appears again in the 1881 census (shown just below) as a nine year old along with her brothers, sisters and parents Hant and Rose. Although Miriam's age here doesn't completely stack up against the birth certificate, (she should have been recorded as being ten years old) it's reasonably indisputable that this is the correct family. The mothers name matches the one on the MIriam's certificate and a relative in London also has a recollection of an aunt Lilly. Not only this, but some years later Miriam and Hyman, did name four of their children Rose, Lily, Hart and Minnie....

1881 Census extract:

4 Gibraltar Walk Shop, Bethnal Green, London.
Name	Relation	Age	Birthplace
Hant* Abrahams	Head	49	Poland
Rose Abrahams	Wife	32	Leeds
Barnett Abrahams	Son	18	London
David Abrahams	Son	11	London
Miriam Abrahams	Daur	9	London
Simeon Abrahams	Son	8	London
Ada Abrahams	Daur	7	London
Lilly Abrahams	Daur	5	London
Manasaeh Abrahams	Son	3	London
Minnie Abrahams	Daur	1	London

* Proved later to be a mistranscription of Hart. (See below.)

Now in 1891, we can see Miriam as a young lady married to Hyman. Miriam's age now seems to be restored to agree with her birth certificate!

1891 Census extracts:

37 Pelham Street, Mile End, London.
Name	Relation	Age	Occupation	Birthplace
Hyman Abrahams	Head	24	Machinist	Poland
Miriam Abrahams	Wife	20		Bethnal Green
8 Gibraltar Walk Shop, Bethnal Green, London.
Name	Relation	Age	Occupation	Birthplace
Hart Abrahams	Head	45	Dealer - Leather Cuttings	Poland
Rosetta Abrahams	Wife	43		Leeds
Simon Abrahams	Son	18	Boot Checker	Bethnal Green
Ada Abrahams	Daur	16	Boot Trimmer	Bethnal Green
Lilly Abrahams	Daur	14		Bethnal Green
Mannaseh Abrahams	Son	13		Bethnal Green
Minnie Abrahams	Daur	11		Bethnal Green
Rebecca Abrahams	Daur	10		Bethnal Green

After finding information on the 1891 census and receiving Hart's death certificate (part of which is shown below) it is now apparent that his name as found on the Mormon's 1881 census was mis-transcribed when it was transferred onto CD. They had recorded him as "Hant" instead of Hart. His age would also appear to have been wrong on the 1881 census as he should have been 34 or 35 depending on when his birthday fell.

All of Hyman and Miriam's children were given the last name of "Abrahams" on their birth certificates but at the same time, rather confusingly, the family officially went by the surname of Miller. (See the 1901 census extract below.) The name was almost certainly anglicised to help the family run business - Hyman was a master tailor.

1901 Census extract:

At the time that this census was taken (31st March 1901) Miriam would have been three months pregnant with their last child, Minnie. Also, their second daughter, Leah, was known throughout her life as Lily. The certificate above records the birth of "Hetty" (Esther) who would one day become my "Nanna"....

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The first photo shows Hetty (known affectionately by my brother and me, as "Nanna Martin") as a thirty year old in July 1929. As you can see from the lower-left photo, my grandmother was still a lovely looking lady in her mid 70's.

On the right is Hetty's husband Arthur Martin. (Born - Arthur Nunes Martinez.) Unfortunately, I was only ten months old when he died in February 1966 and so I never got to know my grandfather and have no memories of him. My memories of Nanna Martin though, are plentiful and all happy ones. Hetty was the warmest and most generous and loving grandma that one could wish to have. Arthur's brother, Baron, also changed his name to Martin and co-incidentally married Hetty's sister, Minnie.