Hermann S. Warschawski was born in Brighton in 1875 [birth registered in Brighton during the September Quarter of 1875]. Hermann Warschawski was the son of Paul Isidor Johann Warschawski ( born 1834, Osiecin, Poland ) a Professor of Hebrew and German, and his second wife Harriet Stanham.
Paul Isidor Johann Warschawski, Hermann's father, was the son of Jochabed and Wolf Warschawski, a Polish rabbi. Paul Warschawski had emigrated from Poland and settled in England. Paul Warschawski married as a young man and he became the father of a son named Richard Rawlinson Vivyan Warschawski (born c1857, Liverpool). By 1865, Paul Warschawski was living in Brighton with his eight year old son. Paul Warschawski's first wife, Bertha, died sometime before 1871. Although he was the son of a Jewish rabbi, Paul Warschawski converted to Christianity and on 15th November 1865, aged around thirty, he was baptised as a Christian at the Chapel Royal, Brighton, together with his son Richard Warschawski.
At the time of the 1871 census, Paul Warschawski was boarding at 43 Buckingham Road, Brighton with 14 year old Richard Warschawski . Paul Warschawski is described on the census return as a thirty-eight year old widower. Paul Warschawski gave his occupation as "Professor of Hebrew and German". Paul Warschawski was a Hebrew scholar and had authored works such as "Progressive Hebrew Course and Music of the Bible", published in 1870.
On 25th July 1872, Paul Warschawski married Harriet Stanham (born 1836, Castle Bytham, Lincolnshire), the daughter of Hugh and Catherine Stanham, at St Nicholas' Church, Brighton. A son, Hermann S. Warschawski was born at Brighton in 1875.
Paul Warschawski appears to have become actively involved in The London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews. ( Founded in 1809, The London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews employed missionaries to convert the Jewish inhabitants of England's large cities from Judaism to Christianity, by distributing bibles, tracts and prayer books, by setting up mission schools for Jewish children and establishing mission stations in poverty stricken areas). The London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews had mission stations in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. It seems that Paul and Harriet Warschawski were working in Liverpool on behalf of the Society around 1878, because their second child Gertrude C. Warschawski was born in Liverpool about this time. In 1879, Paul Warschawski founded the Barbican Mission, "an agency for gospel work among the Jews conducted by Hebrew Christians". At the time of the 1881 census, Paul Warschawski, his wife Harriet, and their two children - Hermann, aged 5, and Gertrude, aged 3, - were living in London at 28 Winston Road, Stoke Newington. Paul Warschawski, the head of the household is described in the census return as a "Missionary to the Jews". By 1890, the Warschawskis had returned to Sussex. When the census was taken in 1891, Reverend Paul Warschawski was residing at 45 West Hill, St Leonards, near Hastings, and he is entered on the census return as a 56 year old "Missionary". On 17th October 1895, Paul Warschawski became a Naturalized British Citizen. By 1899, Rev. Paul Warschawski was living at 16 Warrior Gardens, St Leonards, where his wife Harriet ran a boarding house. When the 1901 census was taken, Paul and Harriet Warschawski were in Lewisham, where their married daughter, Gertrude, had just set up home. By this date, the Reverend Paul Warschawski was referring to himself as a "Minister", rather than a missionary.
| Hermann S. Warschawski - Photographer On the 1891 census return, Hermann Warschawski is recorded as a "Photographer's Apprentice", aged 15. It is possible that Hermann Warschawski was learning his photographic skills in the St Leonards' studio of Jasper Weston & Son, a firm which had established a branch studio at 24 Grand Parade, St Leonards-on-Sea around 1887. By 1891, Jasper Weston & Son had moved to 20 Grand Parade, the former studio premises of Henry Knight. From around 1900, Hermann Warschawski was the proprietor of the former Weston & Son studio at 20 Grand Parade, St Leonards on Sea. ( A photograph by Hermann Warschawski dating from around 1900 has the words "Hermann Warschawski, Late J. Weston & Son. St. Leonards" on the reverse). At the time of the 1901 census, Hermann Warschawski was living at 16 Warrior Gardens, Hastings. This had previously been the home of his parents. Early in 1901, Hermann's sister, Gertrude Warschawski had married Julius Thomas Larzen (born c1876, Stoke Newington), a school teacher, and was living in Lewisham, where her husband taught at a boys' preparatory school.
|
 |
 |
| [ABOVE] Two early portraits by Hermann Warschawski of 20 Grand Parade, St Leonards-on-Sea. The photograph on the left is dated January, 1900, and the photograph on the right is inscribed "April, 1902". [PHOTOS: Courtesy of Johnny Blomfield] | |
By 1913, Hermann Warschawski had opened a
branch studio in Brighton at 43 Western Road. Warschawski's studio at 43
Western Road, Brighton continued until around 1924. The studio at 20
Grand Parade, St Leonards carried the name of Warschawski right
through to the eve of the Second World War.
| [ABOVE] Hermann Warschawski's Photographic Studio at 20 Grand Parade, St Leonards-on-Sea (c1910) |
| [PHOTO : Courtesy of Linda Evans of Portsmouth] |
|
[BELOW] 20 Grand Parade, St Leonards-on-Sea, photographed in 2006 when the building was being used as an Indian restaurant. |
|
[ABOVE] A modern photograph of 20 Grand Parade, St Leonards-on-Sea, the site of Hermann Warschawski's photographic studio. |
