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My thoughts on the 1940 Census

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    #16
    Re: My thoughts on the 1940 Census

    [QUOTE=colinc;32843]...
    However I would be interested to know how and when he went there - and I don
    Peter Cook
    Rossmoyne, Western Australia
    OSX 10.13.6 & iOS 12.4.6; Reunion 12.0 [200602];ReunionTouch 1.0.15

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      #17
      Re: My thoughts on the 1940 Census

      Originally posted by colinc View Post
      A Brit uncle of mine moved to the US just before WWII to be an actor. He was born Robin Harry Salaman Cohen and took the name of Robin Craven either because of anti-Semitism or because there was anther actor called Robin Craven. He was born in London, England, on 20 Sept 1908. He died in 1978 and his wife in 1998 and I no longer know his address, but it was in Manhattan in later life.
      He's listed, if you don't already know, as "Robin Craven" in the Internet Broadway Database (though he seems to have shaved 2 years off his age) at this page and also as "Robert Craven" at in the first two years of his U.S. career. He appeared in some rather well-known plays and musicals.

      His obituary appeared in the New York Times on 17 May 1978. He was a member of Actors Equity, and they presumably would have his last address, and possibly that of his wife Babette after his death.
      Dennis J. Cunniff
      Click here to email me

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        #18
        Re: My thoughts on the 1940 Census

        Originally posted by Peter Cook View Post
        The shipping records available on-line (pay-for-use), show that he left London on 22 July 1938 as Robin Cohen, Actor, age 31. The record includes his last UK address.
        That is fascinating Peter - can you tell me which site has the records?

        It leaves me with a trivial question (which I guess will never be resolved) about the first name change. He was named Robin from birth and in later life I never heard my father (his brother) or his wife call him anything but Robin. His IMDB, etc, entries almost all say Robin, as did his 1948 marriage announcement.

        I asked Equity in the UK about the family name change (I believe it often happens with actors as they did not/don't allow two actors to register with the same name) but tho they were established in 1930 their only surviving records are computerised and seem to be incomplete.

        I realise that this topic is, and perhaps was from the start, hopelessly off topic for this board, but thanks for all the help.

        Cheers, Colin

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          #19
          Re: My thoughts on the 1940 Census

          Originally posted by colinc View Post
          It leaves me with a trivial question (which I guess will never be resolved) about the first name change. He was named Robin from birth and in later life I never heard my father (his brother) or his wife call him anything but Robin. His IMDB, etc, entries almost all say Robin, as did his 1948 marriage announcement.
          Most likely it was just a public use of the name Robert when he first arrived in the U.S., due to the fact that Robin, while a common male name in the UK, is usually a female name in the States. (There are exceptions, like Robin Williams, but if one were trying to establish a career, Robert would have more masculine connotations.)
          My Home Page: http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/

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            #20
            Re: My thoughts on the 1940 Census

            Originally posted by colinc View Post
            That is fascinating Peter - can you tell me which site has the records?
            For this specific departure ...
            UK Shipping departures - Find-My-Past
            NY Shipping arrivals - Ancestry

            [When the date fits, the FMP result has a link to the free Ellis Island site]

            Regards
            Peter Cook
            Rossmoyne, Western Australia
            OSX 10.13.6 & iOS 12.4.6; Reunion 12.0 [200602];ReunionTouch 1.0.15

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              #21
              Re: My thoughts on the 1940 Census

              Thanks Peter and Terri,

              I shall get down to FMP and Ancestry for passenger lists in due course.

              I had not thought of the femininity of Robin and shall think about it. Whatever the reason it did not last long and he did not keep Robert for long and quite quickly reverted to judge by theatre billings.

              Cheers, Colin

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                #22
                Re: My thoughts on the 1940 Census

                Originally posted by steveoc View Post
                I found "highest grade of school completed" to be very interesting and useful.
                I too found the highest grade of school completed interesting. My parents were immigrants from the province of Quebec who came to the USA during the depression in 1933. They were only picked up by one census - the 1940. My mother had had to quit school after completing 7th grade in Stanhope, Quebec because her mother died and Granddad needed help with the younger children, and with cooking, cleaning, etc. My father had had to quit school after the 3rd grade in Paquetteville, Quebec because his mother had also died, and Granddad needed help with the farm work.
                However, when the census-taker filled out the form many years later, he stated that both my mother and dad had 8th grade educations. Hmmmm. My mother was identified as the one who answered that question, but she was an extremely honest person whom I had never known to tell even little white fibs. I wonder - did she have a bad memory, or did the census-taker make a mistake, or did he forget to ask and fill it in later with a best guess?

                My point is, I guess, that one should be cautious about putting a lot of stock in the veracity of the census results.

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                  #23
                  Re: My thoughts on the 1940 Census

                  Originally posted by colinc View Post
                  Thanks again, but I don't think I can face trawling the US census with only one family member there.

                  However I would be interested to know how and when he went there - and I don’t know if he had changed his name from Cohen to Craven before leaving the UK.

                  He was not an economic migrant [the family was prosperous], it was the lure of Broadway and ‘The Stage and television today’ for 15 Jun 1978 says ‘ROBIN CRAVEN, (Robin Harry Salaman Cohen), the British born actor, who went to New York early in 1939 to appear in the Broadway production of “Dear Octopus” [the cast list has him as Robert Craven, which has to be a typo] has died, aged 71 in the Roosevelt Hospital, New York. He was born in London and graduated from Oxford University’.

                  He is not listed in the 1940 Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens or Statten Island directories under Cohen or Craven (there are a few Reuben Cohens, but despite his grandfather having, briefly, been a Rabbi I do not believe he was ever other than Robin, and his brother [my father] did not have a Jewish name either to the best of my knowledge). There are too many ‘Roberts’ and ‘Rs’ for a meaningful check

                  He did not marry Babette Carolyn Krauss until May 1948 either in NY or Philadelphia, and inbetween he had been in North Africa and Italy in the war.

                  Cheers,

                  Colin
                  Hello Colin, I found the 1940 US Census info for Robert Craven.
                  Here is the link in Family Search: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KQTW-Y46

                  Greetings,
                  Andrés
                  Last edited by A Renner; 20 August 2012, 02:16 PM. Reason: Changed information

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                    #24
                    Re: My thoughts on the 1940 Census

                    [QUOTE=A Renner;35503]Hello Colin, I found the 1940 US Census info for Robert Craven.
                    Here is the link in Family Search: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KQTW-Y46

                    Greetings,
                    Andr

                    Comment


                      #25
                      Re: My thoughts on the 1940 Census

                      No problem and, by the way, here is proof that he married in Philadelphia:

                      Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.

                      and
                      Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.


                      Have a good one.

                      Andr

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                        #26
                        Re: My thoughts on the 1940 Census

                        [QUOTE=A Renner;35519]No problem and, by the way, here is proof that he married in Philadelphia:

                        Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.

                        and
                        Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.


                        Have a good one.

                        Andr

                        Comment

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