MY UNUSUAL SURNAME

After our AGM we welcomed our president the Reverend Wim Zwalf who gave us a talk on his rare surname. His father was of Dutch origin & his mother Australian & his story was filled with sadness happiness & hilarity. As a student at King’s College in 1960 Wim was walking along a street in London when he saw a shop with the name Zwalf. Having never met anyone with the same surname Wim introduced himself to the owner, Herman Zwalf a diamond merchant, whose father was also Dutch & asked if there was any family connection, unfortunately there appeared to be none. Wimp’s father knew nothing of this man. So intrigued, Wym decided to research his family’s name. Dutch registers from 1811 recorded three generations i.e. grand-father, father, son so as he said he had 3 generations laid out without any trouble & with much information. Many registers were destroyed during the war to prevent Jews being identified. Wym mentioned his grand-parents would walk on opposite sides of the road in case one of them was arrested. & that many of his family were taken to the concentration camps & gassed. During the war Wim’s grandmother was hidden in a loft for many months & then taken to another hiding place & lived under a kitchen floor for three years. Wym was asked about the spelling variations of his surname but he established that the true spelling always began with Zw… The origin of the name is thought to be Arabic with the name, pronounced differently & translating in the middle east to mean the name of the long side curls worn by Jewish men, or to mean side burns or from North Africa, long plaits. Research had brought forward 3rd & 4th cousins. The Zwalf’s were few & far between! At present there are nine known male Zwalfs so as Wim said he was delighted when his son produced twin boys & caused a laugh when he suggested the other young males all in their ‘20’& 30’s ‘should get a move on ’ & continue to strenghten the Zwalf lineage & the research continues. The ultimate aim for the family is to have DNA testing done to prove their origin, surely an exciting occurrence. At our November meeting June Barton will return & talk of pig sties, privvies & old coppers. [Barbara Holmes]