Philip Michael Levenston (I856-I913) [with family in photograph] led the orchestra at the old Theatre Royal of Dublin at the age of twelve. In 1873, he won a scholarship for violin at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and eventually became Professor of Music there. For many years he led the vice-regal orchestra and the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as conducting the orchestra at the old Queen's Theatre in Brunswick, now Pearse Street. Members of the Levenston family ran a dancing academy at 35 Frederick Street, to which Bloom, in the episode of the Lestrygonians in James Joyce's Ulysses, thinks the blind stripling, who doubtlessly tunes pianos, is making his way: "There he goes into Frederick street. Perhaps to Levenston's dancing academy piano".
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Introduction
By Zvi Silver
I have been interested in family history for a very long time. I remember discussing it with a second cousin, David Franklin, in 1950, but we did nothing about it then. This was a pity as there were so many more people alive to ask at that time!
I did start in earnest after my marriage over thirty years ago when my wife started introducing me to members of her family. When I came to research my family, my mother's side was the most promising. My mother was a Levenston before her marriage, and her grandmother was a Stibbe. I was greatly helped by a book on the Jews of Ireland by the late Louis Hyman, and Geslachtsregister der Familie Stibbe, a privately printed book by D W Stibbe in 1912.
The Levenston family can be traced back to Michael Jacob Levenston b 1799 in England. Michael Levenston, in Vancouver, and his father, Gerald in Toronto were a great help identifying branches of the Levenston family.
I have seen the gravestone of my Great-Great Grandfather, David Stibbe who was buried in the old Jewish Cemetery in Ballybogh, Dublin. Two of his children were born in London. Their Birth Certificates show the maiden name of the mother (Jansje Abrahams) as well as the father. A message on the stone says that he was the son of Abraham Stibbe of Amsterdam. I was lucky and found Lex Stibbe in Holland and through him, the late Hugo Stibbe in Canada who were some of the Stibbe family historians. It seems that the Stibbe family have always been interested in the history of their family. David Wollie Stibbe privately printed Geslachtsregister der Familie Stibbe in 1912 in Holland that listed the earliest Stibbe and as many of his descendants as could be found at that time. Lex did have information on a David Stibbe who married Jansje Abrahams in Holland. Once I satisfied Hugo Stibbe that I really was a Stibbe descendant, he sent me a file of the family that contained information on over fifteen thousand family members and family connections. .
A Stibbe descendant, John Fairer, told me that I should not believe everything that I have been told about family names, dates, etc, and should always try to get documentary evidence. He kindly photocopied over a hundred Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates of family members. I took his advice to heart and my collection of family Certificates has now grown to over three hundred.
I currently hold information on almost fifteen thousand people on my computer including almost five hundred Levenston descendants and spouses, and almost two thousand descendants and almost a thousand who have 'married-in' of the earliest Stibbe. I use a genealogy programme called 'Brothers Keeper' produced by John Steed, which I find excellent and highly recommend.
I may by proved wrong, but until recently, every person I found with the name Stibbe could be traced back to the progenitor in Zwolle, Holland about 1700. This includes over a hundred Dutch family members who were murdered by the Nazis in Germany and Poland in the Holocaust. In the 18th and nineteenth centuries there were no 'family' names. Jacob Davids came from Shushan in Persia (Iran) to Zwolle and worked at, and later bought, the local apothecary store. The store specialised in the supply of Bismuth and Antimony salts. The Latin name for Antimony is Stibium. It is possible that he became known as (the Dutch equivalent of) Jacob David, the Stibium man - and this developed into David Stibbe and started the family name. Recently John Fairer has been in contact with people named Stibbe in Germany who appear to have come from a village called Stibbe near the German-Polish border. They do not appear to be connected with 'my' Stibbe family.
A 'tree' is a living entity. I am proud of it, and dedicate it to the memory of all those who have passed on. The tree grows; from time to time it bears new shoots and branches. As with all living things, parts die. My Trees, the Levenston Tree and the Stibbe Tree, can only live as long as I receive information on changes. Please let me know of any corrections and additions to the tree. In that way it will continue to live. One of the Biblical Ten Commandments is to Honour your Farther and Mother. I believe that I am honouring my Father and Mother and their forebears by preparing and publishing this work.
I take this opportunity to thank Michael Levenston of Vancouver, my distant cousin whom I have never met, for placing this 'tree' on the Web
Zvi Silver August 2009
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