LANDSBERGER FAMILY
LANDSBERGER FAMILY
Genealogy of a Sri Lankan Family
All names in red are in a direct line of descent to myself.
The first Landsberger to arrive in Sri Lanka was Johannes Landsberger who was born in Zwighousen, (another spelling found in documents is Zwickhaussen ) Holland (a tiny village on the Dutch-German border). He went to Ceylon, as it was then known, with The Dutch East India Company. Records from the VOC (VOC 13108) mention Johannes Landsbergen, on the payroll of the ship "Barbara Theodora" (page 250).This payroll, which was kept during the full term of the career of a VOC servant, contains the following information ;
Johannes Landsbergen from Zwickhaussen was hired as a soldier by the chamber of Zeeland of the VOC on the 12th of October 1759. On the 6th of January 1760 he sailed on the ship " Barbara Theodora" to Batavia. From there he sailed on the 12th of July 1760 with the ship " Drie Papagayen" to Colombo, Ceylon.
According to the general muster roll of 1784 he was stationed in the Dutch fort at Negombo, (a cinnamon center, 20 miles north of Colombo) with the rank of Seargent. He stayed in the service of the VOC until his death in 1785. According to the payroll he had made a will and was survived by a wife and two children..
The Index from the Wolvendaal marriage register reads: Johannes Landsberger of Sighousen (note different spelling of birth place) Seargent, married Maria Koch of Colombo. (index page no. 41a) There is some confusion over her surname as different records give the names of Koch and KOITS.
1 . Johannes Landsberger/Landsbergen, born about 1740 in Holland, died 1785 at Negombo, Ceylon. Married (1) Maria KOITS /KOCH, (spelling of the surname is according to the Wolvendaal Marriage Register, KOCH, page 41 a.) 12th of October 1766 at the Dutch Reformed Church , Wolvendaal, Ceylon. The most likely parents for Maria KOCH are Hendrik KOK and Jubella TALDORP whose illegitimate child Maria, aged ten years, was baptised on the 27th July 1757 at the Dutch Reformed Church Negombo. Ref: Vol. 3D/1 page 132. No other records have come to light for that time period that would fit the birth of Maria Koch. There are no references in the marriage or baptismal registers for the name Koits. (2) Magdalena TISSERA. abt 1773.
Children of Johannes Landsberger and Maria Koits/ Koch.
1. Johan Christian Landsberger. Baptised 24th July 1768. Source: Wolvendaal Register, page 76.
(2) Magdalena TISSERA was baptised 5 April 1754 at Negombo, Ceylon, daughter of Gerrit Tissera and Elizabeth Magdalena JANSZ.
The children of Johannes Landsberger and Magdalena TISSERA were ;
(1) Jan Phillip Landsberger (1773-1820)
(2) Libertina Maria Landsberger (1775-1858) married in 1800 to Bernhardus ALVIS (1776-?) at The Dutch Reformed Church, Wolvendaal, (Ceylon) Sri Lanka, Bernhardus was the son of Jeronimus Alvis and Leonara Maria PAULUSZ He was employed in 1800 as The Chief Clerk of the Commissioner of Revenue. .
2 . Jan Phillip Landsberger baptised 3rd of November 1773 at the Dutch reformed Church Bambalapitiya. Sponsors were Jan Phillip Storker and Petronella Elizabeth Fabricius. Married 1800, at the Dutch Reformed Church, Wolvendaal, Colombo, (Ceylon) Sri Lanka, Wilhelmina Hermina De WASS (1780-1841) daughter of Phillipus Salomon de Wass. (1749 -?) and Maria Catherina PAULUSZ.
Generation 3
Their children were ;
(1) David Landsberger 1801-1856
(2) Solomon Landsberger 1803-1849
(3) Martha Euphrosina Landsberger 1804-?
(4) Carolina Wilhelmina Landsberger 1807-? Married at Kandy 1823, Philip Lucas MISSO, son of Piere Henry Misso and Anna Maria JANSEN.
(5) Johannes Landsberger 1808 -? (William Francis Landsberger's diary has a reference to a John Landsberger born 1809 ? if this is the same one)
(6) Bernhardus Landsberger b. 1810-1841
3 . David Landsberger was born in Colombo, 1801 and died at Kurunegala in 1856. Married at St. Paul's Church Pettah, Colombo, on the 25th September 1826 (a) ...Sarah Wilhelmina TAYLOR daughter of William Taylor of Bombay and Wilhelmina Helena MAAS.
(b)....Merciana Van LANGENBERG on the 6th March 1838.
Generation 4
children of the first marriage were ; ( mother, Sarah Taylor)
(1) John Phillip Landsberger 1827-1828
(2) Ellen Barbara Landsberger 1829-1885 born at Kandy. Married 1850 Cornelius Felsanius DANIELS (1822-) She was confirmed at the Wolvendaal Church in 1849. Most likely to be the Dutch Reformed Church.
(3) William David Landsberger 1831-1896
children of the second marriage were ; (mother, Merciana Van Langenberg)
(4) Walter David Landsberger 1839-1896. Married at St. Raphael's Church Galagedara 27th October 1887, Kurumbagedara UKKU (later baptised Henrietta Catherina Alexandra) born 1847.
(5) Piere David Landsberger 1841-1899. Married 1876 Agnes Matilda Misso. Daughter of Michael Bartholemew Misso, Surgeon, and Josephina La' BROOY.
(6) Henrietta Blandina Landsberger 1847-1865
(7) Mary Ursula Landsberger 1856-1923 married Stephen VAN LANGENBERG.
4 . William David Landsberger was born at Badulla 1831. Married at Kurunegalla 1862 Susan Magdeline De NIESE (1844-1883) born at Mannar Island, daughter of William De Niese and Johanna Elisabeth JAN. William Landsberger was a Lawyer. He died at Galagedara on the 6th of June 1896.
Their children were ;
Generation 5
(1) William Francis Landsberger 1863-1925
(2) Ellen Emily Landsberger 1865-?. Married 1889 Edward Peter SCHUILING, Proprietary Planter, Madampe, Sri Lanka.
(3) James Peter Landsberger 1867-1923
(4) Susan Magdeline Landsberger 1869-?, born at Kurunegalla.
(5) Louise Mary Landsberger 1871-? born at Galegedera, christened at Colombo. Married at St Raphael's Church. Galagedara, 1894 John WYLIE
(6) Aloysoius Landsberger 1873-1881 Died at Kandy.
(7) Joseph Phillip Landsberger 1875 - 1949. Died at Badulla. Married at Trincomalee (1) 1904 Agnes Mary De JONG. (2) Mary Suthukmenkia. To follow under I.
(8) Alice Maude Landsberger 1877- 1901, married at Borella, 1900, Samarasinghe Arachchige Thomas de SILVA
(9) Caroline Landsberger. 1879-1909. Born at Galagedara.
I. The children of Joseph Phillip Landsberger and Agnes De Jong were ; (1.) Joseph David Landsberger (1905-?) who married in 1931 Mabel Juliet BROHIER (1906-?) daughter of James George Brohier and Emmie Annette ELIAS (Joseph David Landsberger changed his surname to BORGER)
(2) ? Agnes Landsberger (1909-?)
5 .William Francis Landsberger was born at Kurunegala on the 6th of June 1863. He was an accountant. Married in 1895 at Jaffna, Florence Mary Miller ( her birth certificate has the names Harriet Florence ) born 15th Jan. 1876, died 1963. Florence was one of twin girls born at Trincomalee. Their father's name was Sgt. Henry Miller, Police Constable of Maradana, their mother Eliza VOS, purportedly died in child birth. According to the birth certificate,Henry Miller and Eliza Vos were married at the time of the birth of the twin girls. Florence was adopted by the STRATENBERG family and her sister Caroline Miller by the CROWE family.(Witnesses at the marriage of Caroline Miller were C. Crowe and Alfred De Jong). Some details of the adoption of Florence Mary Miller are in the De Rooy Family bible. William Francis Landsberger died at Hudsons Rd. Colpety. Sri Lanka, on the 15th of February 1925.
William Francis Landsberger 1863-1925
Their children were ;
Generation 6
(1) Charles William Melville 1896-1924. Married 1923 Irene MAGGS. (Charles died of wounds from W.W.1) He died at Shrewston, Salisbury, England.
(2) Helen Louise Landsberger 1897 - ?, married 1923, Emil Camillus BERENGER born 1899, son of Edward James Berenger and Augusta Hope Da SILVA
(3) Leslie David Landsberger 1898-1974. Married in South Africa, Bertha Ellen KWANKIS (1902-1982). Bertha Kwankis was born in Cape Province, South Africa, daughter of John Kwankis.
(4) Stella Hyacinth Landsberger 1900-1994, married 1922 Harold Joseph HERFT, son of Cecil Francis Herft and Laura Frances Cordelia Herft.
(5) Frederick Alphonsus Landsberger 1903-1915
(6) Dagmar Florence Landsberger 1905-1997, married at Kandy, Ceylon, 1930 , Hendrikus George de ROOY (1903-1956) son of Hendrikus Georgious de Rooy (a Boer officer and prisoner of war sent to Ceylon, he was born in Holland) and Mary Helen STRATENBERG. Mary Helen Stratenberg was the daughter of Charles Alphonsus Stratenberg (1833-1909) Proctor of Kandy and Mary Louise Jan (1846-1907) Both Dagmar and her husband Hendrikus de Rooy died in Perth, Western Australia.
(7) Margery Eleanor Landsberger 1906-1980. Married 1932.
(8) Reinhardt Mathias 1908-1979 married 1929 Esme Lilith BALTHAZAR (1912-1945) daughter of John Joseph Balthazar and Ada Lilian JANSZ.
(9) Iris Gwendolin Louise Landsberger 1910-1911
(10) Richard Francis Lancelot Landsberger 1912 - 1999) Married 1943 Olivia Florence KWESIUS (?-1959), daughter of Oswald Stanley Kwesius and Mildred Florence RODRIGO.
(11) Florence Pauline Maude Landsberger born 1913 died in London 2000. Married 1938 Edward Francis YOUNG, son of Henry Thomas Young and Agnes Rosalind DRAPER. Edward died in London in 1980.
(12) Kingsley Mervyn Joseph Landsberger 1916-1996. Married 1937 Dulcie NELSON.
Below is an excerpt from the journal of William Francis Landsberger
William kept meticulous records (dates) of the events in his family. Including those before his birth that I assume he copied from family documents. There are many references to members of the Daniels family from different time periods. As yet I have not been able to put all the pieces together as he makes no reference to the relationships of the people recorded. Other family members mentioned that he and his children were related to through marriage are, the Van Langenbergs, dating back to the 1700's, and the Stratenberg family and again I have the same problem of placing many of these people into family groups. Also parts of his journal due to damage, are now illegible.
6 . Leslie David Landsberger was born at Bambalapitiya on the 17th of Oct 1898. In 1917 he enlisted with the Ceylon Sanitary Corps and was stationed in Iraq. He re enlisted there with the 1st Royal Berkshire Regiment. He saw service in N.W.Persia (Iran) India and France. He was wounded and was "de mobbed" in England in 1922. He returned to Sri Lanka on the death of his father in 1925, only staying a short time before sailing for Singapore then to Malta, returning to England in 1926. From there he traveled to South Africa where he married in 1927 in Cape Province, Bertha Ellen KWANKIS, daughter of John Kwankis and unknown. About two years later 1930 ? they moved to England where all their children except the eldest child was born. During W.W.11 he was employed at the Royal Arsenal Woolwich and as an air raid Warden (part time), in London. When the factory was bombed in 1941, the personnel with their families, were dispersed to Lancashire, Manchester.
In 1945 he joined N.A.A.F.I. as a heavy duty transport driver in Europe. He traveled over 40,000 miles through Belgium, Holland, France and Germany. In 1946 he returned to England. In 1948 the family emigrated to Australia on the "Asturias". Embarking from Southampton, with a short stop over in Sri Lanka, and finally arriving at Fremantle, Western Australia.
Their children were ;
Generation 7
(1) Emma Florence Landsberger 1928-1981. Born in George Town, South Africa. Married in 1950 Perth, Western Australia Peter Maxwell Lalor (1928-1966). Six children from this marriage.
(2) William John Landsberger, born in England 1931, died 1969 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He served with the Australian Army in Korea, and after the war lived in Malaya (Malaysia) where he married.
(3) David Melville Thor Landsberger 1932-1934, born and died in England.
(4) Leslie David Landsberger, born in England. Issue.
(5) Bertha Landsberger, born in England. No Issue.
This brings us to the next three generations that will not be included here. I, Cheryl Beattie, nee Lalor, am the daughter of the above Emma Florence Landsberger.
Special Thanks to members of the De Rooy and Landsberger families who helped me with my research, especially Theresa Horsfield (de Rooy), great uncle Richard, his son Trevor Landsberger, Maurice Incton (Inky) Landsberger and his son Daniel and Victor Melder.
Also to those whom many years ago had the foresight to compile the Journal Of The Dutch Burgher Union Of Ceylon, from records that date back to The Dutch East India Company.
