Seraphin Karmy | |
|---|---|
| Born | Seraphin Simeon Karmy 29 March 1880 |
| Died | 22 September 1955 (aged 75) |
| Occupation(s) | Shopkeeper, businessman |
| Years active | c.1901–1955 |
| Employer | Self-employed |
| Known for | My great-great-grandfather |
| Spouse | Rosa Karmy (1890–1943) |
| Children | Victor John Simeon (1912–78) John Joseph (1921–1944) |
Seraphin Simeon Karmy (29 March 1880 – 22 September 1955) was a Palestinian-English businessman.
Early life
editSeraphin John Simeon Karmy was born in 1880 in Jerusalem, Palestine, where he spent the majority of his childhood.
Life in England
editIn the 1901 census, Seraphin is listed as living in Fleetwood with his uncle Anthony Boulos and family. Anthony was an 'importer of oriental goods', assisted in the running of his shop by Seraphin and son-in-law Martin Habesch.
By 1911, he was a shopkeeper in Portsmouth, In the 1910s, importing and selling oriental goods was the family trade; Anthony ran a 'fancy goods shop' in Fleetwood and also had premises on Victoria Pier in Blackpool, Solomon Karmy a market stall in Grainger Arcade, Newcastle named S. Karmy & Sons, and Philip Karmy a jewellers' named P. Karmy & Sons in Leyland Arcade, Southport, while George Karmy operated an Armenian Bazaar at 47 High Street in Folkestone, Kent. Around 1916, Seraphin had an establishment of his own - also called The Armenian Bazaar - on Kings Road in Southsea, which moved to Victoria Road South in 1941 and remained in business until at least 1955.
He met his wife Rosa at some point prior to 1911, and their first son Victor John Simeon was born in May 1912 in Portsmouth. A second son, John Joseph, followed in 1921.
Later life, family tragedy, and death
editAt the outbreak of the Second World War, John Joseph Karmy enlisted in the army, joining the 5th Btn Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Regiment; in 1941 he became a prisoner of war after the fall of Singapore, and remained captive there in horrific conditions until September 1944, when he was killed in the sinking of the hellship Hofuku Maru. Seraphin did not know of his son's predicament until receiving a postcard, ostensibly from him, in December 1944, and in 1945 placed an advertisement in the local newspaper asking for information about John's welfare; he may not have known the truth until some time in 1946.
Where his early life had brought adventure and fortune, Seraphin's later years appear to have been marred by tragedy and bad luck; around dusk one evening in 1943, as they walked home after visiting family nearby, he and Rosa were both struck by a wagon while crossing the road. In the poor light, Seraphin saw the vehicle but Rosa did not - he stepped back on to the pavement and it ran over his foot, but she stepped forward, into its path. They were taken to hospital, but Rosa died at 8.45pm.
When war ended and peacetime resumed, Seraphin had lost both his youngest son and his wife. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, The Armenian Bazaar was broken into and burgled three times but otherwise continued as before. Despite now being in his seventies and financially stable, he never retired; of the oriental goods shops established by the family between the 1880s and 1910s, his was the last in existence, and it remained so until at least 1953.
He died in September 1955, aged 75, in Portsmouth, leaving the bulk of his estate, valued at £14,241, 13s, 7d., to Victor.