GJ Tree » Joseph Baruch (Joseph Benedict) Blain (1865-1945)

Personal data Joseph Baruch (Joseph Benedict) Blain 

• He was born on August 24, 1865 in Novosady, Volkovisk.
• Profession: Dentist.
• (Fact 1) .

  Raymond Blain writes that Joseph Baruch encouraged the immigration of Jonah Blain to England

• (Fact 2) .

  In England, they both became dentists

• (Fact 3) .

  Obtained British Naturalization in 1898. Was married then, without children

• (Fact 4) .

  Address: 18 King St., Hanley, Staffordshire. Occupation: wholesale cabinet maker and commission agen

• (Fact 5) .

  Arrived at Hanley on or before December 1890

• He died February 1945 in England, he was 79 years old.
• A child of Chaim Eliyahu Chwojnik and Sheyneh Esther

Household of Joseph Baruch (Joseph Benedict) Blain

(1) He had a relationship with Miriam Jeanette Goldstein.

Event (Death of Spouse).

(2) He is married to Gertrude (Gerty) Boston.

They got married on February 2, 1930 at Glasgow, England, he was 64 years old.

Child(ren):

1. (Not public)
2. (Not public)

Notes about Joseph Baruch (Joseph Benedict) Blain

During the First World War (1914-1918) he was unable to serve in the forces because he was foreign born. He was accepted as a volunteer ambulance driver and was issued with army uniform. After the war he was presented with a certificate thanking him for his services from the Red Cross.

From memoirs written by David Blain, son of Joseph Benedict Blain:

Stoke on Trent is the heart of the pottery industry. Living in one of the five towns, Hanley, that make up the City of Stoke upon Trent was an upright well-respected gentleman who went by the name of
Joseph Benedict Blain.
He came to this country at the age of 17 in 1883 bearing the name of Baruch Chwoinik from the town of Volkovysk in the district of Grodno,
White Russia. In fact he eloped from his father, Chaim Elijah's estate with a girl, Esther, that his father did not approve.
If he had stayed in Russia he would have been forced into the Russian Army with little chance of getting out. This happened to most Jewish boys. One of his brothers was an author and one, Shmuel, ha
d a son who went to Argentina keeping the name Chwojnik. The third brother Abraham David came to England and was granted a certificate of naturalisation, A10881, effective from 19 May 1899. It said that he was born at Ruzani, Grodno in 1862. He had two sisters Mini and Chaike.
Their father owned forestland that stretched for 200 miles and the villagers worked for him. Together with timber the brewing of spirit went hand in hand. He had a carriage drawn by two horses which
was a prestige symbol. A Story told by Joe's second wife, Gertrude, was that cigarettes went missing from the household and Baruch, as a small boy, was accused of taking them. As a punishment he was made to stand out in the snow all day with few clothes. After an admission by a maid his father made no apology to Baruch.
Little is known of the early days in the UK except he became a naturalised British citizen on the 21st March 1898. After trying his hand at being a commission agent and cabinet wholesaler he served a
n apprenticeship in dentistry. In those days, until 1922, it was possible to serve a dental apprenticeship instead of going to university. How he came to settle in Hanley, Stoke on Trent, is a mystery, but there he set himself up as a dentist with his wife the girl he had eloped with. The house, 2 Victoria Square Hanley, was rented. It was situated on a corner and could be seen from the main Hanley to Stoke road. He had a brass plate made with the words "J B Blain Dental Surgeon." Soon he had numerous patients calling both for extractions and for false teeth.
He discovered an odd Pottery custom. When someone was getting married they considered it a wonderful thing to have all their teeth extracted and a brand new set of gleaming false teeth fitted ready f
or that special wedding day. Realising that there was a market for false teeth he set on a canvasser going door to door booking orders for false teeth. He then built a workshop in the back yard where he engaged a mechanic to make the teeth. Soon his reputation spread for he had developed an art in taking impressions and picking appropriate coloured teeth to match the personality of his patients. The practice grew until he had a staff of forty and had rented a house to cope with the mechanics and staff.
Meanwhile some of his nephews came to him from Russia to serve their dental apprenticeship.
Miriam, his first wife, kept a typical Victorian home where everything was done correctly. She kept a strictly Jewish home observing all the customs especially the Sabbath. Everyone had to observe d
ecorum of dress and ritual. Her husband together with other Jewish men founded a Synagogue at Birches Terrace, Hanley. Lord Horbelisha was the honoured guest at the official opening. (Horbelisha was the instigator of the "Belisha Beacon Crossing"). Unfortunately Miriam died childless and on her deathbed she made her niece from her side of the family promise to look after Uncle Joe.
Two of his nephews namely Sam Blain (son of his brother Abraham David) and David Irvine fell out with Joe and left to set up a practice in Shrewsbury. This partnership did not last very long. The tw
o partners soon quarrelled and split up, one going to Oswestry and the other remaining in Shrewsbury in Wyle Cop.

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Timeline Joseph Baruch (Joseph Benedict) Blain

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