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Trying to find any surviving relatives of James Otto Gerrard Rus born in Birmingham 1899-1900. His mother was Meta Leis(Belgian?) who was a musical vocalist.
Any information what ever would be wonderful.

The three final people on that list look like his family.

The image is a bit scribbly.

Rus (Lay(?) Johannes) - ..... Clerk. Norwegian.
Meta Rus (does look a bit like Leis but I think it's Rus) - Belgian (vocalist - music)
Otto G Rus.

Jill

Found this one:

Marriages Jun 1899 (>99%)
Anderson Jane Eliza M M King's N. 6c 919 Scan available - click to view
Gunston William King's N. 6c 919 Scan available - click to view
Miles Emily King's N. 6c 919 Scan available - click to view
Rus Lars Johannes King's N. 6c 919 Scan available - click to viewEntry added since last update

His birth?

Births Mar 1900 (>99%)
Rüs Otto Gerrard King's N. 6c 485 Scan available - click to view

His service record is on Ancestry - under Otto Rus.

He signed up on 28 Dec 1917 and named his next of kin as Mr & Mrs J Sellers, 1 Drury Lane, Wakefield.

It looks, from FreeBMD as if his father did not die until 1925 so perhaps this is a sister? (or aunty or cousin?)

Jill

....wonder what happened to Meta Leis as Otto's WW1 service record states his next of kin as a Mrs M J Sellars, of 1 Drury Lane, Wakefield. It says Mrs Sellars is his 'adoptive mother'. Other interesting things are Otto being confined to barracks for 7 days for gambling.

Another interesting item shown was that at 7pm, on the 26th November 1917 (before he enlisted), he arrived at the Army Recruiting Office after being instructed by the police to do so. The reason (it seems) was to explain his nationality. Having a name like Otto at the time the country was at war with Germany would have been somewhat suspect it seems. Otto explained his father was Norwegian, and he was born 17th November 1899 in Edgbaston, and verified this with his birth certificate. It also says his mother was dead (no records in BMD). He was called up for service the following month

His discharge papers say he was 30% disabled with Neurasthenia - a little used term today, but it was (I understand), anxiety and depression.

The records also show a letter explaining he had been discharged on 1st May 1919......but strangely - its signed "Late Pte O G Rus". To the best I can see, there's no marriage or death record.

Merry Christmas Dave!

Found his death record:

Orro Gerrard Riis
Birth Date: 17 Nov 1899
Death Registration Month/Year: 1978
Registration district: Wakefield
Inferred County: West Yorkshire
Volume: 5
Page: 1828

Thats fantastic thanks for your help.
Otto Rus it seems was the father of my dad and aunt born illegitimate in 1931&1934.
I only found this out by trawling the bastardy records at the library and he was ordered by the courts to pay maintainace of 12s a week for 16yrs! quite a sum!
I dont know how or where my gran met him, but none of the other family know these facts.
Thats wonderful stuff I will be having a look.
Deb

did you ever find any relatives debbie i know of some living in wakefield

Welcome to the Boards Andrew.

As this thread was lasted added to in 2009, it might be best to send Debbie a personal message - just click on her name. As long as she still uses the same registered email address, she'll be told that you are hoping to contact her.

You can check at any time to see if your message has been read. Look in your GR 'Sent Messages' box. Unread ones have an envelope icon next to them. That disappears when its been accessed.
Bearing in mind The Season, Debbie may be too busy to access the site for a weelk or so.

get this message when i try to send clicking on the name

There are no messages in this folder.

You'll need to search for your relatives / ancestors in order to make contact with other members. When you find a possible match, send a message to the member who added that individual to find out more.

If you click on "Debbie"...it should open up a "compose new message"

Jude