Vasile (Basil) Teodorescu

[RPS]

Vasile is the brother of August, Smaranda, Traian and Eleonora.  He was born in about 1853-1857 in Galati, to parents Gheorghe Teodorescu and Zoia Stanciu.

Similar to the other Teodorescu siblings, I do not have his birth record. 

There are lots of differing family stories about Vasile in Romania.  Some stories say he was an accountant, some say he wanted to take on a religious ministry role.  Others say he studied at the British Merchant Marine and then worked for an unnamed uncle who owned a large shipping company, and that Vasile travelled to the USA and UK. 

It is likely that Vasile travelled from England to Australia on the Ship Fitzroy, which arrived on 30 June 1882.  He married just six months later, and changed his name to Basil Theodore.  (I have a copy of his marriage record but have been unable to find his immigration records).

I have also been told that Vasile wrote letters from Australia that were published in the Galati newspaper called the "Poșta" in the late 1800s and early 1900s but I have been unable to find these newspaper articles. 

Vasile/ Basil was only in his early 50s when he died in 1908 in Australia. 

I am hoping to find Vasile's birth record and other records that prove his early life in Romania, as well as any of the Romanian newspaper articles that he contributed to. 

[Andrei Jipa]

Hello!

I found an article that might be of interest and clarify the occupation of Vasile Teodorescu:

From Gazeta Transilvaniei no. 147 / 25 December 1881.

The article mentions the inventor of the submarine, August Teodorescu, has a brother, Vasile Teodorescu. Vasile owns a "bastiment" (= large ship, usually a warship). For 12 years he had been trading sugar cane and cotton in "Marea Indiilor" (= Indies Sea) through a company called "Vasile Teodoru". He is an English citizen.

[RPS]

Hi Andrei J.

I had read this article previously (thank you for attaching it).  I wasn't sure what to think about it. 

I am not sure whether Vasile was actually an English citizen (as per this article).  In England, he may have worked as an accountant, or he may have been part of a ship's crew (as per our family stories).

I am not sure whether Vasile had his own shipping company (as per this article) or whether he actually worked for his maternal uncle (as per our family stories). 

Frustratingly, I also have not been able to find out the name of this uncle either.  It is possible the uncle's surname is Stanciu or Bejan. 

I just keep hoping to find records to provide evidence of this family...

[Andrei Jipa]

Unfortunately, there are some limits to what is accessible online, and it might be that to progress this research you will have to check some physical archives.

I think one good resource should be this "Posta" publication. I wasn't able to find it in any digital repositories though. It's possible that the library in Galați has the issues, so I suggest contacting them. And you could also try the library in Brăila or the three libraries in Bucharest (National, Central and Academy).

Here is some more info on this publication:


One thing to note: it appears to be spelled "Posta", not "Poșta". It appeared in 1880 and was issued daily or three times a week with some breaks until 1899.

[RPS]

Thanks Andrei.

I did a bit of a google search and I think I may have found the Galati library, and an online scan of the Posta/Poșta from 1892.

Do you think this link is to the right newspaper?

https://tinread.bvau.ro/opac/bibliographic_view/747925?pn=opac%2FSearch&q=posta#do_file_type=all&level=all&location=0&material_type=all&ob=asc&q=posta&sb=relevance&start=0&view=CONTENT