For years, I sought to locate the Prussian birth certificate for “Hugo Belling.” But all of my emails seemed to disintegrate when the Germans at their state archives tried to read them. That was the name on his immigration record.
As it turns out, his actual full name at birth was Max Leo Hugo Belling.
While I had been communicating with the national archives in Neukölln, it seems that an Australian Astrologer had actually located the birth certificate associated with Lee Lawrie, and I was able to zero in on the proper document.
A kind employee in the Landesarchiv.berlin.de was able locate the actual document, here. She wrote:
“In the birth register of the Berlin II registry office, I found a Max Leo Hugo Belling, who was born on October 16, 1876. His mother was Amanda Rosalie Luise Belling. The name, date of birth and his mother’s name do not exactly match the information you provided, but they are close.”
On the passenger manifest for the ship the Australia on which they came to America, his mother was listed as Louise Belling, and Rosalie was listed as a cousin.
(“Geburtsurkunde” is German for birth certificate).
