A saddler's workshop was founded in Ruhrort in 1840 and still exists today as Duisburg's upholstery workshop. World history in biographies.
By Harald Küst
Gabriele Eilert-Ebke and Hans Ebke have used two unusual biographies to bring relatives of the author out of the anonymity of conventional historiography and make them visible. The stories of Andreas Cleeves (1778-1830), who fought in English service as an artillery officer against Napoleon, and of his son William (1808-1848) from Portsmouth, who founded a saddlery in Duisburg-Ruhrort, combine world history with local history.
The officer Andreas Cleeves fought in the "Kings German Legion”
Andreas Cleeves considered himself both English and Hanoverian, was multilingual, extensively educated, and lived in the Electorate of Hanover in 1803. In that year, Napoleon's French troops occupied the Electorate and forced the disbandment of the Hanoverian army. George III could not accept this. After all, he was not only King of England, but also Elector of Hanover. Andreas Cleeves and many of his comrades therefore fled to England to fight under the English flag in the "Kings German Legion" against Napoleon. Near Portsmouth, a place that should not be unknown to Duisburgers, was the first station that Andreas moved to in 1803 together with other artillerymen from Hannover.
The illegitimate son grew up in Portsmouth and Hannover
During this time Andreas Cleeves entered into a relationship with Jane Isaac, daughter of a tanner. This resulted in two sons, yet a marriage was not allowed for reasons of rank. The objection of his superior was unalterable. Andreas Cleeves saw action in the Napoleonic Wars in Portugal and Spain, was highly decorated, and took part in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Back in England, he married an Englishwoman, Martha Sykes Kitsons, daughter of a Portsmouth storekeeper. This was more befitting of his station. Until then, the children had lived with their mother Jane Isaac in modest circumstances. Officer Cleeves must have felt responsible for his sons, however, because he took them to Hanover and placed them in the care of his brother and brother-in-law, both pastors. Thus William Cleeves and his brother George spent their youth in Hanover.
Founding of the business in Duisburg-Ruhrort
As a journeyman saddler, William traveled throughout the territory of the German Confederation from 1826 to 1836. In 1837 he made his master's in Rheydt and married a Krefeld woman. In May 1840 he settled in Duisburg Ruhrort to open a saddlery on Hafenstraße. This was in the immediate vicinity of Franz Haniel, with whom he was in good contact because of his saddlery products, but above all through the Protestant pastor Wortmann. He soon moved his workshop and home to Carlstr. 23. The saddler craft, which was commonplace in the past, is rather unknown today. The origin of the saddler's craft was closely connected with the use of the horse as a farm animal. Making and repairing bridles, saddles, and upholstering carriages and furniture, as well as leather driving belts for industry, were all part of a saddler's job. William Cleeves' descendants eventually moved to Landwehr Street. The business shifted more and more to room and camping furnishings, and the workshop also moved from Duisburg Ruhrort to Duisburg Hamborn.
Read more
Hans Ebke, Gabriele Eilert-Ebke, Andreas Cleeves - With Wellington against Napoleon: From the Herrenhäuser Gardens to the Battlefields of Europe, Winterwork-Verlag 2018.
ISBN: 9783960145080.
Gabriele Eilert-Ebke, William Cleeves: Ein englischer Sattlermeister in Ruhrort, private print to order from the author.
© Gabriele Eilert-Ebke
Flag "Kings German Legion", image credit: Wikipedia