Constance's Birth and Family
Constance Bella Davis was born in Birmingham into a Jewish family on 12 June 1917. At the time of her birth, her family was living at 273, Great Colmore St, Edgbaston; her parents are listed on her birth certificate as David Papowich, a journeyman tailor, and Esther Papowich (nee Cohen). According to the executor of her will, the family came to Birmingham from Russia and Poland.
Constance Davis was the youngest of three children. The eldest in the family, Rose (or 'Sis' to Constance Davis), 'the family queen', a 'forceful character with a liking for clothes and a facility with the piano', was born on 22 February 1901; next came Harry, 'the kindest and dearest of brothers', born in 1909; and finally, in 1917, Constance, 'a bubble of fun' and the perennial baby of the family.
Constance's Death
By 1990, Constance and Rose were living together at 30 Dollery Drive, Priory Rd, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5, the address given on Rose's death certificate.
Constance Davis's last years were overshadowed by depression, following the loss of her close friends and family: her sister Rose died on 26 March 1993; Frances Cohen at the end of 1992/c. 1993 and Ben Tossman in 1999.
In 2000, she moved from Dollery Drive to sheltered housing at 1, Silverstone Court, River Brook Drive. Her health failed in 2000, and she went into hospital several times before her death in the Selly Oak Hospital on 5 July 2000. She was buried in the Jewish cemetery at Witton. |
Harry's Growing Up
Harry was Constance's older brother, and there are excellent (and cute-see photo above) phographs of him.
Harry married Lilian Cohen on 24 December 1939 and they had one daughter, Leslie. Neither Constance nor Rose married.
Constance wrote a poem about him, here is the first verse:
"Our Brother is really one of the best, But our patience he sometimes will put to the test.
He rushes in and declares it's hot, Sits down for a while and finds he's forgot
To bring the things that for us he had, It really makes him 'hoppin' mad."
Harry died in a road traffic accident aged 67, his death was reported in several local papers, clippings of which Constance kept. According to his quasi obituaries, he was 'almost an institution' and had written several short articles for the "Birmingham Jewish Recorder".
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Changing Names
Constance Davis and her sister changed their names by deed poll in 1948; they had been using the name Davis for some time before this. Constance changed her surname only, becoming Constance Bella Davis instead of Constance Bella Papowich; Rose become Betty Rose Davis instead of Rebecca Rose Papowich. |
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Constance's Mother and Father
A family tree in the collection gives some information about Constance Davis's extended family: according to this, her mother's parents Amelia Bandell and Alexander Cohen were married at Singers Hill Synagogue, Birmingham in c. 1878. They had three children: Emmy; Annie, who married Mr Gillman and had two children, Rosie and Dorothy; and the youngest, Esther, Constance Davis's mother, born in 1879, who married David Leib (Lewis) Papowich in c. 1900. On her father's side, the tree lists David Papowich's parents as Mona and Mattisyahu Papowich. |
