Deceased Brethren

Moses Hamburger (1870-1905)

Moses Hamburger (1870-1905) was the son-in-law of Simon Leiser (1851-1917), a member of Vancouver & Quadra Lodge No. 2 and a leading figure in late 10th and early 20th century Victoria business.

Moses Hamburger worked for Simon Leiser‘s business, Simon :Leiser & Company, and was sent to Wellington, B.C. as manager of the Simon Leiser & Co. operations there.

He appears to have joined St. John’s Lodge No. 21 in Wellington (now part of Nanaimo, B.C. and moved to Ladysmith when the Dunsmuir coal mines moved from Wellington to what is now Ladysmith.

Unfortunately we do not know a lot about Moses Hamburger’s biographical details. The early records of St. John’s Lodge were destroyed in a fire in 1909 and we have not been able to locate an obituary or any other biographical information about Moses Hamburger at this time.

We have been unable to find an obituary for Moses Hamburger in the April or May 1905 newspapers of Victoria or Ladysmith and there is nothing about him in the municipal archives in either town.

We have located Moses Hamburger’s death certificate but it does not contain much information other than that the physician who signed the death certificate was the pioneer Victoria physician Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken and the undertaker who handled Moses Hamburger’s remains was “Hanna’s”, (which was owned by a Freemason).

His grave marker in Victoria Jewish Cemetery says he was born in Syracuse, New York on 6 March 1870.

We will do more research and post what we find.

Moses Hamburger is buried in Victoria Jewish Cemetery, Victoria, B.C.

Moses Hamburger, grave, Victoria Jewish Cemetery (photo: St. John's Lodge No. 21 Historian)
Moses Hamburger, grave, Victoria Jewish Cemetery (photo: St. John’s Lodge No. 21 Historian)
Moses Hamburger, grave inscription, Victoria Jewish Cemetery (photo: St. John's Lodge No. 21 Historian)
Moses Hamburger, grave inscription, Victoria Jewish Cemetery (photo: St. John’s Lodge No. 21 Historian)

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