HO 144/1257 and HO 334/60/23717
For Balthazar’s brother Agop, click here. For Balthazar’s brother Gregory, click here.
Balthazar Garabed Agopian was born in Smyrna, in the Ottoman Vilayet of Aidin on June 5, 1866 to Garabed and Taqui Agopian, both of whom had died in Manchester by the time he filed for naturalization in 1913. His parents were Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire who enjoyed the privileges of Belgian subjects because Garabed had been appointed in about 1851 a dragoman to the Belgian consulate in Smyrna, a position he held to his death, although his active duties as a dragoman had ceased sometime around 1906. Garabed had also carried on business as a cotton goods merchant in Smyrna.
Agopian married Christine (maiden name not provided in the application), who was 42 in 1913. The couple had three children, all of whom had been born in Smyrna: Marie (born 1/31/1898, age 15); Taqui (born 8/27/1899, age 13); Charlie (born 7/30/1905, age 7). Before coming to Manchester, the applicant had for some years been employed by his father as Manager in his Smyrna firm, a business that was given up in 1903. The applicant then established himself in business in his own name. In Smyrna, he had also been appointed and acted as Dragoman to the Belgian consulate, an office he retained after immigration, even though he was not actively engaged in it.
The Agopians survived an unspecified massacre and dislocation. In an oral interview conducted by Joan George for her book on London’s Armenian community, Taqui remembered the family’s “comfortable family home in Smyrna overlooking the harbour” and noted that her family lost everything during the unrest. Charles later became the director of the textile firm Olivo and Bakirgian in Manchester.[1] Balthazar, his wife Christine, and their children Charles and Taqui were among the survivors to reach Britain. Balthazar Agopian came to Manchester with his family and parents in 1906, joining other Agopian brothers who had immigrated in 1874 to England to work in the city’s textile trade. Between that time and the time of his application, he had never left England. At the time of his application, his children were being educated at “high class schools in Manchester.” The family resided in West Didsbury, Manchester. Balthazar Garabed first subleased a house from his brother and then took over the lease.
Balthazar established himself at 68 St. James Street, Manchester (6/1906-9/1908) and then relocated to 64 George Street, where he worked as a merchant, principally in Grey Cloth, trading as “Balth G. Agopian Grey Cloths.” He also worked as an insurance agent to the North British & Mercantile Insurance Company and the Sun Fire Office, both in London, and at Messrs. Lloyds.
Balthazar had no intentions of leaving the United Kingdom. While he did business with shippers in Manchester, he did not actually ship goods, but rather sold goods to merchants. However, if he decided to go abroad on business sometime in the future, he reflected, he “might apply for a passport.” He applied for naturalization because all his business was in England and, because he paid taxes, thought he was entitled to the rights of a British subject.
His referees were the manager of the National Provincial Bank of England in Manchester, the Chief Cashier of the same bank, and two employees at the North British Mercantile Company in Manchester. These men knew Agopian through business and judged his private life by the standard of his business career.
Balthazar Garabed Agopian was 46 when he applied for naturalization in 1913 and had just turned 47 when he was naturalized the same year. Subfile 1 was destroyed, suggesting he may have applied unsuccessfully once before. He had no agent. This file was classified until 2013.
[1] Joan George, Merchants to Magnates, Intrigue and Survival: Armenians in London, 1900-2000 (London: Gomidas Institute, 2009), 82, citing oral testimony of “the late Miss Taqui Agopian.”