HO 405/41709
Cayane Pashaian was born in Izmir on February 13, 1889 to Mesrob Panossian (died Izmir, 1910) and Tackouhi Panossian, née Amirayan (died at 10 Knowsley Road, Southport, England, in 1938). She married Hagop Pashaian on October 2, 1911 at the Trinity Church, Upper Brook Street, Manchester, England. Their daughter Anahis Martha Aroussiak Pashaian was born on July 20, 1912 at 11 Lansdown Road, West Didsbury, Manchester. Hagop died on July 5, 1930 in Heliopolis, Egypt.
Cayane Pashaian resided at 25 Roe Lane in Southport (1934 to 1938) and at 10 Knowsley Road (1938-1946), where she rented two unfurnished room and lived with her unmarried daughter, who supported her mother by earning £4-5 weekly as a secretary and typist in the local newspaper, “The Southport Visitor.” Cayane Pashaian had no profession and was insolvent, aside from £500 in Government Defense Bonds. In 1912, she visited Izmir for a little over two weeks and spent four weeks en route in Cairo. In 1923-1924 she went to Cyprus, visiting Alexandria en route for 3 weeks. In Cyprus, she stayed with her uncles, Gaspard Amirayan of Nicosia, barrister-at-law and Assistant King’s Advocate, and Bedros Amirayan of Famagusta, Manager of the Agricultural Bank at Famagusta. As a widow, she took very occasional vacations of two weeks or less in Windermere, on the Isle of Man, and in Devon.
Cayane Pashaian’s first naturalization application was in 1940, but it was “set aside” due to the war. Pashaian’s agents notice to the Home Office that their client was unwell did nothing to accelerate the process. She was forced to reapply in 1946 and was finally naturalized the following year. For her nationality, she listed herself variously as “Turkish” or “Turkish (Armenian).” By the time of her final application, she had resided in the U.K. 35 years. Her referees, all of Southport, were generally highly placed individuals. They included the widow Annie Barr, who knew her since her arrival in the country, Donald Kerr MacDougall, M.B., Ch. B., Physician and Surgeon, who knew her for about 30 years “from the numerous professional calls he has made on her and her daughter;” William Henry Stephenson, Captain, Justice of the Peace for County of Lancaster, and Managing Director of the local newspaper “The Southport Visitor,” who knew her about 20 years, mostly in connection with her daughter’s work at that newspaper; Alexander Graham Munro, L.D.S., R.C.S., Dental Surgeon, who knew her through “her many calls in connection with his business and through occasional social visits with her and her daughter; and William Alexander Mackay, M.D., C.M., Physician and Surgeon.
Cayane Pashaian was registered as an “Alien” with local police from at least 1919. At the end of 1946, the criminal investigator assigned to Pashaian’s case wrote: “In concluding this report I beg to state that during the 30 years that the applicant has resided in this Borough she has conformed to the alien regulations. She lives a very quiet and apparent happy life with her daughter. …At one time, her late husband was a very prosperous business man with considerable property in Smyrna but this was confiscated by the Turks.”
Pashaian’s agents were solicitors from Englefield & Company. At least one file (designated as 227324) was destroyed. The surviving file was originally classified until 2048.