Born: about 1771, possibly St Petersburg, Russia
Died: August 1838, St Pancras, London, Middlesex, England
Father: unknown
Mother: unknown
Spouse 1: Johann Wilhelm Becker (c1753-1803)
Married about 1792, possibly in Riga, Livonia.
Children
Spouse 2: Matthias Holst (1759-1845)
Married 16 December 1808 by licence at St James Piccadilly, Westminster, Middlesex, England.
Children
Biographical information
There are stories about Catharina and her family but there is very little that is substantiated. Imogen Holst, in her biography of her father Gustav Holst, who was the great grandson of Catharina, was apparently given to making up fanciful stories (which can be so much more exciting and interesting than the truth), and a lot of the stories of her ancestors may be completely of her own invention. According to Imogen, Catharina's brother was a "Prince Rogge". The Holst Birthplace Museum in Cheltenham, England, has in its collection a miniature portrait which is supposedly of Prince Rogge, which came from Imogen Holst. Absolutely nothing is known of the alleged Prince Rogge. There was a Johann von Rogge who was a government assessor, court councillor and knight (hence the "von" in von Rogge), who died in Riga in 1832, and it is possible that this was Catharina's brother and his level of importance was embellished somewhat.
According to Imogen Holst, Catharina was from St Petersburg, Russia and possibly met her second husband Matthias Holst when he was (said to be) a professional musician in the Russian Imperial Court in St Petersburg. I have found no evidence of this as yet. Imogen makes no mention of Catharina's first husband Johann Wilhelm Becker in her information on the Holst family. Becker was apparently a Käufer (buyer) which suggests he was involved in commerce/trade of some sort, as opposed to being a professional musician.
Moving from Imogen Holst's apparently fertile imagination to original parish records of the Lutheran Church in Riga, we can find Catharina in a number of records. It is important to note that I have not found her under the surname of Rogge but Roggen. I have not been able to locate a marriage record in Riga for Catharina's first marriage, to Johann Wilhelm Becker, but I have found baptismal records for three of their children. It is only from these records that we have her middle name of Beata. It is interesting to note that when Matthias Alexander was baptised, his godfather was Matthias Holst, Catharina's future husband.
Died: August 1838, St Pancras, London, Middlesex, England
Father: unknown
Mother: unknown
Spouse 1: Johann Wilhelm Becker (c1753-1803)
Married about 1792, possibly in Riga, Livonia.
Children
- Christina Martha Amalia, 1793-1795
- Johann Matthias Melchior, 1794-1795
- Matthias Alexander, 1796-1796
Spouse 2: Matthias Holst (1759-1845)
Married 16 December 1808 by licence at St James Piccadilly, Westminster, Middlesex, England.
Children
- Gustavus Valentine Johann, 1799-1870
- Benigna Catharina, c1801-1845
- Carolina Helena Maria, 1802-1884
- Constantia Eleonora, 1804-1877
- Theodor Edward Richard, 1810-1844
Biographical information
There are stories about Catharina and her family but there is very little that is substantiated. Imogen Holst, in her biography of her father Gustav Holst, who was the great grandson of Catharina, was apparently given to making up fanciful stories (which can be so much more exciting and interesting than the truth), and a lot of the stories of her ancestors may be completely of her own invention. According to Imogen, Catharina's brother was a "Prince Rogge". The Holst Birthplace Museum in Cheltenham, England, has in its collection a miniature portrait which is supposedly of Prince Rogge, which came from Imogen Holst. Absolutely nothing is known of the alleged Prince Rogge. There was a Johann von Rogge who was a government assessor, court councillor and knight (hence the "von" in von Rogge), who died in Riga in 1832, and it is possible that this was Catharina's brother and his level of importance was embellished somewhat.
According to Imogen Holst, Catharina was from St Petersburg, Russia and possibly met her second husband Matthias Holst when he was (said to be) a professional musician in the Russian Imperial Court in St Petersburg. I have found no evidence of this as yet. Imogen makes no mention of Catharina's first husband Johann Wilhelm Becker in her information on the Holst family. Becker was apparently a Käufer (buyer) which suggests he was involved in commerce/trade of some sort, as opposed to being a professional musician.
Moving from Imogen Holst's apparently fertile imagination to original parish records of the Lutheran Church in Riga, we can find Catharina in a number of records. It is important to note that I have not found her under the surname of Rogge but Roggen. I have not been able to locate a marriage record in Riga for Catharina's first marriage, to Johann Wilhelm Becker, but I have found baptismal records for three of their children. It is only from these records that we have her middle name of Beata. It is interesting to note that when Matthias Alexander was baptised, his godfather was Matthias Holst, Catharina's future husband.
All three of the known children of Catharina and Johann Wilhelm Becker died in infancy. By 1799 Catharina had given birth to Matthias Holst's child, Gustavus Valentine Johann Holst. I wondered if Catharina had been widowed and this was why she paired off with Matthias Holst, but Johann didn't die until 1803, so we can only assume that at some stage the relationship between Catharina and her first husband soured, and they parted ways.
We know that Catharina and Matthias' first child, Gustavus was born in Riga from his naturalisation record (National Archives UK record HO 1/22/416), but I have not been able to locate a baptism record for him in Riga.
The family left Riga at some stage and moved on to Danzig, Prussia (Gdansk, Poland today), and it is thought that Matthias and Catharina's second child, Benigna, was born there in around 1801, though I have not yet found a baptism record for this. There is a record for the baptism of the third child, Carolina, in Danzig, in March 1803, with Catharina's surname recorded as Rogger.
By 1804, the family was in England, when Constantia was born, and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster. About four years later, in 1808, Matthias and Catharina finally took the plunge and got married, at the same parish where Constantia was baptised.
In 1810, Catharina gave birth to her last child Theodor. We must assume that Catharina spent the rest of her life caring for her family, until her death, aged 68 in 1838. She was laid to rest at Kensal Green in a public vault in one of the Catacombs.
