Hi there,
On BDM NZ there is a Liza Lam who married Jack Udovich in 1916 - Ref 1916/8776.
Could this be your great aunt?
Also found this on Papers Past. Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 193, 15 August 1940, Page 6.
For failure to comply with a decree of restitution, Joseph Zam (Mr. Hall Skelton) was granted a decree nisi against Grace Zam.

This is probably not new information for you??
All the best with your search.

The first is a serious possibility. I'm amazed I have not found that yet. There's some things about it that don't really make sense. Lizabeth Zam, Liza Zam...it's got to be. It is starting to ring a bell that she may have referred to herself as Liza. I was always told that she married a Jack Mann, not Udovich. My aunt remembers that Allec changed his name to Mann. It simply sounds like I've been given the wrong information by my grandmother, and I took that as the gospel! Liza seems to have stayed in Wellington where there are electoral records up to the late 1960s. I am starting to figure out they all came to Sydney, Allec (sp) stayed and changed his name, and then Lizabet moved back to Sydney by the late 1950s. I know that when my grandfather died she "came back" - from where wasn't specified. I was told Australia. Indeed looking at the rolls there is a break between 1957 and 1969. Likely she returned to New Zealand to live late in life. I think this has given me a breakthrough I needed - so THANKS!

The reference you mention from Papers Past was my grandfather's first marriage from 1934-1939. He married my grandmother the following year. We never knew Grace or her family and were in fact told she passed away (I guess people were a lot more embarassed about divorce back then!)Cheers

Isn't is great when you get a breakthrough!
On reading through my response I see that I've made a mistake with Liza - her surname on BDM is actually Zam not Lam - my mistake, sorry about that. But it's good that you might now be on the right track.
I had a similar situation, my uncle told me the surname for an aunt and I chased around for ages trying to find her until finally I realised he had simply got it wrong! cheers.

It really is great after hammering at it on and off for five plus years. It just goes to show that BDM isn't foolproof when it comes to searching. Second pair of eyes also helps. Now I have found a slew of possible matches in the Australian records and it seems my grandfather and Liza may have passed through Australia. Just because the immigration record says the ship came from London...I assumed that they left straight from Europe (why wouldn't you?). But there's no reason why it didn't pick up in Sydney of course. Ah, the pitfalls of trying to actually make sense of factual clues!

Looks like Jack Udovich and Jack Mann were one and the same person.
Found this on Papers Past - the plot thickens!!

BAILIFF'S POWERS

MUST NOT BREAK AND ENTER.

An interesting point of law regarding the powers of a bailifE in executing a distress warrant was emphasised in a reserved judgment delivered by Mr. E. Page, S.M., yesterday in the case of Holden v. Udovich. The plaintiif, Arthur Holden, contractor, sought, to recover from J. Udovich, commonly known as J. Mann, grocer, Kilbirnie, the sum of £7 10s for work done and £50' damages for alleged wrongful distress. The plaintiff occupied as tenant a shed belonging to the defendant', and undertook, as carpenter, certain small repairs to the front of the defendant's shop, alleging that the amount of the contract money should be set off ......

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 12, 14 July 1921, Page 4 (there's more to the article - but I'll leave it to you to get the rest)

Looks promising?
Cheers
R.

Far out! It kind of makes sense. My grandmother seemed pretty definite while we were doing the tree about the Mann surname, even listing all the kids with Surname Mann one by one, that's a pretty hard error to make. So they did change their name. Interesting. But I wonder why Mann? That's kind of left field. The only reaon I can think of is that they were following the brother Allec's lead. Keep investigating I suppose - long term. Definitely on an official basis, they registered in the electoral roll under their government name up until the late 1960s. Persistence is key to cracking these ones! Thanks again!

Have the ships manifest for Mr J Zam and Miss L Zam Departed 13 December 1915 from London to Aukland, NZ Mr Zam was a 22 year old Tailor, Miss Zam was 23 and a Domestic. they sailed on the ship ROTORUA, the steamship line was teh NZ Shippin Company

PS They came from Russia :
There are Two Zam's that might or might not be Allec
Mr A Zam : sailed 30 September 1933 from London to Melbourne on the ORFORD DOB calculated from age was 1891 : he was a Tailor, address was given as 229 Antrim Road, Belfast

Then there is Mr Alexander Zam who travelled with Mrs Elizabeth Zam on the EURIPEDES: 11 March 1921 from London to Sydney DOB Calculated from age 1891 a Married Tailor. Last address 32 Govan Street Glasgow. Looking at DOB's could even be the same man

Thanks SilverVixen! This is amazing information. I would say, yes - the same person. The only other A. Zam would have been their father (Aaron) and if the maths says the he was born 1891, the same year as his son, well - that's just not a possibility, is it. So Joseph came to Sydney with the sister, they went to New Zealand. Then at some point she went back after her marriage to Jack Udovitch/Mann to see the parents in Glasgow. Then Alex and Lizbeth came back to Sydney. Then Alex went back to, probably Glasgow, and then spent time in Ireland, or perhaps by then the parents had moved to Ireland. Maybe a look in the Irish records will reveal something because I've had no luck with the Scottish ones. Russians in Ireland - go figure.

The 1921 manifest shows Alexander's wife - an Elizabeth Zam, born c 1898. I didn't look too closely at it at first - thinking that it was his sister Lizabeth born 1892. Whoopee! Another piece of the puzzle filled in thanks to FTC.

Yes I thought that was a bit confusing : glad to help

Get this, it also shows they brought two infants with them. We were always told he married, and they never had any children!

Hey Ho so they did not always tell the truth : my Scottish ancestors were such a bunch of liars, why should your Russian ones be any different? c'est la vie as we say over here. bonne chance mon nouvel ami

Well, there were a lot of mistakes and not-entire-truths. However, there is a possibility, that both children died, which wasn't something you'd rule out then - because I can't really see what motive there would be for saying they had no children if it wasn't true.

Finally a breakthrough - I just found the death record of Alexander Mann, died in 1980 in Australia at 89 years old. Parents: Aaron and Hannah. Perfect match. Doesn't say what area. So he and his wife officially changed their name to that of his sister and her husband's "assumed" surname.

If you try Scotlands People on the following website in the "Valuation Rolls" for 1915 there are two Zam's Alexander and Aron (sic) both in Glasgow but at different addresses. You will have to buy credits to viuew the information but might add another piece to your jigsaw


http://scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

Thanks. I did actually have the forsight to check SP a couple of times and it kept telling me there was nothing. Of course the third time it showed some matches. After working out their issue with the viewing of documents, which needs to be set specifically to types of browsers, I was able to pick up a lot more information, including apparently another sibling which nobody seems to know about(until now). Although, I had the same problems in another browser so there are some issues with their site.

Update: Recently traced Alex and Elizabeth Mann (Zam) to a Sydney Cemetery; buried in the Jewish section. Since I discovered the unknown sibling of Alex's Kate, a whole new branch of the family has opened up that I was never aware of, nor it seems was anyone else. Never figured out who the two children were that they brought with them to Australia. The most likely assumption is that they were chaperoning two children from Scotland to Australia for other members of the Jewish Community. I guess we may well never know the answer...