Hi Kelly,
First question: Which Henry James Ollenbittle is your relative? Including the inital immigrant to England there were 5.
The original HJO was born in "Germany" in 1793 and came to Britain to work as a Sugar Baker in the London sugar industry (actually cheap manual labour in a very hard unpleasent industry - which the more local Irish immigrants shunned). The Germans mostly came from Hannover. Currently I have no firm information as to our Henry's origin, other than that his original pre-anglised name was "Oldenbuttel". On "Family Search" there is a cluster of this name in the Sharmbeck/ Worpswede area (south west of Hamburg) but no record of a Henry (or Heinrich). There is a village of the name of Oldenbuttel in Holstein. I had a German researcher look at the church records there but there was nobody of that name recorded for the period (it may be that HJO's family originated from there some generations before Henry).
HJO then married Sarah Louisa Etjen in London (from her name also from a Germany family) and they had 8 chidren, 2 daughters and 6 sons. The sons then took either the name "Ollenbittle" or "Ollenbuttel/Ollenbuttle". I am decended through the eldest son(?) Henry James Ollenbittle. He moved out of London to Ipswich where he worked as a Machinist in a Foundary. Married to Hannah Markham (in London) they had two children Henry James Ollenbittle (III) and Sarah (possibly also a daughter Elizabeth Mary).
HJO(III) who worked as a printer, married Eleanor Bennett and had 11 children, one of who was another Henry Ollenbittle (b.1875)and another my Grandmother Louise Eliza (b.1881). It also seems that HJO(III) had other interests too as he took up with an Annie Gillard by whom he had a further 5 children - at the same time! One of these was also a Henry James Ollenbittle (b.1883).
Around this time HJO(III) seems to have adopted the name Thomas Ollenbittle. This name appears on my grandmother's Christening record but not her actual birth certificate or her later marriage certificate. HJO(III) may have adopted this second name to avoid detection of his activities with his "Second Family".
So if you can give me what information you have about your Ollenbittle family hopefully we will be able to make a connection.
Max Rasmussen - Norfolk, England