Genealogy Chat

Have come to a grinding halt trying to find great great great grandfather. (His son has Poland as birth place). Found his name on Sons marriage cert, 1860. Assuming he was also born Poland and came over with wife and son. Any ideas how I can search for immigration record between 1823 - 1860? No show on 1861 census.

1. Possibly this may be useful. It's The National Archives online research guide about naturalisation: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/familyhistory/naturalisation/ 2. If he was Polish his name may have been mangled a bit, which is why you might not be able to find him on the 1861 census. 3. Most immigrants settled initially around where they arrived - quite often the East End of London. Do you know/think your ancestor might have been Jewish, or Catholic, or Protestant? 4. Have a look on cyndi's list (google to find) to see what she has for Poland. 5. A long shot, but you might find something on www.familysearch.org - I found a Swiss record once. nell

Thanks Helen, thats a great help. You are bang on the money with both the East End and Jewish immigrant! Sorry to be dense but what is cyndi s list? Im a bit new to this! Also, by some bizarre quirk I have just sent you an email, re The Harts in Mile End! We must have been replying at the same time!

If they had an unusual surname have you tried a search of GRO index? This might narrow the time scale for searching. However... Several families changed their surname to something sounding more English. We have come across ADAMKIEWICZ changed to ADAMS. Whether this was for ease of spelling or because of persecution, remains unclear.

Hi Below are some sites you might find useful: www*polishroots*org genealogy*about*com/od/poland genealogypro*com/polishexpress*html www*archiwa*gov*pl/?CIDA=43 www3*vistatech*net/-jack/pollink*htm www*zem*co*uk/polish/family*htm If you send me your email addy, i will try to email you 4 pages of info regarding tracing polish ancestors. Jules

As with many people who came to the U K from Europe in the 1800s, they found it easy to become part of the population without formalities. Also, as with many people who came from Europe, it is easier to find a person if you have some idea of their nearest town of residence. As far as Poland is concerned it is very difficult to trace ancestors, whether Jewish or not, due to the continuing changes in the borders. Many Jews in the Western areas had privileges that those in the Warsaw districts may not have had and vice-versa. Moving to the North of the country the Russian influence was substantial and you may find that your ancestor may have been in Lithuania changed to Russia then Poland and back again .......... You should also bear in mind that your ancestors names may have been known in Cyrillic script and whichever official took note of the name in this country would have written as it sounds. May I suggest that you take a look at : http://www.polishroots.org/genpoland/index.htm You should find a lot of info there but whether it will help in you ultimately finding your rellies is another matter. Alsoi there are addresses you can write to for help but if you do so dont hold your breath - I have a Polish Evangelist abiout the same time in my tree and I have been waiting for 6 months for a reply to a message I sent ..... but thats half the fun ! (they tell me). ou could also ask the East London FHS is they can help you :- http://www.eolfhs.org.uk/

Thanks all, for tips so far. Plenty to look at in this frustrating, fascinating, exciting search.

Adding reply so I can find this thread later. Margaret