Author Topic: Polish Family - where can I start?  (Read 4724 times)

Offline annaandchester

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Polish Family - where can I start?
« on: Sunday 12 October 08 19:29 BST (UK) »
I know very little of my polish heritage but my Grandmother is now 89 and would love me to find any living rellies still in Poland.

I speak and read no Polish and the information I have is so scant but I have the names of a couple of villages and that is it really.

The family are Catholic not Jewish so I dont know if that will make it easier or harder for them to be traced.

Anna x
McLeods - Hartlepool, Liverpool, Inverness(?)<br />Simpsons - Carlisle, Westmorland<br />Harris - Carlisle, Kent<br />Reads - Birmingham and Staffordshire<br />Allens - Marylebone London<br />Zych - Poland
Holmes - Bawdsey, Suffolk
Perks - Hampshire
McQueen - Carlisle
Carrick - Carlisle
Haugh - Carlisle
Irving - Irving
Collett - Bredon, Worcester
Harrison - Carlisle
Knight - Carlisle
Thompson - Carlisle
Johnstone - Carlisle
Rogerson - Dumfries and Carlisle
Wood - Ontario

Offline JustinL

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Re: Polish Family - where can I start?
« Reply #1 on: Monday 13 October 08 08:29 BST (UK) »
Hello Anna,

Was your grandmother born in Poland? Does she know the language? I have always heard that knowldege of Polish will spead things up immensely.

Numerous Polish records survived WWII (and other wars) and are spread around the various state archives. So, first of all, you need to locate your ancestral villages/towns and determine the administrative district, then you will know which archive is likely to hold records.

http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/?CIDA=43

I would seriously suggest that you surf the internet to look for an American group or forum specialising in Polish ancestry. I think you'll find that there are quite a few.

As for finding unknown living relatives, that is probably as difficult there as it would be in the UK.

Justin

Offline kaja

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Re: Polish Family - where can I start?
« Reply #2 on: Monday 13 October 08 20:40 BST (UK) »
When searching for living people in Poland.

Many people use nasza klasa pl. It is a school website much like friends reunited. The difference is that it is highly active and you have a reasonable chance of finding people.

The problem is that you need an account and a knowledge of Polish. Some of us here will be able to help you out when you have more specific details of who and where

The Polish telephone directory is difficult to search, if you don't have full details.

When you find your family town it might be worth looking for a message board related to that town. Some (Polish) city websites have pages in English.

When searching Polish genealogy forums and other websites it helps to use Polish characters where necessary otherwise you may not get a result.
Ex: ą ę ł ż ś

I would say that the best way to find (Polish) Catholic roots is through church records. Again, you will need a knowledge of the language. And you will need some luck. Often direct (mail) requests to a particular church end with no reply. But of course you can be very lucky.

When you find out more and need a translation... I'd be happy to help.

Have I spoken to you at polish forums. com ?

Have you found the villages on a modern map ?
Dawson,    Carruthers,     Lawson,     Robinson,
Elliott,  Keily,  Adams,  Jolly/Jolley,  Wilson,  Hills,  Spearing,  Bowe.

Northumberland and Durham  [Gateshead, Washington,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne]

Offline annaandchester

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Re: Polish Family - where can I start?
« Reply #3 on: Monday 13 October 08 22:06 BST (UK) »
I am kind of working blind here as my Grandmother is unable to help with written or oral polish as she is very elderly.

She left poland in 1921 so she has very little knowledge of the family but what she has given me is this:

Her mothers side of the family are farmers from Olesnica - this is near Zagorow and Kalisz and the family name Andrezjac.

Her fathers side of the family were also farmers from the area of Ollug breina, Konskie, Radon. The main river in the area was the river Warta. The family name is Zych.

She thinks that one or both of the families were moved onto land at Selizia (I have spelt this phonetically as she was unable to give me a spelling) which was has been in both Poland and Germany and that after the 2nd world war her family lost contact with her cousins. She thinks that most of them will be dead by now and she has no idea about 2nd cousins or even names.

I havent got a hope in hell have I? I would just love to find something for her before she dies - not that she is at deaths door but at 89 you cant keep going forever can you?

I dont speak any Polish and I do not have the funds to pay to do this professionally so I guess that my options are limited.

Any help you can give (and for the help you have already given) - many many thanks

Anna x
McLeods - Hartlepool, Liverpool, Inverness(?)<br />Simpsons - Carlisle, Westmorland<br />Harris - Carlisle, Kent<br />Reads - Birmingham and Staffordshire<br />Allens - Marylebone London<br />Zych - Poland
Holmes - Bawdsey, Suffolk
Perks - Hampshire
McQueen - Carlisle
Carrick - Carlisle
Haugh - Carlisle
Irving - Irving
Collett - Bredon, Worcester
Harrison - Carlisle
Knight - Carlisle
Thompson - Carlisle
Johnstone - Carlisle
Rogerson - Dumfries and Carlisle
Wood - Ontario


Offline kaja

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Re: Polish Family - where can I start?
« Reply #4 on: Tuesday 14 October 08 16:10 BST (UK) »
Quote
I havent got a hope in hell have I?

Have a good look at: polishroots.org

JewishGen will give you help with regard to town village location. It's a very useful site.

You didn't name the actual town of village where your Grandmother was born.

Find the town/village and do a search for churches.

If one member of the family used the church then others must have done likewise.

Follow the link given by JustinL

Somehow you have to get as much info from that church, or it's records, as you can.

If you go to: (it's an english language website) polish forums. com someone might give you a list of churches, be able to tell you about the movement of people in the area or post a link to a relevant website. It really depends what you ask for. Although the site has a Genealogy section it doesn't mean it is full of experts, but there are people who sometimes try to help. You may be refered back to rootschat though.

Selizia = Silesia. An area of Poland.

Check other websites to see if family are looking for you. Genealogy.com, ancestry. com There are many people looking for Polish roots, people whose families were forced to break up, for one reason or another, mostly because of the political climate.

If you have any Polish documents: Post the title of the text and I'll translate it. Then you'll know if it's useful or not.

Was your Grandmother (Grandfather) naturalized. Check. You might find names and dates.

You don't mention your parents. can they tell you anything.

Find out as many names and approximate dates of birth as you possibly can. Some of these names will help you later with military records etc.

Did Grandmother have brothers and sisters ? What are their names ?

Look for all sorts of clues. Family photos, medals, old letters etc.




Dawson,    Carruthers,     Lawson,     Robinson,
Elliott,  Keily,  Adams,  Jolly/Jolley,  Wilson,  Hills,  Spearing,  Bowe.

Northumberland and Durham  [Gateshead, Washington,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne]

Offline annaandchester

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Re: Polish Family - where can I start?
« Reply #5 on: Tuesday 14 October 08 17:00 BST (UK) »
Thanks I will start working my way through that.

My grandmother is a Zych so she was born in Ollug breina - she left Poland with her parents and her younger brother in 1921 and they moved to Barlin, a small village in the north of France. She has 1 brother still alive in France but he is on 24hr oxygen and in very very poor health.

She has no letter, records, family papers etc and apparently neither has he. I only have 1 photo of their parents and for some reason the family has the general feeling of "let old bones rest".

I will have a go at some of the websites mentioned and see if I can find any connections - she never met her cousins who remained in Poland and as far as I know any contact with the family was lost when her own parents died in the 1950's.

She came to the UK when she married an English man she met when France was liberated and my mother was born not too long after.

Thank you for your help.

Anna x
McLeods - Hartlepool, Liverpool, Inverness(?)<br />Simpsons - Carlisle, Westmorland<br />Harris - Carlisle, Kent<br />Reads - Birmingham and Staffordshire<br />Allens - Marylebone London<br />Zych - Poland
Holmes - Bawdsey, Suffolk
Perks - Hampshire
McQueen - Carlisle
Carrick - Carlisle
Haugh - Carlisle
Irving - Irving
Collett - Bredon, Worcester
Harrison - Carlisle
Knight - Carlisle
Thompson - Carlisle
Johnstone - Carlisle
Rogerson - Dumfries and Carlisle
Wood - Ontario

Offline JustinL

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Re: Polish Family - where can I start?
« Reply #6 on: Wednesday 15 October 08 11:00 BST (UK) »
Anne,

Konskie and Radom are readily identifiable, but I cannot locate Ollug Breina. 

Olesnica is fairly close to Wroclaw; it used to be know as Oels and was indeed in Silesia (Schlesien in German). Wroclaw was formerly known as Brelsau - a major city in Schlesien.

Were the families protestant or catholic?

Justin

Offline annaandchester

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Re: Polish Family - where can I start?
« Reply #7 on: Wednesday 15 October 08 11:05 BST (UK) »
Catholic - and very religious too.
McLeods - Hartlepool, Liverpool, Inverness(?)<br />Simpsons - Carlisle, Westmorland<br />Harris - Carlisle, Kent<br />Reads - Birmingham and Staffordshire<br />Allens - Marylebone London<br />Zych - Poland
Holmes - Bawdsey, Suffolk
Perks - Hampshire
McQueen - Carlisle
Carrick - Carlisle
Haugh - Carlisle
Irving - Irving
Collett - Bredon, Worcester
Harrison - Carlisle
Knight - Carlisle
Thompson - Carlisle
Johnstone - Carlisle
Rogerson - Dumfries and Carlisle
Wood - Ontario

Offline toni*

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Re: Polish Family - where can I start?
« Reply #8 on: Wednesday 15 October 08 11:23 BST (UK) »
nothing to add but interested to see your replies
bookmarking for further use  ;D
Holman & Vinton- Cornwall, Wojciechowskyj & Hussak- Bukowiec & Zahutyn, Bentley & Richards- Leicester, Taylor-Kent/Sussex  Punnett-Sussex,  Bear/e- Monkleigh Gazey-Warwicks

UK Census information is Crown Copyright from www.nationalarchive