Wierzbicki - Poland

[Davy Boy]

Hello all,
I am assisting a friend who is trying to find information on his family history. Unfortunately his father is deceased so he is unable to get assistance there!

As you can see from the title the surname is Wierzbicki and his father was originally from Poland. He has no other information.

Can anyone help, with such vague information?

David

[Ruskie]

Your friend's father's birth marriage and death certificates should all contain information about his own parents. This takes you back another generation - and the logical place to start.

Depending on when his father left Poland, you may be able to locate them in the 1911 census. Also if he married in the UK, his marriage certificate will name his father.

[Davy Boy]

Hello Ruskie,

Unfortunately he had to leave Poland in a bit of a rush. Germany had invaded Poland in 1939 and he left without any papers.

The only paperwork he has is his father's death certificate, which doesn't give any real information!

David

This is one of the problems he has

[Ruskie]

Oh righto, that explains it. Did his father marry in Poland or in the UK?

[Davy Boy]

Hi father married in the UK.

[Ruskie]

His marriage certificate should name his father, and as it is information provided by himself is likely to be accurate.
Do you (or does your friend) already have this marriage certificate? If not it would be worth considering purchasing it.

Surprising a lot of Wierzbicki marriages:
http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl
(and that is not taking into account spelling variations of the surname)

[Davy Boy]

Thanks Ruskie,
I have just checked FREEBMD and I see what you mean! I will now get back to him and see if he can give some more information.

David

[Ruskie]

Maybe working sideways will get you somewhere? For example does your friend know if his father had any siblings who also went to the UK?

I would be asking your friend if his father ever spoke of his own parents - does your friend know his grandparents names? 

[Gaie]

Hi David

Did your friend's father take out naturalisation in this country?  See if you can find him on The National Archives website:  http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ .  Click on "Discovery - our catalogue".

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/s/res?_q=Wierzbicki+&_sd=&_ed=  gives a few Wierzbickis who did apply.  As long as they gave accurate information on the forms then the certificates and associated files can give a lot of useful data.

The London Gazette can also be useful:  https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices

Kind regards
Gaie