Winifred Callaghan (Koystnski) - Polish Connection

[nexus41]

Winifred Callaghan (Koystnski) - Polish Connection

Hi everyone,

I'm researching Winifred Callaghan (1922 - 1944). She was born and died in Bolton and is the illegitimate daughter of John Henry Morgan. Winifred's entry in the 1939 register has two updates (probably NHS-related), which suggest she was briefly married to someone called Koystnski / Koystnski. The two updates are 24.11.60 and 12.12.61.

Koystnski is a Polish name (possibly a wartime refugee or soldier) and there may be a transcription error in the spelling, but I have not been able to find any information about him in any of the usual archives (marriage, birth, death). I did find a Piotr Kostynski with entries for 1975 and 1950, but they do not link up with the info I have on Winifred. There is also a Peter Kostynski, who died in 1928 in Devon. Peter is the anglicised form of Piotr.

The 1939 address is: 16 Bk Foundry Street, Bolton

Does anyone have any ideas on how to see if this marriage assumption is true or how to get info on Kostynski?

Thanks for your help.

[heywood]

Your post implies that Winifred died in 1944.
Did she die in 1994?
I can’t see a marriage either and it looks as though the name was crossed out and replaced - perhaps the later amendment.

You would need to know her address at the time but electoral registers might help.

[CaroleW]

You say she was born & died in Bolton but there is no death in Bolton under either surname in 1944.

There is a Winifred Callaghan death in Liverpool in 1944

Can you clarify?

EDIT

If she is the 1994 death found by Heywood - she died as Callaghan

[nexus41]

Sorry, my bad - that was a typo. She died in 1994 in Bolton, definitely not in Liverpool. Yes, she never changed her surname, according to family. It's the marriage entry in the 1939 Register (if that is what it is) that is the enigma. It was certainly news to a surviving family member, who was quite close to her.

[CaroleW]

So she died as Callaghan.  Do you have her death cert which will show her marital status?

[nexus41]

No, I need to order the death certificate. One other question is why the marriage is seemingly not recorded in official documents.

[CaroleW]

Was there a marriage??  If so - why did she die as Callaghan?  No children appear to have been born

[nexus41]

I will get the death certificate. The national archives site gives this info about changed made to 1939 register entries after 1939. That's the reason why I concluded a marriage had taken place:

"The Register was continually updated while National Registration was in force, when it was a legal requirement to notify the registration authorities of any change of name or address. This ended in 1952, but since 1948 the Register had also been used by the National Health Service, who continued updating the records until 1991, when paper-based record keeping was discontinued.

Changes of name for any reason were recorded; in practice this was mostly when women changed their surnames on marriage or re-marriage, but also includes changes of name for any other reason, such as by deed poll."

[CaroleW]

No marriage in England/Wales/Scotland so unless she married in Ireland or another country it may be an error on the 1939 entry.  I would wait & see what the death cert says