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Hi. I have got my Polish ancestor on the 1851 census as Moris Christ in Liverpool. He appears to be with a lot of other Polish people and they all seem to have an army ranking. I cannot make out what Moris' rank is. Would anyone know if anywhere would have records of any Polish armies that came over around this time and have details about the individuals? I am very stuck with this man now as he went on never to narrow down Poland to a city, town or village so i cannot trace him back any further. Any help or guidance is greatly received. Regards, Claire

Dear Claire Just googled 'polish army in england 1850s' and it came up with a few references - http://books(.)google(.)co(.)uk/books?q=polish+army+in+england+1850s&ots=m6qC45kEr7&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title. It looks like Polish emigrants came to England to escape conflicts in their own countries - perhaps it might be a place to start. best of luck Maria

Google search for everything. Try National archives aswell

Hi Maria, Many thanks for this website, i shall go and have a look at it. Regards Claire

Claire, his rank on the 51 census is 'serg't caval.' which I presume is sergeant cavalry. The address is 20 Cherry Lane, Liverpool.

Ive been trying to make out the name of the Major who is the first entry. That may help you track down who this lot are. Your bloke is very young to have made a sergeant.

Hi, Very sorry to reply late, i am at work. I thought also the first part was sergeant but then i agreed with heather, i thought he was too young to be a seargent. I will try and decifer some of the names when i get home and google the lot. i have been to kew with regards to his nationalisation records but there were not any! they were either bombed in WW2 or he lied and was never naturalised. i will have another look at them to see if they have any records of polish armies in 1851. Many thanks for all your time. Claire x

Well it does look like sergeant - may be desperate times, they enlisted very young? I think if you can go to the beginning of the list and see the Officers names you may have a better chance of finding who this lot were?

Hi Heather, I will do that and hope it does give some indication. Many thanks for your time. Claire x

There is a Maurice Chryst on the 1861 census which could be your Moris, age and country about right. Name: Maurice Chryst Age: 31 Estimated birth year: abt 1830 Relation: Head Spouse's name: Helen Gender: Male Where born: Poland Civil parish: Sheffield Ecclesiastical parish: St George Town: Sheffield County/Island: Yorkshire Country: England Keith

Hi Keith, Yes thats my ancestor. he married ellen beckitt in sheffield and stayed there until his death in 1907. i have him on all census from 51 to 1901. he was a steel warehouse manager after his marriage in 1857 so i am finding it very interesting that he seems to have come over as a member of a polish army. he states his father is called philip christ on his marriage certificate and they had 3 witnesses were all polish. regards, claire

He must have been quite dashing - Polish cavalry and all that :) See if you can find any photos of the regiment on a google search.

It might be worth trying to find out more about the witnesses to his marriage. ...Maybe they were recruited together from the same town? We found information aboout a Polish chap from the registration of his son's baptism in Portsmouth in 1837. The vicar had helpfully recorded that his father was a Polish refugee, 4th Regt. of Foot. Gwyn