Genealogy Chat

Hi Sylvia, Thanks for the tip, will look at that. Im sticking to the Polish thing because he did show as born there on one census plus my family have always believed it and a lady who comes from the same family that i am in contact with said her family always believed they were Polish. I did know of Poland being taken over by Austria and Russia at some point which intrigues me. I think he was Polish but came over from Geneva which has caused the confusion. Good luck in tracing your mother Regards Claire

Hi Claire, I am trying to find my Polish mother and have just bought a book from Amazon called "Polish Roots", by Rosemary A. Chorzempa. It's mostly aimed at tracing Polish-Americans, but there are some useful tips, including translations of letters to write to various archives as well as giving information about geographic and ethnic areas in Poland. regards, Sue

Languages and names intrigue me so I put "Moise" into Google. I found this on one link: Moise Kisling [Polish-born French Painter, 1891-1953] • Also known as: Mojzesz Kisling I rather think that Moise is a version of Moses. It may be that he was trying not to draw attention to having a biblical name which might have been thought of as rather Jewish. Anti-semitism has been around for a long time. Christine

Geography is not my strong point so dont quote me on this, but didnt Austria and Poland get mixed together at some point? Yes, Ive just looked it up, Poland was annexed by Russia Prussia and Austria by about 1795 and Poland ceased to exist, until 1918. Maybe your ancestors were pretty miffed about this and said they wre born in Poland because as far as they were concerned they WERE born in Poland, even if it didnt exist any more! A bit like someone in 200 years time saying they were born in England, but on the census saying they were born in the United States of Europe!

Hi Christine, Thanks very much for the tip, ive just tried it and very possibly think i may have found him! There is a Moise Denys Christ from Geneva naturlised in 1847. Im thinking Moise could be Austrian for Maurice which he was known as and Denys could be Dennis. We know from family tales that he changed the spelling of Christ to Chryst for some reason at some point. Geneva also fits with the Austrian thing on the cenuses. Just the Polish thing confusing me now, my family always believed were were Polish and it did come up on one census as born Anstipe Poland. Thanks again, much appreciated. Claire

Hello Claire I haven't had to follow this all through so don't know the detail but if you... start from that site and follow the (top right) link "I'm interested in" to "Family History" open the top right drop-down menu "topics to research" and choose "Naturalisation" (& click "Go"!) You get the info about where the Archives the relevant record would be. From the dates you mention, it looks as if "HO1" is the set you need. I'm not sure about what hoops you have to jump through after that to find the right info, but I'm pretty sure it's been explained on a thread somewhere. You could try putting "Naturalisation" or some other relevant word into the Thread-search slot and seeing what comes up. good hunting! Christine

Hi Pat, From some of the census it is saying he was a naturalised subject. Ive tried the website that Christine has given and nothing about him on there at all. Would you know who else would keep records of him coming over at all? Thanks, Claire

Claire, They did not have to get natrualized. It was their choice. I too have ancestors from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Pat

Hi Christine, Many thanks for all that info, it does help alot. Rumours in the family are that this guy changed the spelling of the surname so Christ could very possibly be what he was born as. Thanks Claire

If he came over from Europe, he would, presumably, have had to be "naturalised"? In which case there should be some record of him in the National Archives (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk). He'd have to have given some sort of origin info for that process, I imagine. After that, I'd consider trying out putting his name into Google (in inverted commas, so it gets treated as a single item) and adding Austria or Oesterreich or Österreich; and similarly with Poland or Polska. So far, I didn't come up with anything - not even on Google.at (the Austrian one) nor on Google.pl (the Polish one). My holidays in Austria suggest that "Christ" is a surname there, and "Chryst" would simply be a variant of that. Hope something there helps. Christine

Does anyone know of any search facilities to try and locate a birth of an ancestor born in one of these countries? Trying to find the birth of my Maurice Chryst born 1830c who on most census shows as born Austria but on one shows as Poland. He married here in Sheffield in 1858 so would also like to try and find when he came over. Living rellies talk of their Polish roots so thinking the Austria is wrong but who knows. Any help is greatly appreicated. Claire