Advice please

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Richie C. on January 28, 2010 at 9:34pm

Ann,
I'm not familiar with what records are and are not available in the UK...Ancestry doesn't seem to have much on passenger lists. I checked the Hamburg Passenger lists, which was one of the more common lines, and had stops in the UK, but found nothing. I don't know if you know of other resources for incoming immigration into the UK? There were plenty of Gorecki/Gorecka/Gorecky that came to the USA, some through the UK, but they were all earlier, late 1800s/early 1900s....before the 1920s-30s.

Second (or perhaps first) you need to work out what the surname really was. As you spell it, Gorecki, is looks Polonized. Indeed, your people might have been Polish and living in Vilnius. To this day, Vilnius has a large percentage of Poles living there. In the area of the surname, at least, perhaps I have something to offer. I checked the Lithuanian phone directory to try to find a Lithuanian name that might fit. I found one name, and only one person listed with it: Igoris Gorečkinas (pronounced Gorechkinas). He lives about 15 miles southwest of Vilnius city. Perhaps this was the Lithuanian spelling of the true surname of your ancestors. It may be worth your while to write this man a letter.

Beyond that, are you able to find out if they were related to the other Gorecki/Gorecka/Gorecky in England and Scotland? Did you get the death certificate for Aleksander? If you know the parents of Aleksander and Zenon and their birthplace, the next step would be to order birth certificates from the Vilnius Archives.

Permalink Reply by Ann Gorecki on April 2, 2010 at 12:10pm

Thank you
Sorry didn't know I'd had a response.
Alecksander was my husband's father (died 1976) but only know he and his brother came to England in the 30s possibly unofficially (family believed killed in bombing). Yes they were Polish. Have recently found out mother was Emilia Stankewicz think born in Vilnius. They were Catholic

Regards

Ann

Permalink Reply by Candy Kammerman on January 30, 2010 at 9:35am

You might check out familysearch.org. On the home page there is a link to Jewish Family History Resources. One of the staff genealogists has been doing some extensive research in the UK. Click on the Knowles Collection.