Genealogy Wise
Genealogy of Lithuania
A kind of 'digital library' and 'strategy center' for those tracing ancestries in and from present-day Lithuania. I've created Discussion forums based on geographies, as this is the only part of GW where you can reply to each other! Here's a quick jump to all the discussion forums, otherwise, scroll through all the resources until you get to them.
From Lithuania to Scotland
Hi,
This is my first post to Genealogy Wise. I'm interested in tracing as much information as I can about my Grandparents, who came from Lithuania to Glasgow around 1905.
They very possibly came from Sunskai in the Suwalki Region, and birth dates are respectively listed as December 1882 and 1883.
I've had the usual issues in trying to find a definitive surname spelling, with the most likely being Bujauckas/Buyauskas or Biuauskas for my Grandfather and Kaminskeine for my Grandmother ( I've been told that this spelling may indicate that she was previously a widow as otherwise her maiden surname would be Kaminskaite).
I'm not sure what else I can do from Scotland (Poor Relief-shown in the photographs/Valuation Rolls/1911 Census and Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages have been examined) and, pending assistance from a researcher in Lithuania, I'm also awaiting word from the Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum in Glasgow re my Grandfather's service and personal details. I though this may be worth a try as he chose to enlist in the Highland Light Infantry in 1917 as an alternative to forced repatriation to serve in the Army of the Provisional Government of Russia.
Strangely, at present I find myself teaching an outreach class in a school in Baltic Street, Glasgow, on a Friday morning: the same street that they lived in from arriving in Glasgow until they died.
If anyone has any suggestions re accessing other records such as likely port of entry or alien registration information or if they have a similar family background, I'd be delighted to hear from you.
Many thanks,
Colin White
Anita Adamitis Scarborough
I noticed that on find a grave there is a Motiejus Bujauskas who died in 1918 and is buried in Shenandoah Pennsylvania with his wife. Many early Lithuanian immigrants went to this area, and many in particular were from Suwalkia. https://billiongraves.com/grave/Motiejus-Bujauckas/6525270#/
Try to find immigration info on him, I will look too. This is a long shot, but perhaps they came from the same area. You need to find someone who can search epaveldas for you to find marriage and birth records. Anita
Mar 28, 2017
Anita Adamitis Scarborough
In case you haven't seen this there are several articles online about Lithuanians in Scotland. I am attaching one. Some Lithuanian immigrants arrived at Ellis Island with an occupation of 'coal miner' because of their stay in Scotland.
http://ltuworld.com/homes/item/114-lithuanians-in-scotland
Anita
Mar 29, 2017
Richie C.
Hi Colin,
Bujauskas is a name I've never seen before, so I thought I'd look into it a bit, thinking that it might be a rare name. The result: eh, not so much. There are lots of American records with the name and 18 listings in the Lithuanian Internet Phone Directory. So, it's not common, but not rare. There is a concentration of names in Mariampoles County. You suggested Sunskai as a possible place of origin. I'm thinking that might actually be Sūsninkai. It's in an eastern corner of Mariampoles County, near the border of Alytus County. The next place name to the east, directly on that border, is Išlandžiai. I mention this because I found this village as a place of origin for a Petras Bujauskas who emigrated to Canada in 1928. A year later, he is on an outgoing manifest to the UK with an intended distination of Vilkaviškis, Mariampole County (which is a place in my family history, as it happens). Maybe he was just disembarking at the train station there. This is a Peter much younger than yours, by the way, not the same person. Another place name associated with this surname in records is Liudvinavas, about 20km north of Sūsninkai.
The point of all the above is that you might want to write to some of the Mariampole addresses in the phone directory and see if they are connected to your grandparents.
http://118.15min.lt/gyventoju-paieska/paieskos-rezultatai?actionId=...
As you alluded to, the -iene name ending is a woman married to a man with the surname, or a widow of that man. The -aite ending (for -as names; -yte for -is names, etc.) denotes an unmarried female. I would write a short letter in English. If they're not learned in the English language themselves, they will have a relative or friend who is. Most important: include your email address so that someone can get back to you electronically. I've had about 50% response rate with these kinds of letters.
Good luck,
Richie C.
May 26, 2017