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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Lancashire => Topic started by: Janboo on Sunday 06 March 11 19:05 GMT (UK)
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I wonder if anyone can help with details about the Lithuanian and Polish immigrants in Widnes in the 1880's onwards. They came mostly to work in the new chemical factories that later became the I.C.I. They seemed to settle in the West Bank and Lugsdale area. My family were in Cromwell Street in 1901 and then in Caroline Street in 1911. The name was Williams - but that was the anglicised version. I am having trouble finding out the original name. Any info would be of interest.
Thanks
Janboo
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There is a book that was published a short time ago entitled "Into the Crucible" by Jean M Morris. This publication covers the beginings of Widnes and the chemical industry, there is a great deal of reference to Luthuanians, Polish and Irish immigrants and how they arrived in Widnes and also how they adjusted to their new life, a very good read if you want to know how they lived,or better still existed in those times.
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That sounds brilliant - but where can I get it? I have just checked on the internet and no-one seems to have one. :(
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I bought mine from the Catalyst Museum in Widnes. You can go on line to see if they still stock it. Not knowing were you live, Widnes Library have this book.
I do have a copy but my daughter who lives in North Yorkshire borrowed it last week and we will not be seeing her for some weeks.
Sorry cant be of any other help
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have a look at this site
http://www.liverpoolhistoryprojects.co.uk/merseysidealiens/aliensbirth.htm#RUSSIAN-POLAND
and you will see it covers Aliens arriving in Merseyside from 1879-1912 who stayed....that link is the Russian and Polish settlers ...there is one that MAY be have become Williams ???
he arrived in this country on
8th Mar 1879 Godel Walzborn from Russia /Poland and went to live in St Helens
a total longshot ...but he is the ONLY surname beginning with W from Poland on that list
...Godzon may have become Gordon ???....Gordon Williams by any chance ?
allan :)
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That is a really interesting document. Thanks for taking the time - unfortunately it doesn't take me forward except to cross off Liverpool as the place they landed. Apparently Hull is a possible place of arrival - no family evidence but historically a lot of ships came from Germany etc to Hull with immigrants.
Again thanks for that. I will study it as it is a social history document that is fascinating. No wonder Liverpool is such a melting pot. :)
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The book I mentioned about Widnes I think states that a great many Lithuanians arrived in Scotland and worked there, steadily drifting south to were there was work.ie Widnes & St Helens
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I'm having great difficulty getting the book. It seems to be unavailable now. :( I'm not in Widnes so library not an option.
BTW I notice Wycherley is a name you are interested in? My mum used to work with a lady called that in Widnes - she had a son called ...Glynn - Glenn something like that.
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There is a Glynn Wycherley and in the scheme of things he will be related, My GGrandparents had plenty of sons when they came to Widnes from Shropshire.
;D
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Have you had any further luck in finding your relatives names? I think that they may be called Valinskas.
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Many thanks for that. They were actually called Valincius (pronounced Valinshus) but it got so mangled that each of the children had different names on birth certs - Walinjus, Walinczius, Valinski, Wellinsky and more! I have also discovered that there was nother family with the same name who must have been related. Also found that the maiden name was Berterska (pronounced Bertershka). It has taken hours and hours of trawling through Censuses, Birth registers, birth, death and marriage registers. Also found 3 children we didn't know about.
So yes, some of them were Valinskas. Have you any further info? How did you find the name?
Janice
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Had a quick look at the book Into The Crucible.
There is a Ant Valinski D.o.B 03/10/1882 living in Cromwell Street attending St Patricks School 1889/1890.
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Ancestry has free 1911 census today and I was googling around and came up with your post. Looked at the 1911 census and found the family under Williams.
Did a BMD search with just Isabella's first name, DOB and Prescot and it came up with Wellinsky. Then input Vellinsky as a soundex search and it bought up the other names so is was definitely something like Valinskas as W would sound as V and sky is the wrong ending for a Lithuanian name.
Have you found out where they came from in Lithuania yet? Most of the Widnes Lithuanians came from the South West area called Suvalkija.
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Hi - yes Isabella was indeed one of them - she died age 24 of TB. So sad. 3 died before the age of 5 and 3 died in their early 20's. Thanks for taking an interest.
Yes we do think it was the Suwalki/Suvalki area possibly near to Kalvarija. Unfortunately most of the registers in that area were destroyed during WW2 so it looks as if we will never know any more. We found some of the graves in Widnes cemetery and there was a wooden cross on one of them - it looked recent and we have no idea who put it there. Another mystery.
One story is that the father (john Williams or Jonas Valincius) went back to Lithuania to claim back some land - 1919 and maybe died there. We can find no death registered in England nor any grave for him - so maybe it's true?
Janice
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Some of them did go back.
Have you found their entry into the UK? Sometimes you can be lucky with this. It depends whether they came via Hamburg or another European port. If they came via Hamburg then there may be a record on Ancestry under Hamburg lists. I have found some but not all I am looking for.
You may also find that some have emigrated to the US and are on a passenger list or naturalised in the US. Try the Stephen Morse site. The other name looks something like Bartuskas.
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No - I've never managed to find out about their entry - I know that UK didn't keep records of European entrants and most of the ships manifests were destroyed after 5 years for Eurpeans. I keep hearing about the Steve Morse site - I must have a look.
Are you researching the Lithuanian migration? I have even had my DNA done and have found a very distant conection in USA - her mother's name was Valincius! No paper trail though and any connection is quite a way back. Fascinating though. Which family are you looking for?
Janice
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I done quite a lot of research on the Lithuanian families in Widnes for a friend. The main names I research are Derench (Derencius) and Klusaitis. There are other associated names and I have helped others who are looking for information about their relatives.
Some of the Klusaitis family (Ambukevicius) left Widnes for the US and I managed to obtain their naturalisation papers which gave the place of birth as Virbalis which is very close to the border with Kaliningrad.
The Derencius family came from Pajevonys and Bartninkai.
A number of the families in Widnes were related to each other as I guess that there was an element of chain migration.
There were also a number of families including some of the ones I research that came to Widnes from Bellshill in Scotland.
If I can be of any further help let me know.
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The Hamburg Lists are on Ancestry.com. They are the only ones that exist and if your relatives came from another European port then there are no records unless they were on a Trans-Atlantic liner.
The entries I have found on the Hamburg lists don't say very much. Usually their place of residence is just the area such as Suvalkija or it is a place name that is difficult to decipher. They don't have the information on passenger lists that the Trans-Atlantic liners do especially from say 1910 onwards.
I noticed this entry on the 1911. He is living with the Vasilauskas family.
Anthony Berthaski abt 1881 Poland Boarder Widnes, Lancashire
I think that the name is more likely to start with Bart than Bert.
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Regarding the name Wycherely...Garston / Toxteth / Widnes - Billy Fury the singer was christened William Wycherely...just wondering where Wycherely stems from ....and also
Karalius ...an extremely well known name in Widnes ...2 superb rugby league players ....just wondering if this name is Lithuanian /Polish ...
Google Karalius and you will see that there is a lot of info on the 2 brothers who played for Widnes and also a Company still running in Widnes
allan
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Vince Karalius did indeed come from Lithuanian stock (we used to live next door but one). Kauralius is a very common name in Lithuania - nearly as common as Smith! LOL
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The Wycherley family in my case came from the Hadnal area of Shrewsbury. Up to now the Wycherley's I have traced in Widnes are descendants of Joseph & Elizabeth Wycherley who arrived around 1880.
The book "Into The Crucible" which is about Widnes in its early days gives a good account of all the nationalities that arrived here seeking work, well worth a read if you can find a copy
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aelfleda - I knew I had heard the Derencius name before. One of them was godmother to my great uncle and another (Jacobus) was godfather to someone I think may also be a relative. So difficult these names - phonetically English and the priest writes them in Latin too!
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jangeo - I have been trying to beg, borrow or steal 'Into the Crucible' for a long time now. I even contacted the author but no luck.
Thanks for the Ant Volinski - but he was a bit early for mine. My Anthony was born 1905. Also they seemed to insist on using the name Williams on everything except birth and baptism certificates. Just to make my search even harder! LOL
Janice