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Morning All. I really dont know where to go now with my Maurice Chryst. We always believed he was Polish but the census are confusing me. I have him on the 61 through to 1901. On 3 it says he is from Poland and on the other two it says Austria. I have looked at the images for the two that say Austria and they both have Poland written first and then crossed out! What would you all think of this, should i go with the family stories of Poland? I dont understand why he would say Poland on all of these census but on two only cross them out and say Austria! When he married he married with the name Moritz Christ, this doesnt sound very Polish to me but the 3 witnesses all have very foreign surnames that end in 'ski' which indicate Polish. I went to Kew to see if any naturalisation records were still held for him as he said that he was naturalised but no joy, either they were destroyed or he lied. I really dont know where to go from here so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading this. Regards Claire with 2 major brickwalls xxx

Hi Claire Bearing in mind that original forms were copied into the ledgers, I would go with Poland. It seems he believed that to be his birthplace. Some official changed it subsequently. Moritz could just be the registrars interpretation of Maurice with a foreign accent. I would try asking for a Pole to interpret what they think the original name may have been as it may have been 'westernised' Beth :)

Could be more of a History problem, Poland has had a troubled past and with the Austro-Hungarian Empire on there doorstep maybe parts of Poland came under Austria. Keith

Hi Beth, Thanks for that. The name Moritz does exist, on all the Kew thingys i was looking at it came up quite often as a German name (not far from Austria i was thinking) but you could be right, the registrar might not have properly heard what he gave his name as. I went down every name at Kew that could have bore an even tiny resemblence to what the surname could have been, if he was Polish then i dont think it was Christ/Chryst, definately westernised. Grandad knows that he changed the I to a Y himself, although not sure why. Regards, Claire

Very interesting thought Keith, That could be. Would anyone know if there is a place called Anstripe or Anstipe in Poland at all? He gives this on the 91 census as a place of birth and then Poland. I have tried googling it and nothing seems to come up. C xx

Just had a quick look re-Polish History and the Provence of Galicia was given to Austria and they were to fighting under Austrian Command up to 1917. Keith

Hi Keith, Very interested by that, when did this get given to them? I am guessing my Maurice was born around 1829/30 from the census ages. Dont know when he came to England, First record i have found of him here was his marriage in 1858 in Sheffield. Regards, Claire

I think it was about 1815, this could be a useful site for you www(.)polishroots(.)org/genpoland/ Keith

Cheers for that Keith, Thinking almost sure Poland now rather than Austria. Regards, Claire

There are a few place names in Poland that begin with Ost- eg Ostrow.

Hi Geoff, It looks like Anstripe he has put on the 91 census. Regards, Claire

It could say Austria Poland on the 91 Census Keith

Of course 'he' didn't put anything onto that page - it is a transcription. I would say it says Austria - what you see as a 'p' is the loop of the 'h' on the line below.

Hi Geoff, Your right, just looked at it again and does say Austria, so thats 3 of the census now that say both countries, this is the only one where the Poland hasnt been crossed out by the enumorator. C xx