UK genealogy
UK genealogy.
Records, archives and the trail to Poland.
Certificates, census returns, parish registers, wills, newspapers and immigration files: practical guides to the main sources for tracing a family in England and Wales, and for following a Polish-born ancestor back from British records to Poland.
Civil registration since 1837.
Search the national indexes, order the right certificate and follow marriages, divorces and wills.
Census returns and parish registers
Census returns, the 1939 Register and parish registers take a family back before civil registration.
Where the records are kept.
The national and London archives, the newspaper archive and the best free websites to start with.
Immigrants, aliens and new British subjects.
Arrival records, police registration and naturalisation papers often give the exact place of birth abroad.
Soldiers, sailors and airmen.
British service records and the files of Poles who served under British command.
Heirs, unclaimed estates and Poland.
Unclaimed estates, proof of kinship with Polish records and inheriting in Poland from the UK.
The Polish community after 1939.
Records of the Polish forces, resettlement and the families who made their lives in Britain.
How to use UK records
Work backwards from the British paper trail.
Most British families with Polish roots start with documents created in the UK. A death certificate from the 1980s, a marriage entry from the 1950s or a naturalisation file can hold the first clue that points to Poland: a town, a date of birth or a parent’s name. Those clues are needed before a search in Poland can start, because Polish registers are arranged by parish or civil registry office, not by surname across the whole country.
The records in this section overlap. Civil registration in England and Wales began on 1 July 1837, census returns survive for most years from 1841 to 1921, and the 1939 Register lists the civilian population at the start of the Second World War. For Poles who arrived during or after the war, service files and naturalisation papers usually say far more than a census return, which is why they are grouped separately.
Where to start
- Write down what the family already knows: full names, including any earlier spelling, approximate dates and places.
- Order the most recent certificate first. Marriage entries give ages, occupations and both fathers’ names; death entries from April 1969 add the date and place of birth.
- Look for a naturalisation record or a service file. These are often the only British documents that give an exact place of birth in Poland.
- Compare spellings. Clerks often wrote Polish names as they heard them, so one surname can appear in several forms. See anglicised Polish surnames.
- Move to the Polish records once you have a place: how to find the right Polish parish.
Common questions
Why can’t I find a Polish ancestor in the 1931 census?
The 1931 census for England and Wales was destroyed by fire during the Second World War, and no census was taken in 1941. For those years the 1939 Register is the main substitute. The 1951 census is still closed to the public.
Does a British certificate show a place of birth abroad?
Sometimes. Marriage certificates do not give the bride’s or groom’s place of birth. Birth entries registered in England and Wales from April 1969 give the places of birth of both parents, and death entries from the same date give the date and place of birth of the deceased. Either can name a town in Poland.
Where are the files of Poles who served under British command?
Personnel files of the Polish Armed Forces under British command, including the Polish Resettlement Corps, are held by the Ministry of Defence. Our guide to Polish MOD service records explains who can apply and what the file contains.
Research in Poland
Traced the family back to a Polish-born ancestor?
Tell us the names, places and dates from the British records. We continue the line in Polish civil, parish and archival records and explain what we find in English.