2024 Week 20: Taking care of business #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

My husband Martin's great grandparents, Jozef Ciupka and his wife Joanna Kozlowska lived in Gliwice, Poland for the latter part of the 19th century. We do not know whether they inherited any of their businesses, but they came to own land in Gliwice and elsewhere, a granary and mill and we have learned they also bred elite horses for the wealthy in Germany and in Russia, including the Russian Tzars.

Ciupka family circa 1904

Their wealth and influence was such that they have a street in the city named after them.

Family photograph

In the later 1890s, the family moved from Gliwice to Nieszawa, a village north of Warsaw on the River Vistula. They had land on either side of the river and a private ferry. On the eastern side of the river they had a mill. Their house on the other side of the river was three stories high and had eighteen rooms. This is where Martin's grandmother, Janina, was born.

However, within a decade or so the family moved again, while retaining all the property they had owned in Nieszawa. This may have been due to enforced 'Germanisation' of that area of Poland. They moved south to Austrian occupied Poland, which was considered more liberal. There, just outside the village of Haczow, they built a factory which produced bricks, carts and carriages and they also had a granary and a mill. This business survived WW1 after which Jozef and Joanna returned to their property in Niesawa and one or more of their children took over the running of the factory near Haczow.

The remains of the Ciupka factory in Haczow

The next generation of the Ciupkas also seem to have had many businesses, although we don't know many of the details. When WW2 broke out, Germany and the Soviet Union both invaded Poland and all the Ciupka businesses were seized. After the war, the Soviet Union under Stalin controlled Poland, nationalised all industries and thus the Ciupkas lost all of their businesses. However, many of the family managed to escape Poland around this time and they or their children continued entrepreneurial lives in France, England and the USA.

Comments

2025 Week 26 : Favourite name #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

As well as researching my own family, one of the other trees I have spent a lot of time on is that of my daughter-in-law, Lucy. Whereas my heritage is Scots and Irish, Lucy's is English and therefore some of the names I came across were quite different to those found in my own tree. One of my first favourites was a Francis Badger who appeared in the 1851 census for England! He wasn't actually a relative, but an apprentice to Lucy's 3 x great grandfather and who also lodged with the family. I did wonder how that surname came about - did the original Badger have a funnily shaped face? or perhaps a white streak through his hair?? Or was he just an annoying person?? I'll never know, but it was fun to find him! Francis Badger's entry at the bottom in the 1851 census for England. Source: Ancestry.co.uk However, my all time favourite name - and character - from Lucy's tree is a man named Golden Bridge ! He is Lucy's 5x great grandfather and he was born in Essex...

2024 Week 19: Preserve #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

A few years ago, I came into the possession of a family bible. It was the family bible of my paternal grandparents, John McAra and Christina Walker. Until her death in 2018, the bible had been in the hands of my Aunt Inez, widow of my Uncle Will McAra. When I started enquiring as to its whereabouts, I found that it was her grandson, John, who now had it. John himself had no real interest in it at all, so he was quite happy to hand it over to me. However, it was, to say the least, in a bit of a state. The front cover was completely detached and there were many loose pages as the spine of the book was also damaged and detached. I had no choice but to take it to a book repairer in Glasgow, where it was repaired as best it could be. The bible itself had been originally published in Glasgow in the late 19th century. In Victorian times it was common for Christian families to have such a large bible in which they could record events such as births, marriages and deaths. The one I have al...

2026 Week 2: A record which adds colour #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

My husband's paternal grandmother, Janina Ciupka, was born in 1902 in a small town, Nieszawa, north of Warsaw, Poland, on the banks of the River Vistula. She was the youngest of 12 children, only 8 of whom survived to adulthood. At this time Poland had been occupied by their three neighbours, Germany, Russia and Austria and Warsaw was under Russian control. Her family were very wealthy, owning granaries, bakeries, brick factories and carriage factories and they also bred white horses for the Russian Tzars. As with her elder siblings, Janina was taught by a private governess and the family had many servants, including cooks and cleaners. She obviously was leading a very privileged life. There was little known about the period of her life from about 1909-1919, The family had moved south eastwards to Haczow around 1909. The reasons for the move seems to have been a combination of business and politics, as Haczow was under Austrian rule, considered more liberal than that of the ...

Roots, shoots and stories

Search This Blog