Next Year I’ll Be from England

Thousands of nineteenth century immigrants to the United States traveled via the United Kingdom - sometimes to change boats and sometimes with a stopover of several years. How reliable however were claims to having been born in Britain by many Yiddish-speaking, Ashkenazi immigrants, and why might they have done this? In this session, Daniel Morgan-Thomas will explore the sources for nationality and places of birth in the US with the traceable records in the UK, demonstrating how for many immigrants their place of birth, like their birthday and often names, was a moveable feast.

Daniel Morgan-Thomas is a genealogist based in the UK. Specializing in Polish and British Jewish genealogy, Daniel has been involved in family history since joining the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain (JGSGB) at the age of 15. Since then he has volunteered in the library, run workshops and given talks for beginners, been Vice Chair…