Byciuk

[CalgaryGuy]

Hello, I am looking for some information on this last name. My Grandfather immigrated to Canada with his parents in the late 1920's. The family surname is the only one we can locate in Canada/USA. My grandfather was born in Kiev. Can anyone point me in the right direction for information on locating any others with the same name?

Your help is appreciated!

sabyciuk@hotmail.com.

[Hannia]

The Bysiuk Family (Julianna & Piotr w/children Andrzej, Anna & Helena) arrived at entry port, Halifax, 6/27/1930. The name of the steamer was KOSCUISKO.

Search the database - Immigration Records (1925-1935) - ArchiviaNet - Library and Archives Canada
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/02/02011802_e.html

The surname is distinctly Ukrainian, but the family is listed as Polish citizens, coming from Poland.

The suffix of family surname (IUK) is most common to the former Vohlyn Region (today divided between Vohlynska Oblast & Rivnenska (Rivne) Oblast > Ukraine???) From 1921-1938 Vohlyn came under Reconstituted Poland's domain. From late 18th century to 1921 the Vohlynskaya Gubernia belonged to Russia.

If the Bysiuk Family were indeed emigrating from Kiev (city or region) in 1930, they would have been coming from RUSSIA.

Above is just an educated guess, not written in stone.

If indeed Yulianna and Petro are your GGrandparents, take a close look at the ORIGINAL SHIP MANIFEST for the KOSCUISKO. That should provide you w/exact place of origin and other details as well.

Kiev could have only been a geographical reference point??? Prior to Ukraine's independence, very few even knew that there was such a place as Ukraine.

Kiev was not only a central regional capital, but also a very large region w/many, many districts containing 40/50 villages within each district.

History of Kiev - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Kiev
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In Canadian Archives link above, try spelling Bysiuk as B?S?UK or B?C?UK for variant spellings.

[CalgaryGuy]

Thank you so much for the info. I have came across my great grandmothers funeral announcement today. She was born 11/20/1902 in Latvish, Volyn, Ukraine. Her name is listed as Eileen ( Elaine ) Byciuk. Perhaps she "Canadianized" her first name once here....

Any info as to where I can look up church records/history etc is appreciated.

I am greatful for your help.


Shane, in Canada.

[Hannia]

Ukrainian given name, OLENA, was frequently anglicized to Helen, Elena or Eileen???

Sometimes the anglicized names had nothing to do w/the original name.

Locating EXACT wies/village Latvish is tricky. I am not 100% sure of the following.

My quess is that it is Latowiz (Polish name) / Lytovezh (Ukrainian name) > today in Ivanychivskij raion/district > Vohlynska Oblast > Ukraine, latest zip code 45325. Coordinates 50.38-24.11.

Nearby villages within 5 mile radius: Movnyky, Nova & Stara Lisznya,
Fedorivtsy, Pyasechno, Zabolotsy, Zhovtneve, Holubie, Hribivtsa, Zastavne,
and Voyslavitse.

GGrandfather was either from same village as GGrandmother, or one of the ones listed above???

[Hannia]

There is another village in what was Volyn w/variant name of Latvish. I should be finished checking it out as ancestral village possibility in the next few days.
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Some interim reading material:

Quick history and geography of Volhynia

Volhynia is in the northwest corner of Ukraine. There was a government district with that name for more than a century, and the region is still generally known as Volhynia even though the old government district is now split between five modern oblasts.

Major cities in Volhynia include Zhitomir, Korosten, Novograd-Volynsk, Rowno, Lutzk and Kowel.

Volhynia has a long history. It was on a historic east-west route linking Kiev with the west through Brest, in today's Belarus, as well as a north-south route between Scandinavia and Constantinople, now Istanbul, Turkey.

In 1569, Poland and Lithuania, which had been working together since 1385, were brought together under one government. Volhynia region was incorporated into the Polish kingdom. The administrative system in the area remained unchanged for the next two centuries.

In 1793, with the second partition of Poland, Volhynia was incorporated into Russia. Ukraine was divided along the Dniper River, which runs through Kiev. Zhitomir became the centre of the western side of Ukraine, and courts and other government institutions were moved there

In 1797 the Volhynian gubernia was established, with its centre in Zhitomir. The government had 17 districts: Novograd-Volynsk, Labunsk, Volodymersk, Kovel, Zaslavsk, Ostrog, Rovno, Dombrovyts, Ovruch, Zhitomir, Chudniv, Lutsk, Dubno, Kremenetsk, Yampilsk, Bazalivsk and Starokanstantinovka. Radomyshl, northwest of the city of Zhitomir and part of today's Zhitomir oblast, was transferred to the Kiev gubernia.

There were minor internal changes to the Volhynia gubernia over the years. The Chudniv district was liquidated and its territory transferred to Zhitomir and Novograd-Volynskiy districts. In 1846 Berdichev with adjoining territories was separated from Zhitomir district and became a center of new district.

By the time of the Russian revolution Volhynia was one of 10 gubernias on Ukrainian ethnic territory, with eight more in ethnically mixed areas.

According to the Riga peace treaty betwen Poland and Russia, signed on March 18, 1921, some of Volhynia's western districts were turned over to Poland. The districts included Kovel, Lutsk, Dubno, Rovno, Ostrog, as well as most of Kremenetsk and two regions in the Novograd-Volynsk district, Korez and Kysorytsk (today, Rokitno).

Germans -- and Czechs, and French -- started moving to Volhynia around the time of the second partition. A large-scale migration of Germans into the area took place in the 1860s, after the emancipation of the serfs.

The northern part of Volhynia is known for its forests and its marshes. The most common tree here is pine, but oak may be found on richer soils, along with birch, alder, and linden. At one time almost the entire belt was covered with forest, but the spread of agriculture over the past 150 years means that less than 33 per cent of the forests remain.

Volhynia includes part of the Polesie, one of the largest European swampy areas. The Polesie also includes parts of Belarus, Russia and Poland.The swamp area of the Polesie -- which translates as "woodland" -- is known as the Pripiat Marsh, named after the major river that runs through it. The main highway between Korosten and Rokitnoe passes through the southern part of the marsh, with water-soaked soil clearly visible from the road.

Volhynia was heavily affected by radioactive fallout from the 1986 nuclear plant accident at Chernobyl. Huge areas in the northeastern region were so badly polluted that agriculture has been prohibited. This region is also considered unsuitable for living, so several villages have been abandoned.

Temperatures in Volhynia vary widely -- between -35 in winter and 38 Celsius in summer. It gets about 600 millimetres of precipitation in an average year.

Today, Volhynia is home to about four million people. Its economy is primarily based on forestry and lumber milling, agriculture and food processing, granite mining, metalworking, and the manufacture of machinery and musical instruments.