England 1956

[Klara Vajda]

Hello everyone. I'm wondering/hoping if someone can perhaps help me..when my mother, father and I arrived in England after the Revolution in 1956, we were located to a refugee hostel, which my mother thinks was in the Wapping area. I've been trying to find information on this hostel (name, address, how many refugees etc..) from various sources, eg National Archives, Red Cross etc, but am having very little luck. Anyone with any knowledge or information or referrals to someone who may be able to help me, would be greatly appreciated. Thanking you in advance. Cheers from Down Under, Klara :)

[Shan]

Hi Klara
Have you tried the Council responsible for Wapping? Wapping comes under Tower Hamlets
They have records going back 200 years
The link for Tower Hamlets Council is:
http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/leisure_and_culture/local_histo...

I have had a look round their website for you ....
All records for the area can be found at
For more information on local history or archive services, contact:

Local History and Archives Library
277 Bancroft Road
London
El 4DQ

Local History: 020 7364 1290
Archives: 020 7364 1289
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Open: Tue, Thu 9am-8pm, Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-5pm
They hold the following information:-
Records & archives
Local history archives
Tower Hamlets local history archives cover the area of the present-day London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which was the original East End of London that until 1965 comprised the boroughs of Bethnal Green, Poplar and Stepney.

While there are substantial holdings of archives relating to the borough, much of Tower Hamlets material is deposited elsewhere (notably at the Greater London Record Office).

Local authority records
There are extensive holdings of records of the borough and its predecessors dating in some cases from the 16th century. These include minutes, rate books and correspondence files.

Deeds
There are over 8,000 deeds recording the transfer of properties in the borough, which are indexed by name and place.

Other archives
In addition the archives hold documents relating to many local institutions, including some places of worship and schools, local clubs and societies, and some businesses.

Services
Hand lists relating to various types of records held are available on request.
Photocopying of the collection is allowed depending on copyright and physical condition.
Photographic copies, subject to copyright, can be obtained; sizes and prices available on request.
Publications - An extensive range of informative publications are available for sale at the local history library and also many of the community libraries.
Local societies: details of the East London History Society, the East of London Family History Society and other local organisations, are available on request.

Regards Shan

[Klara Vajda]

Hi Shan, ur a sweetie, and thanks very much for that - will definately follow up that lead. Its been quite a mission trying to find information - even the ICRC, head office of international red cross, based in Geneva couldnt help much and redirected me to someone else in England, who redirected me back to head office in Geneva. So I've been getting redirected a lot lately - starting to feel giddy and I'm almost losing track of who I've tried to contact and who I havent.

The ICRC did however post me a booklet to NZ about how the Red Cross helped Hungarians in 1956, however the book is written in Swiss- so while they tried to be helpful, its of no use to me at all. They also advised, that a lot of records have been destroyed or lost over the years.

Mum recalls that there were about 400, maybe more, Hungarians in that refugee hostel, so someone must have records somewhere. She says that is was an old hospital, that had been vacant at the time, and was converted into a hostel for the Hungarians. However, she couldnt speak English back then, and now she cant remember the name of the place.


Ive tried a couple of musuems located in London, but they came back with a blank as well. I almost get the feeling from their replies, that it happened so long ago, (half a century now), the records are buried in a deep dark basement, and I wonder sometimes if its just too much of an effort to try and locate the information. Being stuck here in NZ makes the search even harder. I cant just waltz into the National Archives to do the search for myself.

Im trying to collate the information so I can write a book.
So thank you, thank you..... will definately follow this up.
Cheers from down under, Klara :)