Manchester City Council

Polish

  1. Brief history

    Polish people have settled in Manchester since at least the late 19th century.

  2. What's available

    We have a copy of T. W. Scragg's 1986 thesis, 'The Polish Community in Manchester and the North West' (BRq942.7Sc1)

    We also hold archives relating to Mateusz Kocz, who left Poland in 1939 and settled in Didsbury:

    • A folder of autobiographical material compiled by Mary Kay. It includes two pages of biographical material about Mateusz Kocz, her husband, and wedding photographs (ref GB127.M751/Box 13)
    • Photographs of Anglo-Polish Christmas party at Chorlton Town Hall, c.1948 (ref GB127.M751/Box 11)

    Reference to Poles is made in the Manchester Evening Chronicle 1958 series 'Strangers in our Midst'.

    There is a Polish Church in Moss Side that opened in 1956 and a history of the church is on their website (in Polish).

  3. How to access

    Materials marked with GB are available in the search room at Central Library, please make an appointment.

    Library members can find and reserve the other resources mentioned by following the links to our library catalogue.

Fields marked * cannot be left blank

Feedback submitted to us on this form is monitored but you won’t receive a reply. In an emergency, visit our emergency contact details page. Please don't include any personal or financial information, for example your National Insurance or credit card numbers.