Great Ellingham Parish Church of St James
The entries in the Burial Registers for St James’s Church, Great Ellingham, includes the burials of two men from the ‘Polish Hostel’, Great Ellingham.
I decided to obtain the corresponding death certificates to try to gain more information about these men.
Jan Szalobryt
Jan Szalobryt died on the 15th May, 1949 aged 48. He passed away at the Agricultural Executive Committee Hostel, Great Ellingham, following a cerebral haemorrhage. The death certificate also tells us that Jan was a cook at the Hostel.
Franciszek Szpetnar
Franciszek Szpetnar
Photograph courtesy Elzbieta Szpetnar his great niece
Franciszek Szpetnar died on the 10th July, 1949 aged 30. Although the death certificate gives his address as the Norfolk Agricultural Executive Committee Hostel, Great Ellingham, Franciszek died at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. He had suffered with peritonitis and a ruptured appendix. Franciszek was a general farm worker.
Frederick A M Willer [also referred to as Willis] registered both deaths.
Polish Hostel
The ‘Polish Hostel’ was in Bow Street. It may well have utilised one or more of the former USAAF Deopham Green camp buildings. Several of these buildings were in Hingham Road and Bow Street.
Following the end of WW2, there were many displaced persons around the World. Many people sought refuge in the UK. In 1947, the government passed a law to settle a large number of migrants – including 150,000 Polish people.
Norfolk Agricultural Executive Committee
The Norfolk Agricultural Executive Committee may well have co-ordinated work on local farms for the re-settlement of such persons here in Norfolk. This included Franciszek Szpetnar, Jan Szalobryt and Franciszek Piatkowski.
Franciszek Piatkowski
The Diss Express of Friday 23rd January, 1948, reported on some cycling offences brought before the Magistrates at East Harling,
This included the case of Franciszek Piatkowski, a farm labourer, of The Hostel, Bow Street, Great Ellingham. Franciszek was fined 15s (fifteen shillings) for not having a rear light on his bicycle.
Lodging with Families
Some Polish men lodged with Great Ellingham families.
Walenty Josef Watola lodged with Ben and May Newby. He later married local girl Joan Woor, the daughter of Luke and Selina Woor who, in 1939, lived in Mill Lane.
Updated 18 June 2026
Sources:
Great Ellingham Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office. PD 609. Also available www.ancestry.co.uk
Death Certificates obtained https://www.gov.uk/general-register-office
Our Migration Story website. Polish Soldiers and refugees in World War II Britain Accessed 06.05.2024
Diss Express 23rd January 1948. Viewed via The British Newspaper Archive
GRO Index via FreeBMD website