I believe it's Polish because he was a soldier, fought in the November Uprising and was a recipient of the Virtuti Miltari in 1831 but - I may be wrong of course. I had seen elsewhere that the name is possibly Estonian. He sailed on the Marianne from Gdansk in 1834 in a company of 211 Polish soldiers and unfortunately I think it's unlikely that I will find many records for him in the UK.
I guess that's why I asked for opinions and thanks for your replies :)
If anyone has any ideas how I can find his origins I'd be very glad to hear.
He could have been Polish from the east or from what is Lithuania nowadays. And NicoUK I will have great deal of trouble finding where your family exactly came from since in the XIX century there was a lot going on in Poland: Wars, Uprisings so people moved a lot.
But if you are sure as for the Virtuti Militari medal he received the there might be more information about it. That sort of medal narrows the group of ppl that could have been your ancestors a lot!
Yes, a lot of trouble indeed and I believe the 211 soldiers had to leave Poland because of it :( It's so very sad to have to leave your country and family and I'd like to learn more about him.
He is listed as being a recipient of the Virtuti Miltari - Lepik Tomasz - zolnierz - batalion saperów - Srebrny - 26 Wrzesnia 1831 and I hope it wiill narrow the search. I've written to the Polish archives and am hoping!
I'm not. I was speaking of this one 'incident' at this time and in connection with my ancestor. I'm sorry if you have interpreted it differently because quite obviously it is a very, very minor 'happening' in the whole of Poland's history.
Thanks witek :) so maybe he was Estonian originally then and that's where I should look for his origins. It does seem that most people think so! I only found my connection to him a few weeks ago and am very new to research other than in the UK and Eire so any help is much appreciated.
Wroclaw, thanks but yes I have checked FreeBMD and also FamilySearch. I've connected with one or two of his descendants and found a few more of his children but it's his ancestors I'm looking for.
Tomasz Lepik is the right spelling and he did come from Estonia although he changed his name to Thomas. As for his ancestors, difficult, I am also a descendent.
Steveyray, can I ask how you know he came from Estonia? It seems we are distant 'cousins'.
Witek, thanks for that info. So, since it's the Polish spelling, it's probable that his family came from Estonia but he may or may not have actually been born in Poland.