In 1897, my great-grandfather Petro Iluk (born 1869) and his wife, Paraska Hnatiuk (born 1877) sailed to Canada, along with their son Wasyl (born 1896). They settled in the Gorlitz, Saskatchewan area and started to homestead. Although the name is currently spelled “Iluk”, a more accurate Romanized spelling would likely be “Iliuk”. The spelling of the surname in Ukrainian is Ілюк.

My research indicates that Petro, Paraska and Wasyl came from Doroshivtsi, Zastavna, Chernivtsi. Petro’s father may have been named George (Georgii), although this is unconfirmed. It appears that the Iluk's travelled with several other families from Doroshivtsi on the same voyage. These families include: Billek, Choruk, Germann, Krylyk, Mikota, Repen or Rypej, and Sakuszek.

Apart from that important bit of information, not much else is known about the Iluk family prior to their arrival in Canada. Official documents that the family may have travelled with (such as passports, military, birth, or marriage certificates) have never been located. I am therefore very interested in knowing more about:

1. the provenance of this branch of the Iluk family, including information related to when they may have settled in Bukovina
2. the history of the selo and that particular area of Bukovina during the 19th century
3. information about the church and cemetery in the village
4. whether there may still be distant relatives with the Ілюк surname in Doroshivtsi
5. other information which may possibly be of use or of interest

Any information, guidance or advice related to other sources of research would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Richard