I will look up the mention of family name in historical documents and books on the history of this village and the area and post you an answer here if I find anything.

However,  I think you should best consider joining the SGS with full membership - they are  equipped  and most qualified to   research in that area and contact municipal offices and different congregations on your behalf to establish the location of any available records and the  ethnic affiliation of your ancestors.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration in this matter. I really appreciate it very much. Canada does not have full records for early immigrants. I will consider your advice. Thank you once again.

ok so I looked it up - BAnatsko Novo Selo has historicaly been one of the ethnic Romanian settlements in Serbia -  these were the first people who together with Serbs settled in the village, followed by ethnic Germans (Donauschwabben) later.  Even today, the Romanian language is in official usage over there.

Surname you are researching is spelled BOLJANAC, and there are people with this surname who are of Romanian ethnicity still living in the PANČEVO area. I suggest you go about asking for the old municipal records in Serbia:

(Beware, the offcial language in that region  of the AU empire was Hungairian at the time your ancestors emigrated, surnames were "Hungarianized" a lot and that is why their travel papers may have  had it spelled differently)

Pančevo municipal office local office in Banatsko Novo Selo (MATIČNI URED):

Mesna kancelarija Banatsko Novo Selo

- matičar Zoran Stojčić
- telefon  - Faks:  +381 13 615 051

Try to contact the Romanian minority ethnic council in Vojvodina, for they would have most accurate information on churches and temples your ancestors attended:

11.    Nacionalni savet rumunske nacionalne manjine
Predsednik: Daniel Petrović
Adresa: Novi Sad, Bulevar Mihaila Pupina 28
Telefon: +381 21 457 583
E-mail: [email protected]

For contact details of descendants who carry the same surname send me a PM if you are interested.

As with any research in Serbia, you will yield information best if someone can communicate on your behalf in local language. Good luck and thank you for taking interested in finding your heritage in Serbia.

Thank you so much!! With the new information about how the name was actually spelt, I was able to find my great-great grandfather's name in the Hungary gazetteer. It is listed as Eugen Boljanacz. I am forever grateful.

I will use your information about who to contact in Serbia regarding record of my grandfather's birth in Novo Selo. I do plan on visiting one day in the future to see where his origin was.

Much appreciation!

Glad to have been of assistance.

 I came across more information on your family while researching another surname for our member in Vojvodina .

Your family is first recorded in land ownership and household registers for the years 1793-1809. The surname is transcribed in a book as BONJANAC into modern Serbian, so I cannot tell you what the  record spelling is without looking at the original document. The same source later lists only the surname BOLJANAC, so I believe  that the previous variant of *Bonjanac* is a transcription error.

The surname was aquired based on the place of origin for most of the new settlers - this would indicate that the root of your family is in this place in Romania:

http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%B3lya

"Boljanci iz Bolje"

I also located  photographs of several members of this family from Banatsko Novo Selo -

"Paja i Manu Boljancu - Đuronj"

Any idea who these two men might be in relation to your ancestor   - this photo  is not dated but appears to be  from the beginning  of the XX century .

another one is dated, 1917:

"Taraca Floria(otac Petar), njegova sestra Boljanac(Taraca) Viorika, zet Boljanac Trajan(Diedu) 1917.godine"

Jugoslava and the SGS web team!!
 

You are amazing! I am thrilled with this new information and these wonderful pictures! I recall my father speaking of Manu so I am sure these are indeed related to my family. I am planning a trip next year to Banatsko Novo Selo to search Church documents for my grandfather's birth. The information you have passed along to me is invaluable to my search. So happy!! Thank you so much!!

Jugoslava and the SGS web team!!
 

You are amazing! I am thrilled with this new information and these wonderful pictures! I recall my father speaking of Manu so I am sure these are indeed related to my family. I am planning a trip next year to Banatsko Novo Selo to search Church documents for my grandfather's birth. The information you have passed along to me is invaluable to my search. So happy!! Thank you so much!!