Searching for seamen's registers
BirtlesHello Listers, this is my first post in the hope of finding infomation on my ggrandfather Andrew Thompson born Farsund Norway about 1826. He was a seaman who arrived in Queensland, Australia in 1861 on the "Persia" as an able seaman, whereupon he married and settled to raise his family [Henry Christian Thompson, his son, being my grandfather]. Andrew's father Thomas Pederson Thompson [mother Karen ?]was a pilot as per Andrew's marriage record in 1862 so it seems Andrew followed in his footsteps and I am looking for any help in finding registers which may hold information on my 2 seamen. I have been unsuccessful in finding any information on the Norway List, Ships List and Mariners List as I cannot locate Andrew or his father's Norwegian names. Any help greatly appreciated.
askeroi Have you tried to write to Statsarkivet, Sjømannsseksjonen, Folke Bernadottes vei 21, NO-0862 OSLO, NORWAY? They have a lot of seamen's rolls from all over Norway going pretty far back. If you do so, they ask you to use snail mail, to give ALL THE INFORMATION YOU HAVE on the sailor, i e age, birth place, all names, when he emmigrated etc. and DON'T FORGET YOUR OWN (snail mail) ADDRESS they can reach you at. Good Luck... askeroi
Birtlesaskeroi Many thanks, no I have not written to these people only the Statsarkivet in Christiansand, unfortunately without success so will write immediately to these people.
DanzigI am a 27 yr. man from Lister / Farsund, and I hope I can help you. I will go home and look in my books, and of course let you know if i find something interesting. I have some good books so I'm sure i will find something. RBE
BirtlesHi Roar Would appreciate any help or thoughts you may have on my ellusive seafaring gg and ggrandfathers. I have searched Census, Church and emigration records without success, I think mainly because I do not have a correct Norwegian name for Andrew nor his actual birthdate. Thank you.
BirtlesAs per askeroi's suggestion I wrote to Statsarkivet Oslo re my g and gggrandfathers who were seamen. I received a reply today stating they only hold records of Oslo area and as my ancestors were from Farsund [so my ggrandfather stated on his son's birth record] that the Christiansand archives would hold these records. I have been in touch a couple of times with the Christiansand archives who tried to help but because of lack of information and missing records for this period they were unable to help. As I am searching for Andrew and his father Thomas after the 1801 census and before the 1865 census I am up against a brick wall again, has anyone any suggestions where to look, any help would be gratefully accepted. Many thanks. Joan
BorgeI don't know where to go next, but you could try the local library in Farsund. Maybe they know of some local historians or historic societies that might be able to help you. This is their e-mail: skranke2@farsund.folkebibl.no Børge Solem
askeroiSorry about that adress – they precisely said to me that they had records from all the country. But if they haven’t they haven’t. Andrew Thompson sound very ”americanized”. His original name probably was something like Andreas Thomassen, and that gives us a father called Thomas something - and your Thomas Pedersen sounds correct (forget Thompson on him - people usually didn't have surnames in those days). Thomas Pedersens oldest son was most likely caller Peder Thomassen (named after his grandfather), so Andrew was allmost certainly not the oldest. Then Thomas Pedersen probably is 30+ years old when "Andrew" was born. There are none Thomas Pedersens in Farsund in the 1801 cencus. Not too surprising as few people lived in towns that early. But there is one (and only one) suitable Thomas Pedersen in the area – and he fits very well, too: http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/cgi-win/webcens.exe?slag=visbase&filnamn=arkivverket/ft1801/f11020&variabel=0&postnr=840&fulle=true&spraak=F This is at least a good guess. Of course he could come from another place further away, but… askeroi
BirtlesMany thanks askeroi; this is the closest Thomas Pedersen yet, the only other one was born 1799 with father Peder Poulson but Christiansand archives have checked him for me and found he lived in the town & parish of Kristiansand and could find no birth record of an Andreas Thomassen about 1828 nor a marriage of Thomas Pedersen to Karen ?[surname looks like Woldsen/Moldsen, very hard to read. I will search the church records again and see if I can find an Andreas born about 1830 in Holme to Thomas. I hope this is the way to go from now. Many thanks again. Joan
pmikkelsenHello -- I hope someone here can advise me. I am disappointed to hear that the Sjømannsseksjonen in Oslo does not hold records for the whole of Norway. I had planned to write to them looking for my grandfather's seamen's records. He was born August Olai Adolf Andersen, 6 April 1884 in Bergen. I am certain he was a sailor, but the Statsarkivet i Bergen says there is no record of him in the Seaman's Rolls there. I found two records in the 1900 Ship's Crews (Digitalarkivet) that I think are good possibilities. I'm leaning toward the first of these as being more likely, but do not know how to verify either one of them. 21508 11; Adolf Anders., m, ug, Dæksgut, f. 1884 Bergen, bosted Bergen, ship name-Firda 21060 18; August Anderss., m, ug, Koksmat, f. 1884 Bergen, bosted Bergen, ship name-Erling Jarl I also wrote to the Statsarkivet to ask if he was listed in the Sjøfartsannotasjonruller (which I read about on this website). I believe my grandfather went to sea at a young age. By the time he was 19, he had already emmigrated to America. Anyway, the arkivist never responded to my query. So I don't know if they even have these kinds of records for Bergen. I have obtained the record for his older brother from Bergen, but nothing on my grandfather. I know there must be something out there. I just don't know how to find it. I would appreciate any advice or assistance. Patricia Edited by - pmikkelsen on 20/05/2002 23:00:14 Edited by - pmikkelsen on 20/05/2002 23:01:48
BorgeI am working on an update to the article about the Seaman's Rolls, and will upload the new version as soon as I have completed it. It will (hopefully) contain an almost complete list of the records available covering all of Norway. It will also give information about where they are kept and availability. Sorry, haven't done Bergen yet. Børge Solem