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Peter Brown - Swedish migrant to Australia (Take 2)

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Greg Ware:
I am seeking any information that may help to identify a Swedish ancestor who migrated to Australia in the early 1850's.
All records in Australia use the name Peter Brown (hereafter PB), but I am aware that it is at best an Anglicised version of a Swedish name.
There isn't very much solid data to work with and its is inconsistent, so I am just very hopeful, rather than very confident of a breakthrough result.
I don't have an Australian immigration/arrival record that I completely trust. We understand that PB was a sailor and possibly jumped ship to try his luck in the Victorian goldfields - certainly that's where he lived until his death in 1891.
The source records I have show that he was married to Kate O'Farrell at Bendigo (Sandhurst) Victoria in Nov 1856. There were 2 ceremonies on the same day - one in his Protestant church & a 2nd in her Catholic church - Kate was Irish & also nearly untraceable.
Both marriage docs attached - the info is consistent, but the 2nd certificate has slightly more details.
I have highlighted the main attributes..
* PB's age is given as 28 meaning he would have been born c1828 - location given as near Stockholm.
* His father is Gabriel (a farmer) and mother Mary (perhaps Maria?)
I have collected a few other newspaper items, but they don't have anything about his Swedish family.
The only other source record is PB's death certificate (attached) and it just confuses the situation.
This info was supplied by his son - also Peter Brown - but its some 35 years later and probably less reliable.
 It reconfirms his age and Stockholm as the place of birth, but names 2 different parents.. William Brown & Christina Olston (Olsson ?)
* PB must have spent 2 years in Tasmania - I can't find anything in their records that is relevant.
PB's will is available but doesn't give anything related to his Swedish family - as far as we know he came to Australia alone.

Any help or any suggestions greatly appreciated.
I am based in Australia so cant do any research on anything other than what is on-line. I was recently, briefly in Stockholm & spent an afternoon in museums/libraries hoping to find something, but needed more time (and knowledge on where to look)
Thanks - Greg Ware
PS - This is a follow-up to my mid-Sep post as that approach didn't seem to work out..

Greg Ware:
This is an addendum to my post..
I have strung a succession of IFs together..
* If the LDS Family Search website has indexes to all Swedish baptisms  AND
* PB had a name something like Peter AND
* PB was baptised between 1827 & 1829 AND
* PB's father was Gabriel AND
* PB's mother had a name like Olson/Olafsdtr
Then PB might possibly be one of the 2 people listed in this document.

Can these candidates be checked..
Was either Gabriel a farmer?
Are there any records for these 2 Petters ins Sweden - in particular did one "disappear" in the early 1850's

Erik Mouwitz:
Hi Greg!


I followed both of these persons up until the 1860's but none of them left Sweden during that time period, so they cannot the guy you're looking for.


Since there is so far no complete index of the Swedish parish records during the 1820's, this is a bit of a needle-in-a-haystack scenario.


Why is it that you do not completely trust the immigration records? Even if they seem unreliable, maybe they could provide some kind of clue?


Erik

Greg Ware:
Hi Erik

Thanks you very much for your time & assistance. I guess it would have been a real fluke if something had turned up immediately.

Are there gaps in the Swedish BDM records or is it that they are not yet fully indexed?

Australia was a series of British colonies up until 1901, the immigration records offer very little information for family history purposes.
I have not been able to find any record of Peter Brown as an assisted or unassisted migrant.
There are even less details for ship's crew - but I can find only one possibility. In 1854 on the Lady Kennaway there is a Brown from Sweden listed as a 25 year old able-bodied seaman.. But the Christian name isn't clear and there is no supporting family details.
I have PB's will - nothing useful there either.
Unable to find any record of him requesting or receiving citizenship.

Any suggestions ?
What about sailors working out of Sweden? is this readily available or reliable?

Thanks again
Greg 

Erik Mouwitz:
Hi Greg!


Records of births, deaths and marriages were kept only on a local level in the parishes until 1860.
There are gaps, but only local ones (caused by the records being destroyed in church-fires or similar).
With few exceptions the records are fairly complete from the late 17th century and onwards. So I believe it is very likely that your relative is to be found in the archives - the question is where :).
The indexes of these records are, unfortunately, not at all complete so far.


Swedish sailors were supposed to be registered at a "sjömanshus" (literally "sailors house"). Some of sjömanshusen kept tidy records with alphabetic indexes, while others, in my experience, are more chaotic.
The problem here is twofold: We do not know which sjömanshus he was registered at, and we do not know what name he used in Sweden (probably not Brown).


http://marinersandships.com.au/1854/12/033lad.htm


Is this the record from your relatives arrival? The man called Broom? Which sounds no more swedish than Brown!
The next step could perhaps be to check if there are any records of the crew from the port of departure (Plymouth).


Maybe this is the right place to look for such departure records, I am not sure.
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4068301


These records have not yet been digitised, but they have been transfered to microfilm by the mormons.
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/55017?availability=Family%20History%20Library


In summary, I think it would be necessary to find out more about Peter Browns background before searching the Swedish archives; until we know more specifically where he was born or lived in Sweden, or what name he used, finding him would be very difficult.


Erik

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