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Särskilda ämnen & övrigt => Discussions in English => Ämnet startat av: Melinda Walraven skrivet 2018-04-09, 16:31

Titel: Charles Matthew Strandberg
Skrivet av: Melinda Walraven skrivet 2018-04-09, 16:31
Hi all,

I hope someone can help me.

I am looking for more information about Charles Matthew / Karl Mathias Strandberg. All I know about him is that he went to South Africa sometime before 1902. The story goes that he was a stowaway. He has been listed as a prisoner of war at St Helena in 1902 during the Anglo-Boer war; this is also something that has been told to my mother. He was married to Nicolaas Sina Susara (neé Botha), who died in 1916, and, in 1904, they had a daughter Maria Matilda. That's it...

I have seen records of a Charles Matthew Strandberg who went to South Africa in 1918 with his sisters and daughter. He was married to someone else. I do not know if this is the same person. Maybe he went back to Sweden after his first wife died?

Any help would be much appreciated.
Titel: SV: Charles Matthew Strandberg
Skrivet av: Anders Väppling skrivet 2018-04-09, 19:38
Hi Melinda,

I did some searching online and found a couple of records that may be of interest:

1.
http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm30ddf0?20180409190925A951F168&DN=00000004 (http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm30ddf0?20180409190925A951F168&DN=00000004)

DEPOT     TAB                                                                   
SOURCE    MHG                                                                   
TYPE      LEER                                                                 
VOLUME_NO 0                                                                     
SYSTEM    01                                                                   
REFERENCE 49547                                                                 
PART      1                                                                     
DESCRIPTION          STRANDBERG, NICOLAAS SINA SUSARA. (BORN BOTHA).                       
STARTING  19160000                                                             
ENDING    19160000                                                             
REMARKS   SURVIVING SPOUSE CHARLES STRANDBERG.


2.
http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm30ddf0?20180409190925A951F168&DN=00000006 (http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm30ddf0?20180409190925A951F168&DN=00000006)

DEPOT     TAB                                                                   
SOURCE    MHG                                                                   
TYPE      LEER                                                                 
VOLUME_NO 0                                                                     
SYSTEM    01                                                                   
REFERENCE 151/39                                                               
PART      1                                                                     
DESCRIPTION          STRANDBERG, CHARLES MATTHEW.                                         
STARTING  19390000                                                             
ENDING    19390000                                                             
REMARKS   SURVIVING SPOUSE JOHANNA MARIA STRANDBERG (BORN COETZEE) PREDECEASED 
           SPOUSE NICOLASINA SUSANNA STRANDBERG (BORN BOTHA).


I assume No. 1 is the death notice of his first wife, and the second one is Charles Matthew's own death notice. So judging from this he did indeed remarry and died in 1939.

Some other records that popped up during the search:

3.
Death of Maria Mathilda's husband:
http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm30ddf0?20180409192435A951F168&DN=00000005 (http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm30ddf0?20180409192435A951F168&DN=00000005)


4.
Charles Matthew's naturalization application?
http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm30ddf0?20180409190925A951F168&DN=00000002 (http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm30ddf0?20180409190925A951F168&DN=00000002)
Google translate of the content: "SUPERINTENDENT OF NATURALS. NATURELLEN COMMISSIONER, RHENOSTERPOORT SENDS IN THE APPLICATION OF C STRANDBERG TO STILL 5 NATURAL HOUSEHOLDS AT ZYN PLACE."



All of these records were found in this database:
National Archives Repository (Public Records of former Transvaal Province and its predecessors as well as of magistrates and local authorities)


They can be contacted here:

National Archives Repository (Records of the former Transvaal Province and its predecessors as well as of magistrates and local authorities)
Postal address: Private Bag X236, PRETORIA 0001.
Street address: 24 Hamilton Street, Arcadia, PRETORIA.
Tel: (012) 441 3200. Fax: (012) 323 5287
Email: enquiries@dac.gov.za


http://www.national.archives.gov.za/ (http://www.national.archives.gov.za/)



I also got a hit in another database:
http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm30ddf0?20180409194437B1321669&DN=00000001 (http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm30ddf0?20180409194437B1321669&DN=00000001)
No idea what type of record it is, but they can be contacted here:
Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository
Postal Address: Private Bag X9012, PIETERMARITZBURG 3200
Street address: 231 Pietermaritz Street, PIETERMARITZBURG
Tel: (033) 342 4712. Fax: (033) 394 4353
Email: pmbarchives@dact.kzntl.gov.za


I would try to get a hold on copies of at least Charles Matthew's death notice and his presumed naturalization application - both may give clues to his background! And perhaps the "mystery" hit from the Pietermaritzburg archive could give some unexpected new info.


Best regards,
Anders
Titel: SV: Charles Matthew Strandberg
Skrivet av: Anders Väppling skrivet 2018-04-09, 20:00
Hm, seems I managed to enter an old version of their website - here's the new one:
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.za/search-the-collections (https://www.nationalarchives.gov.za/search-the-collections)


(Don't know if that means that the contact details in my first post are outdated)



Titel: SV: Charles Matthew Strandberg
Skrivet av: Melinda Walraven skrivet 2018-04-09, 20:11
Hi Anders,

Thank you very much.

I was able to see some of these records, but not the details - now I have them! I will contact the SA Department of Home Affairs.

The document from the Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository is about a man named Carl Strandberg who died at sea in 1909, so I don't think it is the same person.

Do you know where I might be able to find ship passenger lists for when he left Sweden and arrived in South Africa and where (and when) he might have been born in Sweden?

Again, thank you for all your help.
Titel: SV: Charles Matthew Strandberg
Skrivet av: Melinda Walraven skrivet 2018-04-09, 20:37
Me again!

I found this too on one of the other forums on this site:

Christer Blomstrand:
Känner någon till Karl Mathias (Charles Matthews) Strandberg som utvandrade med
tre systrar och en dotter Sophia Frederica till Sydafrika omkring 1918

Christer Blomstrand:
Angående svenskarna i Boerkriget och Skandinaviska Kåren (Scandinavian Corps)
Jag har lämnat in till Krigsarkivet i Stockholm en stor del originaldokument och bilder över Skandinaviska Kåren.
Dokumenten kommer från Styrelsen i Scandinavian Corps i Pretoria och ordföranden Christer Uggla.
Vore tacksam om jag får stå som uppgiftslämnare om något material härifrån publiceras.
I övrigt hel gratis
 
En Charles Matthew Strandberg gifte sig 1939 med Johanna Maria Coetzee (om jag tolkar det rätt).
 
http://www.ancestor.co.za

https://forum.genealogi.se/index.php?topic=55106.30;wap2 (https://forum.genealogi.se/index.php?topic=55106.30;wap2)

From what I can understand, it means he went to SA in 1918 with three sisters and a daughter? Could he have gone back to Sweden between his first wife's death and 1918? Where did the daughter come from?

So many questions....

Maybe I should try contacting the Swedish embassy in SA?

Titel: SV: Charles Matthew Strandberg
Skrivet av: Anders Väppling skrivet 2018-04-09, 22:09
Hi Melinda,


Oh, that's interesting. Apparently this man has done a lot of research on Swedes in South Africa. I'll try to get a hold of him and see if he knows anything else about Charles Matthew!


I tried looking at the computer software Emigranten Populär 2006, a register of Swedish emigrants, but could find no trace of them. There are police registers of emigrants available online for Gothenburg (https://www.arkivdigital.net/sources/4438) and Malmö (https://www.arkivdigital.net/sources/4436) through ArkivDigital (a subscription based service) but that would mean plowing through thousands of pages only hoping to find something of interest. Then there is also Emiweb (http://emiweb.se/) (subscription based, Swedish emigration register) that could help, but I think that's only in Swedish.


Coetzee is on the other hand a very "South African name", so it wouldn't surprise me if they met in some country other than Sweden.


But I hope something interesting comes out of the original records in South Africa, because if he was indeed from Sweden I think we need some more information to be able to find him; a birth year and/or a birth place. Hopefully the records contain at least some piece of further information!


Best regards,
Anders
Titel: SV: Charles Matthew Strandberg
Skrivet av: Melinda Walraven skrivet 2018-04-09, 22:19
Thank you so much, Anders - that would be wonderful.

I'm then assuming Sophia Frederika is Johanna Maria Coetzee's daughter. His first wife, Nicolaas Sina Susara is my direct ancestor and, as far as I know, there is no-one in the family called Sophia Frederika.

I will be waiting in anticipation to find out any more.

Have a great evening
Melinda
Titel: SV: Charles Matthew Strandberg
Skrivet av: Anders Väppling skrivet 2018-04-19, 12:52
Hi Melina,


No luck getting in contact with Christer yet, but I'll let you know if I hear anything.
Have you heard anything from South Africa yet?


Best regards,
Anders
Titel: SV: Charles Matthew Strandberg
Skrivet av: Melinda Walraven skrivet 2018-04-19, 13:55
Hi Anders,

Thank you for your message.

No, no luck from South Africa yet. I, in turn, will let you know if I find out anything.

Kind regards
Melinda
Titel: SV: Charles Matthew Strandberg
Skrivet av: Melinda Walraven skrivet 2018-04-24, 14:30
Hi Anders,

I found something (with the help of a South African Geneology group on Facebook)

This is Charles Matthew Strandberg's Death Notice from 1939. It's in Afrikaans, but translates to:

Union of South Africa Death Notice

1. Name of deceased: Charles Matthew Strandberg
2. Place of Birth and Nationality of the deceased: Sweden, South African
3. Names and addresses of deceased's parents:
Father: Charles Matthew Strandberg (deceased)
Mother: Maria Strandberg (deceased)
4. Age of deceased: 88 years, 4 months, 29 days
5. Occupation of deceased or, if a woman, her spouse: Mason
6. Domicile of deceased: Denyssen (?) Street No. 101, Mountain View, Pretoria (South Africa)
7. Married, unmarried, widower, widow: married
a) Name of surviving spouse and/or married in community of property or not: Johanna Maria Strandberg (born Coetzee), in community op property
b) Name/s, and as accurately as possible, date of death of deceased spouse: Nicolasina Susara Strandberg (born Botha) 1917
c) Place of last marriage: Tzaneen (South Africa)
8. Date of death: 3 Jan 1939
9. Place of death: House: own Town or place: Denyssen Street No. 101 District: Mountain View, Pretoria (South Africa)
10. Names of deceased's children and if they are adults or minors:
1. Debora Lewestra More (born Strandberg)
2. Maria Matilda van Aswegen (born Strandberg)
3. Nicolasina Susara Barkhuizen (born Strandberg)
4. Sophia Frederika van Staden (born Strandberg)
5. Helena Burns (born Strandberg)
All from the first marriage. No children from the second marriage.
11. Did the deceased leave behind movable goods? Yes
12. Did the deceased leave behind immovable goods? No
13. Is the estate estimated to be worth more than $300? No
14. Did the deceased have a will? Yes
Dated in Pretoria on the 13th day of January 1939. Signed (surviving spouse): JM Strandberg (was present at death, saw corpse)

So, now I know his father and mother's names (although I doubt his father's name was Charles Matthew, more likely Karl Mathias).

Exciting!

Kind regards
Melinda
Titel: SV: Charles Matthew Strandberg
Skrivet av: Anders Väppling skrivet 2018-04-24, 19:54
Hi Melinda,

Wow, that's fantastic news! So according to this document, he was born in Sweden, we get his fathers and his mothers approximate name, and if we count backwards a pretty exact birth date!

I've been trying for a while this afternoon to find a suitable candidate but unfortunately nothing so far. I've tried searching in every census record and death records I have access to but no luck. I will expand the search a little later today in case he took the name Strandberg later in life (and instead was born perhaps Karlsson or Mattiasson for example).
Titel: SV: Charles Matthew Strandberg
Skrivet av: Melinda Walraven skrivet 2018-04-24, 20:46
Thanks Anders.

It's quite a puzzle, isn't it?

To your knowledge, did it happen often that people took different surnames?
Titel: SV: Charles Matthew Strandberg
Skrivet av: Anders Väppling skrivet 2018-04-24, 21:14
Thanks Anders.

It's quite a puzzle, isn't it?

To your knowledge, did it happen often that people took different surnames?
Yes, it usually isn't this hard to find traces of a person. But let's work with the clues we got from the document and see if anything interesting can be found!




And it was quite common in Sweden that people changed their surnames. It could be an almost forced surname change during/after military service (where men would be given a soldiers name), when they moved into a densely populated city to distinguish themselves from the hundreds of other Svenssons and Karlssons, or even when they emigrated. Up until ~1901 Swedes could take any name they wanted, with some restrictions of course. If you were born Svensson then you could simply change it to Strandberg - I don't think the state was even involved, you simply told the priest what your new surname was and he would add it to the records. (But I must admit I haven't researched this fully so there might have been some sort of process involved).


In my own family history I have quite a few surname changes related to the military. But also in connection to an ancestor learning a profession (such as becoming a blacksmith). The vast majority however are still the usual -son and -dotter (daughter) surnames, since most of them were farmers and crofters.
Titel: SV: Charles Matthew Strandberg
Skrivet av: Melinda Walraven skrivet 2018-04-24, 22:32
So interesting.

I am really loving this - finding out about my ancestors and the different cultures.