Peter Qvarnstrom

[crawfie]

My brick wall.

Name - "official" name and what they were known as
Peter Qvarnstrom (we think)

Date and place of birth
Possibly St Petersburg, Russia, or Sweden

Names of parents
?

Date and place of baptism - if applicable
?

Details of each of his or her marriages - if any
?

Occupation(s) - if any
Tailor

Addresses where they lived (including county if in UK) - and please list which censuses you have or haven't found him/her on.
Didn't live in England so no censuses

Date, place and cause of death
Before 1891 (as stated on his sons marriage certificate)

Date and place of burial / cremation.
?

Details of will / administration of their estate - if applicable
?

Memorial inscription - if any
?

Crawfie

[ElizabethHerts]

What were his children's names and places of birth, Crawfie? It might help in locating him.

[crawfie]

Only child we know is Carl Qvarnstrom, born St Petersburg in Russia (but a Swedish subject) ca 1850. He arrived in England sometime before 1891 when he married. Son was also a tailor. He later changed the name to Quanstrom.

Thanks for trying - I've spent ages on this lot!

Crawfie

I assume this is Carl

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin...ki1891&indiv=1

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin...ki1901&indiv=1

[crawfie]

Yep that's him. We have his full history after 1891, it's just the before that's the complete mystery. I keep forgetting he is down as Charles on censuses (except for the 1911 where he has been mistranscribed as Earl) as he was only referred to in the family as Carl.

Crawfie

When you say the only child you have found is Carl/Charles is that the ancestor you're descended from or another? Peter's son...

As a matter of interest I searched Ancestry with *strom as surname with a variable birth date and a few came up being born in Russia as well as Carl/Charles lots of variations of names ending in Strom of course but I assume that is just the equivalent in English of son of or something similar. Most Swedish names end in sson or strom!

Obviously that name is ripe for mistranscription. I assume because they orginate from Sweden that perhaps ancestor was a mariner that ended up in Russia but can you imagine then travelling to Great Britain lots of different problems with people in Russia writing the wrong thing and then landing in GB and them getting it wrong again let alone the enumators here at that time.

Have you looked at some of the other Swedish people coming up on the census that give their birth place as Russia?

Edit to say: I have just looked at the defnition of Strom it means Stream I assume water which you probably know but I didn't LOL ...

[crawfie]

Hi Maggie, yes it's my OH, he's descended from Carl Q. We have had very garbled stories handed down, but it seems that when the Russian Tsar (Peter?) decided to develop St Petersburg, he needed a lot of trained workers, and there weren't enough in Russia so a lot of Swedish went there, and basically formed their own enclave. They were allowed their own church and to keep their nationality. Peter Q went as a tailor, and presumably was a merchant there. Son Carl was also a tailor, didn't get on with Dad and at some point left. He may have wandered through Europe for a few years before arriving in UK. I have recently been told that there might be a possibilty that the family was Jewish (based on the fact that Carl would sit cross-legged in the window of his tailors shop in Carnaby Street sewing, not any real reason) but am not sure how to go about checking that out.

Whew. So that is the extent of our knowledge. The only other place ever mentioned by Carl was the Aland Islands, but we have no idea of any connection. I think the translation of the name is Millstream, but I could be wrong.

Thanks again for looking.

Crawfie

I thought about a Jewish connection but I would be surprised at any Swedish Jew travelling to Russia at that time to work even then they were unpopular and certainly not welcomed. Pogroms are first recorded about 1859! Although Carl was born abt 1854 in St Petersburg I suppose its possible.

[crawfie]

Having had a look on the web, it seems that there was quite a strong jewish community in St Petersburg, but I haven't a clue as how to research it!

Crawfie

I'm sure you know this about the Aland Islands I am aware that this internet site isn't totally 'kosher' on all facts but!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%85land_Islands


The Åland Islands were part of the territory ceded to Russia by Sweden under the Treaty of Fredrikshamn in September 1809. As a result, along with all other parts of Finland, they became part of the semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland.

During this process, Sweden was unable to secure a provision that the islands not be fortified. The issue was important not only for Sweden but also for the United Kingdom, which was concerned that a military presence on the islands could threaten Britain's security and commercial interests.

In 1832, Russia started to fortify the islands with the great fortress of Bomarsund. This was captured and destroyed by a combined British and French force of warships and marines in 1854 as part of the campaign in the Baltic during the Crimean War. In the Treaty of Paris (1856), the entire Åland Islands were demilitarized.

During the Finnish Civil War, in 1918, Swedish troops intervened as a peacekeeping force between the Russian troops stationed on the islands and "White" and "Red" Finnish troops that came from Finland over the frozen sea. Historians, however, point out that Sweden may have in reality planned to occupy the islands. Within weeks, the Swedish troops gave way to German troops that occupied Åland by request of the "White" (conservative) Finnish Senate.

So that also might have something to do with your OH's ancestor going to Russia. Just a thought.

Millstream sounds right I think that's right