How to Research Sailors in the Navy Rolls - Sweden (Part-1)
Introduction
This article will show how to research a navy båtsman (sailor) in the Navy rolls. The Navy rolls that corresponds the Army general muster rolls are the series Rullor flottan 1635-1915 (Navy rolls 1635 - 1915).There are also a series called Båtsmansrullor (Sailor rolls). However, the last-mentioned rolls weren't introduced until the 1880's (possibly there are a few from the 1870's too). The series Båtsmansrullor are a goldmine if you research sailors from the end of the 19th century since these rolls are very detailed when it comes to service record, voyages, grading etc. Each sailor was recorded in a separate card or book really since it contained several pages. These book were called Båtsmansrullor. Rulla means roll in English. [Rulla is singular and rullor in plural].You can follow a sailor's duty both at the naval stations well as at sea by looking in his båtsmansrulla.The image to the right shows a scene onboard a navy ship during a sea battle, late 1700's.Marinmuseum (The Naval Museum), Karlskrona. Photo Hans Högman, 2007.
Rote and Rusthåll
Swedish military records are not difficult to research. However, to get the greatest benefit it helps to know how soldiers and sailors were recruited into the Swedish military. Two terms that are of importance to understand are rote and rusthåll.The Allotment System was an old system of organizing and financing the Swedish military. It was in use between 1682 and 1901.In the Allotment System, the basic unit of military organization was the rote (plural: rotar). This translates roughly as “military district” or “military ward.” Each individual infantry soldier or navy sailor was assigned to a particular rote. Rusthåll was the cavalry equivalent. Each rote or rusthåll was associated with a farm (or farms) in the rural countryside. Large towns and cities did not have military districts (with the exception of some navy units). Båtsman rotar were mostly assigned to the coastal regions of Sweden.Rotar were chosen based on the size and prosperity of the farms in a given region. Large, wealthy farms might support more than one rote. Less prosperous farms were grouped together into a single rote. Rotar generally were for “ordinary” soldiers of rank-and-file no higher than corporal. Every rote and rusthåll was assigned a number that denoted its position within the army or navy unit with which it was associated. This was the “soldier number”. Each rote was required to provide one soldier or sailor and an appropriate uniform for the man to wear.
The Navy Rotar and Rusthåll
The majority of the Navy sailors (båtsmän) were recruited through rotar as the soldiers in the infantry. However, a number of sailors were recruited through rusthåll as the cavalrymen in the cavalry. These navy rusthåll were located in southeast of Sweden in Blekinge province and Södra Möre, Småland.However, there is no difference on how to research the navy sailors. They are researched in the same way independent if they served for a rote or a rusthåll.The soldiers in the infantry and cavalry were normally serving in the same company and regiment. The came from the same area and knew each other very well. This contributed to a good fellowship. The navy sailors also came from the same area and served in the same company. However, once at the naval station the sailors in the same navy company were separated and served onboard different ships. If a ship went down it often took all crew with it. So, if a disaster was a fact the Navy didn't want all sailors from the same area go down with the ship. That would have left a lot of widows and fatherless children in the same parish.So, sailors from the same parish served on different ships.
The “Båtsman Company”
The basic military unit of the Swedish Navy was the “båtsman company.” A båtsman company (Navy company) had roughly the same number of men as an army company, typically between 100 and 200 but in a couple instances having almost 300 men. Each company belonged to a naval station.
Soldier/Sailor Crofts
During the time of the Allotment System, the farms of a particular rote had contractual responsibility to provide a dwelling for its soldier/sailor and his family. The soldier croft (soldattorp) respectively the sailor croft (båtsmanstorp) was a cottage on the property of one of the farms in the rote. Use of the dwelling was part of the soldier’s/sailor's pay. The croft also included a small field (1-2 acres), some farm animals and a few outbuildings. The soldier/sailor could live at the soldier/sailor croft only while he served in the military. When a soldier/sailor retired (or died) he and his family had to move out. The farmers of the rote were then required to provide a new soldier, who would take over the soldier croft.If the soldier/sailor died his family had to vacate the croft within three months.
The Naval Stations
There have been a number of different naval stations through-out the centuries but two have been permanent naval stations:•Karlskrona Naval Station in Blekinge province south of Sweden (1680's - )•Stockholm Naval Station, Stockholm (1640's - 1955)Stockholm Naval Station including a naval shipyard comprised Skeppsholmen, Kastellholmen and Galärvarvet at Djurgården. Karlskrona Naval Station is the largest naval base of the Swedish Navy.Other naval stations:•Göteborg Naval Station, Swedish west coast ( - 1870)•Sveaborg, Helsinki, Finland ( - 1809). Naval base for the Swedish Army Fleet.•Blasieholmen, Stockholm (1550's - 1640)•Hårsfjärdens Naval Station, south of Stockholm (1955 - 1969)•Muskö Naval Base, south of Stockholm (1969 - )
The Navy Rolls
Rullor flottan 1635 – 1915
Rullor flottan 1635 – 1915 is the name of the archive. The archive contains many volumes of which the Navy general muster rolls are a part of.•Series I – XIII contain rolls covering sailors (båtsmän) from the 18th and 19th centuries. Series IV cover the båtsman companies under the Karlskrona Naval Station while series XIIIc cover the companies under the Stockholm Naval Station. These series comprise the navy general muster rolls. The rolls are arranged båtsman company by båtsman company. The archive "Rullor Flottan 1635 - 1915" is in large similar to the Army general muster rolls.
The Amiralitetskollegium Archive
The Amiralitetskollegium archive (The Admiralty Staff Archive) is another archive with rolls of interest for the genelogy researchers. Here we find navy logbooks, ship muster rolls (skeppsmönsterrullor) etc. For more information, see chapter Other Rolls.A subseries to the Admiralty Staff Archive is the Sjömilitiekontoret (The Naval Office) which also contains navy general muster rolls. Here we have four subseries:•Regementsskrivaren för Båtsmanshållet (The Regimental Scribe for the Navy Allotment System). These rolls begin 1683. Here we find båtsmän general muster rolls, principally 1700s.•Regementsskrivaren för Kofferdibåtskompanierna samt matros och Skeppsgossekåren (The Regimental Scribe for the Merchantman Sailor Companies and the Seamen and the Cabin Boy Corps). These rolls begin 1758.•Regementsskrivarna för Volontär- och Sjöartilleriregementena (The Regimental Scribe for the Navy Volunteers and Sea Artillery Regiments). These rolls begin 1692.•Timmermans- och Hantverksstaterna samt Arbetskarlar och Arrestanter (The Carpenter and Trade Departments, Laborers and Navy Prisoners). Very few rolls are kept.The "kofferdi båtsmän" were professional sailors enlisted from the merchant marine and they had a personal contract with the Navy. They were paid in cash and served in the Navy for 6 months per year. Rest of the year they served on merchant ships. They were in charge of all the work that had to do with the actual sailing of the navy ships."Skepsgossar" (Cabin Boys) were young boys in the Skepsgossekåren (The Cabin Boy Corps) and one of their task was to run with gunpowder to the guns during battle. The gunpowder was stored in save places far below deck and these storage places had very low ceilings so they needed young boys to carry the gunpowder from those areas. When the “skepsgossar” became 18 years of age they became Volunteers and stared their training to become officers in the Navy.Tip:When you are researching navy general muster rolls you should browse both the archive "Rullor flottan 1635 - 1915" as well as the archive "Amiralitetskollegium" to get a complete picture of which rolls are available for a specific båtsman company.
Båtsmansrullor
If you are researching navy båtsmän from the 1880s you should browse the series båtsmansrullor.In the example below we will browse the general muster rolls for a båtsman company in the archive "Rullor flottan 1635 – 1915".
The Parish Records - Husförhörslängd, HFL
Spend enough time tracing your Swedish ancestors and it's likely you will eventually discover someone who served in the Sweden's armed forces, i.e. been a soldier in an infantry regiment, horseman in a cavalry regiment, artilleryman in an artillery regiment or a sailor in the Navy.You may have first become aware your ancestor was a soldier from a notation in the household examination rolls (husförhörslängd, HFL), the parish records.In the following example we will search for sailor (båtsman) Jöns Jonsson Åsing in the navy general muster rolls. We have found Åsing in the Ljustorp parish records (Västernorlland, Y). Åsing was born on 1810-09-10 in Ljustorps parish. Ljustorp is a ommunity located about 20 miles north of Sundsvall City, Västernorrland Län (Y).Source: Ljustorp AI:4 (1831-1840) Image 187 / page 175.The Household Examination Rolls - "Husförhörslängd, HFL" is a type of parish record in which you can follow your ancestors, year by year. Jöns sailor name (båtsmansnamn) was Åsing.
Tutorial 3: How to Research Navy Sailors,
Sweden (3a)
Above, extract from Ljustorp parishbook, Ljustorp AI:4 (1831-1840) Image 187 / page 175 (AID: v121829.b187.s175, NAD: SE/HLA/1010115), Öster Frötuna village.The above image shows sailor (kronobåtsman) Jöns Åsing (b. 1810-09-16) and his wife Anna Cajsa Forsberg (b. 1807-06-25) and their son Jöns (b. 1839-06-10) who died in 1839, i.e. during his first year of life. Jöns Åsing moved to the sailor croft (cottage) in 1835. Jöns and his wife Anna Cajsa was married in 1836.The croft was located in Öster Frötuna, Ljustorp parish.
Matching a Sailor to a Navy Company by the help of Grill's work
Before you can locate a soldier's military records, you must first identify the military unit in which he served. The basic unit of the Swedish army before 1900 was the regiment. Each regiment was divided into smaller units called companies. Most army regiments had eight companies of roughly equal numbers of men. You must identify both the regiment and company to which your soldier was assigned in order to locate his military records.A very valuable source for the military researcher is Lieutenant Colonel Claes Grill's work "Statistiskt sammandrag af svenska indelningsverket I - IV" (Statistical Summary of the Swedish Allotment System) from 1856. This was a detailed analysis of the allotment system regiments as they existed in the 1850s.This is the best source to locate the unit a soldier served in. Grill's work consists of 4 volumes and are available at libraries in Sweden. Grill's work may be found today in many research libraries in the US, such as the LDS Family History Libraries and at the University of MN, Wilson Library.However, Grill's works are digitalized too and the database software is available on CD-ROM. If you have a subscription with Arkiv Digital, you can browse the digitalized version online. In Arkiv Digital you search for "Tryckt litteratur" (Printed literature). Note: Grill's work only contains the allotted regiment, not the enlisted regiments.The image to the right shows the front page of the first volume of Grill's work.Grill's work is a valuable tool for matching a soldier rote with a specific regiment and company.Among the contents of these works are tables of all the allotted infantry, cavalry and navy rotar, organized by regiment and company.The regiments are listed regiment-by-regiment and per regiment parish-by-parish. Per parish you will find the "rotar" the regiment had in these parishes. In the tables you will find information on which company each rote was a part of. A regiment of 1,200 soldiers consequently had 1,200 "rotar" (pl.). Normally the rote had the same name as the main farm in the rote that supported the soldier.Grill's work has a parish index. If you know the name of the parish and the name of the rote, it is easy to find the regiment and the company the soldier served in.You have to be aware that some provinces had more than one regiment. Different regiments and Navy units could have "rotar" within the same parish. This makes it a bit more difficult to find the correct regiment for a soldier. An example of a province with two regiments is Östergötland. This province had an infantry regiment as well as a cavalry regiment plus "rotar" within the Navy Allotment System.Start by browsing the parish index (sockenregister) for the parish in question to find the unit(s) which had rotar or rusthåll in that particular parish. The parish index is located in the beginning of volume 1.The basic unit of the Army was the regiment and each army regiment was divided into smaller units called companies. However, basic unit of the Navy was the company. The navy companies were called "båtsmanskompanier" (Sailor companies). Each navy company were assigned to a naval station, generally the Stockholm Naval Station or the Karlskrona Naval Station.Our sailor (båtsman) Jöns Jonsson Åsing above, lived in Ljustorp parish, Västernorlland, when he was a sailor (that's where his sailor croft was located) so we begin by browsing Grill's parish index for Ljustorp parish to find which navy company had rotar in the parish. Then we browse the unit the parish index refers to.The Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani (The First Norrland Second Sailor Company) had 6 navy rotar in the parish. [It is rote in singular and rotar in plural.]We know from the parish record that the sailor croft was located in Frötuna, Ljustorp parish, so we begin by looking for a rote with "Frötuna" in the name.Grill's work shows that the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani had a rote named "Åsäng, Frötuna och Stafre båtsmansrote", No 172, in Ljustorp. This is the rote we are looking for.This tells as that sailor Jöns Jonsson Åsing served in the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani (The First Norrland Second Sailor Company) and that his sailor number (rote number) was 172. This navy company rote belonged to the Stockholm Naval Station.See example below.
Grill
Note, Claes Grill's work "Statistiskt sammandrag af svenska indelningsverket" is a detailed analysis of the allotment system regiments as they existed in the 1850s. Many regiments have been carrying different names throughout the centuries and the regimental names in Grill are the names the units had in the mid-1800s.Further, regiments have been divided or been consolidated into new units. An example of a regiment that has been divided into two new independent units is the Närke-Värmland Regiment which in 1812 was divided into the Närke Regiment and the Värmland Regiment. It is these two regiments that are listed in Grill's work, not the original Närke-Värmland Regiment.If you do research of soldiers in the Närke-Värmland Regiment prior to 1812 you don't have much help of Grill's work since the rotar in the Värmland Regiment do not match the rotar in the Närke-Värmland Regiment. Even if many rotar have the same name they have different rote numbers. When the Närke-Värmland Regiment was divided all rotar were renumbered.More information about the different military unit's names and history.Note, Grill's work only lists the allotted units in the army and navy. Enlisted units are not listed in Grill!
The images below show in detail how to locate the military unit in Grill with the help of the parish index.
Above, an extract from Grill's parish index (sockenregister), Tryckt litteratur GrillReg:1 (0-9999) Image 480 / page 45 (AID: v792967.b480.s45, NAD: SE/AD/00001).The image shows among other parishes, Ljustorp parish;Grill's work at Arkiv Digital is a digitalized version of the original work by Grill and the references to each volume in the parish index are handwritten. The references to the different volumes are written in Roman digits. Volume 1 is referred to as I followed by a number which is the page number in volume 1. II is volume 2, III volume 3 etc.1.Volume I contains the cavalry regiments2.Volume II contains infantry regiments3.Volume III contains the Navy companies4.Volume IV contains the Extra roteringenFor each parish name in the index there are a references to volumes followed by a page number in that volume where you will find the military unit which had rotar in that parish.According to the extract above, Ljustorp parish has 2 references:1.III 64, volume I, page 64 - Navy. Page 64 points to the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani, no 31, under Stockholm Naval Station. This page includes Ljustorp.2.III 78, volume III, page 78 - "Nya ordinarie roteringen " in the Navy, VästernorrlandWe open volume III and go to page 64 where we find information about the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani (The First Norrland Second Sailor Company). See below:
Ovan Above, page 64 of volume III of Grill; Tryckt litteratur Grill:3 (1858-1858) Image 380 / page 65 (AID: v792655.b380.s65, NAD: SE/AD/00001).The above extract is page 64 of volume III and shows the different rotar the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani (navy company) had in Medelpad province, Västernorrland. The first column is the parish column (Socken). In the lower part of the image we find Ljustorp parish. To the right of the parish name we find the names of the rotar in this parish. They are numbered from 167 to 172, in total 6 rotar. "Åsäng, Frötuna o. Stafre" is rote 172. See the red ellipse in the image above.To the right of the listing of rotar there is a column showing the number of rotar in each parish. Number "6" for Ljustorp is the total number of rotar the company had in Ljustorp. In total there were 173 sailors in the company.There is also a rote called "Frötuna and Edsåker", no 171, that ought to be checked but this is not the rote we are looking for.At the bottom line of the extract above we can read that the navy company consisted of 8 corporals and 165 sailors (båtsmän) of which 37 were artillery båtsmän; in total 173.Now we know that sailor (båtsman) Jöns Jonsson Åsing served in the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani of the Stockholm Naval Station.
The Norrland Navy Companies (Norrlands båtsmanskompanier)
Sweden is traditionally divided into three major "lands" (parts of the country). Each name of the parts ends with “land”, thereof “lands”. The Lands from south to north; Götaland, Svealand and Norrland. Prior to 1809 Sweden had a 4th Land: Finland.Norrland (Northland) is the northern half of Sweden, encompassing the traditional provinces (landskap) of Gästrikland, Hälsingland, Medelpad, Ångermanland, Västerbotten, Norrbotten, Härjedalen, Jämtland, and Lappland.Norrland is the largest region by area; its land area constitutes about 59 percent of Sweden's total territory. However, population wise it is the smallest of the three lands.The Allotment System was established in 1682 and in the beginning there were two navy companies in Norrland; Norrlands 1. båtsmanskompani och Norrlands 2. båtsmanskompani. These two companies were in 1716 divided into four companies:•Första Norrlands 1:a dels båtsmanskompani•Första Norrlands 2:a dels båtsmanskompani•Andra Norrlands 1:a dels båtsmanskompani•Andra Norrlands 2:a dels båtsmanskompaniThe four company names above are in English; First Norrland First Navy Company, First Norrland Second Navy Company, Second Norrland First Navy Company and Second Norrland Second Navy Company.Ljustorp parish is located in Medelpad province and the sailors (båtsmän) in Medelpad were serving in Första Norrlands 2:a dels båtsmanskompani. Between 1756 - 1823 the four Norrland companies were assigned to the Stockholm Squadron of Army Fleet (The Galley Fleet).The names of the four companies were changed in 1875 to: •Norrlands första båtsmanskompani•Norrlands andra båtsmanskompani•Norrlands tredje båtsmanskompani •Norrlands fjärde båtsmanskompani (Norrland First Navy Company, Norrland Second Navy Company, Norrland Third Navy Company and Norrland Fourth Navy Company).
Rolls "Rullor Flottan 1635 - 1915", RF - The Navy General Muster Rolls (1)
"Rullor flottan 1635 – 1915" is the name of the archive. The archive contains many volumes of which the Navy general muster rolls are one part.The Amiralitetskollegium Archive (The Admiralty Staff Archive) is another archive with rolls of interest for the genelogy researchers. A subseries to the Admiralty Staff Archive, the Sjömilitiekontoret (The Naval Office), also contains Navy general muster rolls.
The “Båtsman Company”
The basic military unit of the Swedish Navy was the “båtsman company.” A båtsman company (Navy company) had roughly the same number of men as an army company, typically between 100 and 200 but in a couple instances having almost 300 men. Each company belonged to a naval station.
The General Muster Rolls
The best resource for military research is the general muster roll. Army and navy units periodically called a “general muster” an official gathering of all its service members at one place so everyone could be counted and inspected. The results were written down in a “general muster roll” (GMR). General musters were often recorded in great detail. They can hold information about soldiers’ enlistments, promotions, transfers, discharges and even deaths. One can frequently find personal details about individual soldiers, such as his age, years of service and height. Cavalry regiment muster rolls included information on each soldier's horse such as age, years of service and coat color.
Sailor Jöns Åsing
In the example below we will search for sailor (båtsman) Jöns Åsing in the rolls "Rullor flotan 1635-1915".We know that Jöns Åsing served in the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani (31) (First Norrland Second Navy Company) as sailor 172. This information is of great value when we search for him in the Navy general muster rolls for the time period when he was in the Navy. Åsing was born in 1810 so he ought to be enrolled at the age of 20 - 25, i.e. around 1830 - 1835.The next step will be to find out which general musters the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani Company called during this time period. A search online at Arkiv Digital shows that the company had a general muster in 1835 which we will take a look at.Arkiv Digital and SVAR are two online providers of parish and military records and are both subscription-based online services.The 1835 general muster called by Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani show no sign of Jöns Åsing which mean that he wasn't enrolled at that time. The 1835 general muster roll (GMR) shows Jöns Åsing predecessor at rote 172, sailor Matts Larsson Åsing. This roll list Matts Larsson Åsing as "sjövan" (had seagoing experience) which means that he had at least 6 months of seagoing experience. There is also a notation that Matts Larsson Åsing was discharged on October 16, 1835, due to a medical reason "bråck på höger sida" (hernia at his right-hand side).This tells us that our Jöns Åsing must have been enrolled after October 1835.Source: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:315 (1835-1835) Image 620 (AID: v399312a.b620, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036).
Extract from "Rulla flottan 1635 - 1915" for the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani's General
Muster on August 31, 1840 at the Stockholm Naval Station
The First Norrland Second Navy Company's next general muster was held in 1840. This GMR holds information that Jöns Åsing was enrolled as a båtsman (sailor) at rote 172 on November 27, 1835, i.e. about a month after his predecessor's discharge.
Above, the front page of the 1st Norrland 2nd Company's 1840 general muster roll: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:321 (1840-1841) Image 1630 (AID: v399318.b1630, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036)
Above, extract from the GMR: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:321 (1840-1841) Image 1910 (AID: v399318.b1910, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036), Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani, 1840 - right-hand side.•The 1st column "Antagningen i Tjensten" in the extract above lists Åsing's year of enrollment; 1835.•The 2nd column "Närvarande ålder" lists his age; 29.•The 3rd column "Tjenstetiden" lists his number of service years; 5.•The 4th column "Förfarenhet och hvad en hvar har lärt" lists his experience in seamanship; Obefaren. "Obefaren" means "None or poor seagoing experience". In other words, Åsing was a new inexperienced sailor. •The 5th column "General Mönstrings Annotationer" lists notations made at the current general muster. "Approberas" means "Approval" in English and in this context it means that Åsing was approved of as a sailor at the general muster. Newly recruited soldiers/sailors were to be approved of at the next upcoming general muster after they had been enrolled.Grades of Seagoing Experience All sailors had a note about their seagoing experience (Förfarenhet/Befarenhet) in the Navy rolls. There were four grades: 1.Obefaren - Unexperienced, none or poor seagoing experience 2.Sjövan - Have seagoing experience, at least 6 moth's seagoing experience3.Befaren - Experienced, at least one year of seagoing experience including voyages to the The Mediterranean Sea or similar4.Välbefaren - Very Experienced, at least 2 expeditions of one year each to far-distant waters
Sailor (Båtsman) Jöns Jonsson Åsing's Military Career
What was his military career like and when was he discharged? To get answers to these questions we have to browse through the following general muster rolls for the Navy Company until we find a notation about his discharge.
The 1845 General Muster:
The company's next general muster was called in 1845. There is no new information about sailor Jöns Åsing in this muster roll. There is a notation that he was approved (Approberas) as a sailor at the previous general muster in 1840. The Experience column has no notation at all in this roll.Source: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:326 (1845-1845) Bild 2420 (AID: v399323a.b2420, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036).
Extract from "Rulla flottan 1635 - 1915" for the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani's
General Muster on May 29, 1850 at the Stockholm Naval Station
The company's next general muster was called on May 29, 1850, at Skeppsholmen, Stockholm Naval Station. This general muster roll holds an interesting notation about Åsing; He was now promoted to Corporal.
Above, extract from the GMR: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:331 (1850-1850) Image 2450 (AID: v399328a.b2450, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036), Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani, 1850.In the second column, below Åsing's name we find the notation: "Korpral" (Corporal).•The 1st column "Båtsmannens nummer" in the sailor number, 172 in Åsing's case.•The 2nd column contains personal details about the sailors such as name, place etc.•The 3rd column "Födelse-Ort" in the sailor's place of birth. It reads "Infödd" which literally means native-born and in this context means that Åsing was born in the parish in question, i.e. Ljustorp parish.•The 4th column "Antagen i tjenst." lists Åsing's date of enrollment; 1835-11-27.•The 5th column "Tjenste-år" lists his number of service years; 14.•The 6th column "Födelse-år och dag" lists Åsing's date of birth; 1810-09-16.•The 7th column "Närvarande ålder" lists his age; 39.•The Experience column (Befarenhet) has no notation at all in this roll (this column is not included in the above extract).
Extract from "Rulla flottan 1635 - 1915" for the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani's
General Muster on May 17, 1856 at the Stockholm Naval Station
The company's next general muster was held on May 17, 1856. This general muster roll lists a new sailor (båtsman) at rote 172, Anders Larsson Åsing. There is no notation about the predecessor at the rote, Jöns Jonsson Åsing. However, there is a notation that the rote had been vacant since February 6, 1856 and that Anders Larsson Åsing was enrolled on March 1, 1856 for rote 172 and was approved at this current general muster held on May 17, 1856.We thereby can asume that Jöns Jonsson Åsing was discharged on February 6, 1856. There is no reason for his discharge in the roll though. Jöns Åsing had in 1856 be in the Navy for 21 years.
Above, extract from the GMR: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:338 (1856-1856) Image 2580 (AID: v399335a.b2580, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036). This roll lists a new sailor (båtsman) at rote 172, Anders Larsson Åsing.The second column holds a notation that the rote became vacant on February 6, 1856, and that the new recruit was enrolled on March 1, 1856. See column "Antagen i tjenst" (date of enrollment).The new recruit was Anders Larsson Åsing born in Ljustorp parish. See column "Födelse-Ort" (Place of birth).Since the rote fell vacant on February 6, 1856, we can asume that Jöns Åsing was discharged that date.Top of page
Above, extract from Ljustorp birthbook, Ljustorp C:1 (1688-1813) Image 263 / page 515 (AID: v121841.b263.s515, NAD: SE/HLA/1010115) for September 1810.The extract above shows Jöns Jonsson Åsing's birth entry in the Ljustorp birthbook. Jöns was born on 1810-09-16. His parents were navy sailor (båtsman) Jöns Bovén and his wife Anna Jönsdotter. So, also Jöns's father was a sailor; for Edsta rote nr 168 in Ljustorp.
Above, extract from Ljustorp marriage book, Ljustorp C:2 (1814-1844) Image 105 / page 101 (AID: v121842.b105.s101, NAD: SE/HLA/1010115) for February 1836. The extract above shows the entry in the marriage book for Jöns Jonsson Åsing and his wife Anna Cajsa Forsberg. The couple's date of marriage was 1836-02-14. They married after Jöns was enrolled as a sailor.
Above, extract from the GMR: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:321 (1840-1841) Image 1910 (AID: v399318.b1910, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036) for Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani, 1840 - left-hand side.If we browse through the Navy Company's entries we will soon find sailor 172, Ljustorp parish, sailor (båtsman) Jöns Jonsson Åsing.The first column lists the sailors' numbers and is labeled "Ordinarie" which refers to the regular sailors while the second columns list numbers for the reserve sailors (Fördubblingen).Åsing was enrolled on November 27, 1835, according to the extract above, see column "Båtsmannens Namn" (Sailor's Name). Since Åsing was born in 1810 he was 25 years old when he joined the Navy.The column to the far right "Födelse-Ort" (Place of Birth) holds the word "Infödd" which literally means native-born and in this context means that he was born in the parish in question, i.e. Ljustorp parish.
Above, the front page of the 1st Norrland 2nd Company's 1850 general muster roll: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:331 (1850-1850) Image 2140 (AID: v399328a.b2140, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036).
The front page of the 1st Norrland 2nd Company's 1850 general muster roll: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:338 (1856-1856) Image 2270 (AID: v399335a.b2270, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036).
This article will show how to research a navy båtsman (sailor) in the Navy rolls. The Navy rolls that corresponds the Army general muster rolls are the series Rullor flottan 1635-1915 (Navy rolls 1635 - 1915).There are also a series called Båtsmansrullor (Sailor rolls). However, the last-mentioned rolls weren't introduced until the 1880's (possibly there are a few from the 1870's too). The series Båtsmansrullor are a goldmine if you research sailors from the end of the 19th century since these rolls are very detailed when it comes to service record, voyages, grading etc. Each sailor was recorded in a separate card or book really since it contained several pages. These book were called Båtsmansrullor. Rulla means roll in English. [Rulla is singular and rullor in plural].You can follow a sailor's duty both at the naval stations well as at sea by looking in his båtsmansrulla.The image to the right shows a scene onboard a navy ship during a sea battle, late 1700's.Marinmuseum (The Naval Museum), Karlskrona. Photo Hans Högman, 2007.
Rote and Rusthåll
Swedish military records are not difficult to research. However, to get the greatest benefit it helps to know how soldiers and sailors were recruited into the Swedish military. Two terms that are of importance to understand are rote and rusthåll.The Allotment System was an old system of organizing and financing the Swedish military. It was in use between 1682 and 1901.In the Allotment System, the basic unit of military organization was the rote (plural: rotar). This translates roughly as “military district” or “military ward.” Each individual infantry soldier or navy sailor was assigned to a particular rote. Rusthåll was the cavalry equivalent. Each rote or rusthåll was associated with a farm (or farms) in the rural countryside. Large towns and cities did not have military districts (with the exception of some navy units). Båtsman rotar were mostly assigned to the coastal regions of Sweden.Rotar were chosen based on the size and prosperity of the farms in a given region. Large, wealthy farms might support more than one rote. Less prosperous farms were grouped together into a single rote. Rotar generally were for “ordinary” soldiers of rank-and-file no higher than corporal. Every rote and rusthåll was assigned a number that denoted its position within the army or navy unit with which it was associated. This was the “soldier number”. Each rote was required to provide one soldier or sailor and an appropriate uniform for the man to wear.
The Navy Rotar and Rusthåll
The majority of the Navy sailors (båtsmän) were recruited through rotar as the soldiers in the infantry. However, a number of sailors were recruited through rusthåll as the cavalrymen in the cavalry. These navy rusthåll were located in southeast of Sweden in Blekinge province and Södra Möre, Småland.However, there is no difference on how to research the navy sailors. They are researched in the same way independent if they served for a rote or a rusthåll.The soldiers in the infantry and cavalry were normally serving in the same company and regiment. The came from the same area and knew each other very well. This contributed to a good fellowship. The navy sailors also came from the same area and served in the same company. However, once at the naval station the sailors in the same navy company were separated and served onboard different ships. If a ship went down it often took all crew with it. So, if a disaster was a fact the Navy didn't want all sailors from the same area go down with the ship. That would have left a lot of widows and fatherless children in the same parish.So, sailors from the same parish served on different ships.
The “Båtsman Company”
The basic military unit of the Swedish Navy was the “båtsman company.” A båtsman company (Navy company) had roughly the same number of men as an army company, typically between 100 and 200 but in a couple instances having almost 300 men. Each company belonged to a naval station.
Soldier/Sailor Crofts
During the time of the Allotment System, the farms of a particular rote had contractual responsibility to provide a dwelling for its soldier/sailor and his family. The soldier croft (soldattorp) respectively the sailor croft (båtsmanstorp) was a cottage on the property of one of the farms in the rote. Use of the dwelling was part of the soldier’s/sailor's pay. The croft also included a small field (1-2 acres), some farm animals and a few outbuildings. The soldier/sailor could live at the soldier/sailor croft only while he served in the military. When a soldier/sailor retired (or died) he and his family had to move out. The farmers of the rote were then required to provide a new soldier, who would take over the soldier croft.If the soldier/sailor died his family had to vacate the croft within three months.
The Naval Stations
There have been a number of different naval stations through-out the centuries but two have been permanent naval stations:•Karlskrona Naval Station in Blekinge province south of Sweden (1680's - )•Stockholm Naval Station, Stockholm (1640's - 1955)Stockholm Naval Station including a naval shipyard comprised Skeppsholmen, Kastellholmen and Galärvarvet at Djurgården. Karlskrona Naval Station is the largest naval base of the Swedish Navy.Other naval stations:•Göteborg Naval Station, Swedish west coast ( - 1870)•Sveaborg, Helsinki, Finland ( - 1809). Naval base for the Swedish Army Fleet.•Blasieholmen, Stockholm (1550's - 1640)•Hårsfjärdens Naval Station, south of Stockholm (1955 - 1969)•Muskö Naval Base, south of Stockholm (1969 - )
The Navy Rolls
Rullor flottan 1635 – 1915
Rullor flottan 1635 – 1915 is the name of the archive. The archive contains many volumes of which the Navy general muster rolls are a part of.•Series I – XIII contain rolls covering sailors (båtsmän) from the 18th and 19th centuries. Series IV cover the båtsman companies under the Karlskrona Naval Station while series XIIIc cover the companies under the Stockholm Naval Station. These series comprise the navy general muster rolls. The rolls are arranged båtsman company by båtsman company. The archive "Rullor Flottan 1635 - 1915" is in large similar to the Army general muster rolls.
The Amiralitetskollegium Archive
The Amiralitetskollegium archive (The Admiralty Staff Archive) is another archive with rolls of interest for the genelogy researchers. Here we find navy logbooks, ship muster rolls (skeppsmönsterrullor) etc. For more information, see chapter Other Rolls.A subseries to the Admiralty Staff Archive is the Sjömilitiekontoret (The Naval Office) which also contains navy general muster rolls. Here we have four subseries:•Regementsskrivaren för Båtsmanshållet (The Regimental Scribe for the Navy Allotment System). These rolls begin 1683. Here we find båtsmän general muster rolls, principally 1700s.•Regementsskrivaren för Kofferdibåtskompanierna samt matros och Skeppsgossekåren (The Regimental Scribe for the Merchantman Sailor Companies and the Seamen and the Cabin Boy Corps). These rolls begin 1758.•Regementsskrivarna för Volontär- och Sjöartilleriregementena (The Regimental Scribe for the Navy Volunteers and Sea Artillery Regiments). These rolls begin 1692.•Timmermans- och Hantverksstaterna samt Arbetskarlar och Arrestanter (The Carpenter and Trade Departments, Laborers and Navy Prisoners). Very few rolls are kept.The "kofferdi båtsmän" were professional sailors enlisted from the merchant marine and they had a personal contract with the Navy. They were paid in cash and served in the Navy for 6 months per year. Rest of the year they served on merchant ships. They were in charge of all the work that had to do with the actual sailing of the navy ships."Skepsgossar" (Cabin Boys) were young boys in the Skepsgossekåren (The Cabin Boy Corps) and one of their task was to run with gunpowder to the guns during battle. The gunpowder was stored in save places far below deck and these storage places had very low ceilings so they needed young boys to carry the gunpowder from those areas. When the “skepsgossar” became 18 years of age they became Volunteers and stared their training to become officers in the Navy.Tip:When you are researching navy general muster rolls you should browse both the archive "Rullor flottan 1635 - 1915" as well as the archive "Amiralitetskollegium" to get a complete picture of which rolls are available for a specific båtsman company.
Båtsmansrullor
If you are researching navy båtsmän from the 1880s you should browse the series båtsmansrullor.In the example below we will browse the general muster rolls for a båtsman company in the archive "Rullor flottan 1635 – 1915".
The Parish Records -
Husförhörslängd, HFL
Spend enough time tracing your Swedish ancestors and it's likely you will eventually discover someone who served in the Sweden's armed forces, i.e. been a soldier in an infantry regiment, horseman in a cavalry regiment, artilleryman in an artillery regiment or a sailor in the Navy.You may have first become aware your ancestor was a soldier from a notation in the household examination rolls (husförhörslängd, HFL), the parish records.In the following example we will search for sailor (båtsman) Jöns Jonsson Åsing in the navy general muster rolls. We have found Åsing in the Ljustorp parish records (Västernorlland, Y). Åsing was born on 1810-09-10 in Ljustorps parish. Ljustorp is a ommunity located about 20 miles north of Sundsvall City, Västernorrland Län (Y).Source: Ljustorp AI:4 (1831-1840) Image 187 / page 175.The Household Examination Rolls - "Husförhörslängd, HFL" is a type of parish record in which you can follow your ancestors, year by year. Jöns sailor name (båtsmansnamn) was Åsing.
Tutorial 3: How to
Research Navy Sailors,
Sweden (3a)
Matching a Sailor to a Navy
Company by the help of Grill's
work
Before you can locate a soldier's military records, you must first identify the military unit in which he served. The basic unit of the Swedish army before 1900 was the regiment. Each regiment was divided into smaller units called companies. Most army regiments had eight companies of roughly equal numbers of men. You must identify both the regiment and company to which your soldier was assigned in order to locate his military records.A very valuable source for the military researcher is Lieutenant Colonel Claes Grill's work "Statistiskt sammandrag af svenska indelningsverket I - IV" (Statistical Summary of the Swedish Allotment System) from 1856. This was a detailed analysis of the allotment system regiments as they existed in the 1850s.This is the best source to locate the unit a soldier served in. Grill's work consists of 4 volumes and are available at libraries in Sweden. Grill's work may be found today in many research libraries in the US, such as the LDS Family History Libraries and at the University of MN, Wilson Library.However, Grill's works are digitalized too and the database software is available on CD-ROM. If you have a subscription with Arkiv Digital, you can browse the digitalized version online. In Arkiv Digital you search for "Tryckt litteratur" (Printed literature). Note: Grill's work only contains the allotted regiment, not the enlisted regiments.The image to the right shows the front page of the first volume of Grill's work.Grill's work is a valuable tool for matching a soldier rote with a specific regiment and company.Among the contents of these works are tables of all the allotted infantry, cavalry and navy rotar,organized by regiment and company.The regiments are listed regiment-by-regiment and per regiment parish-by-parish. Per parish you will find the "rotar" the regiment had in these parishes. In the tables you will find information on which company each rote was a part of. A regiment of 1,200 soldiers consequently had 1,200 "rotar" (pl.). Normally the rote had the same name as the main farm in the rote that supported the soldier.Grill's work has a parish index. If you know the name of the parish and the name of the rote, it is easy to find the regiment and the company the soldier served in.You have to be aware that some provinces had more than one regiment. Different regiments and Navy units could have "rotar" within the same parish. This makes it a bit more difficult to find the correct regiment for a soldier. An example of a province with two regiments is Östergötland. This province had an infantry regiment as well as a cavalry regiment plus "rotar" within the Navy Allotment System.Start by browsing the parish index (sockenregister) for the parish in question to find the unit(s) which had rotar or rusthåll in that particular parish. The parish index is located in the beginning of volume 1.The basic unit of the Army was the regiment and each army regiment was divided into smaller units called companies. However, basic unit of the Navy was the company. The navy companies were called "båtsmanskompanier" (Sailor companies). Each navy company were assigned to a naval station, generally the Stockholm Naval Station or the Karlskrona Naval Station.Our sailor (båtsman) Jöns Jonsson Åsing above, lived in Ljustorp parish, Västernorlland, when he was a sailor (that's where his sailor croft was located) so we begin by browsing Grill's parish index for Ljustorp parish to find which navy company had rotar in the parish. Then we browse the unit the parish index refers to.The Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani (The First Norrland Second Sailor Company) had 6 navy rotar in the parish. [It is rote in singular and rotar in plural.]We know from the parish record that the sailor croft was located in Frötuna, Ljustorp parish, so we begin by looking for a rote with "Frötuna" in the name.Grill's work shows that the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani had a rote named "Åsäng, Frötuna och Stafre båtsmansrote", No 172, in Ljustorp. This is the rote we are looking for.This tells as that sailor Jöns Jonsson Åsing served in the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani(The First Norrland Second Sailor Company) and that his sailor number (rote number) was 172. This navy company rote belonged to the Stockholm Naval Station.See example below.
Grill
Note, Claes Grill's work "Statistiskt sammandrag af svenska indelningsverket" is a detailed analysis of the allotment system regiments as they existed in the 1850s. Many regiments have been carrying different names throughout the centuries and the regimental names in Grill are the names the units had in the mid-1800s.Further, regiments have been divided or been consolidated into new units. An example of a regiment that has been divided into two new independent units is the Närke-Värmland Regiment which in 1812 was divided into the Närke Regiment and the Värmland Regiment. It is these two regiments that are listed in Grill's work, not the original Närke-Värmland Regiment.If you do research of soldiers in the Närke-Värmland Regiment prior to 1812 you don't have much help of Grill's work since the rotar in the Värmland Regiment do not match the rotar in the Närke-Värmland Regiment. Even if many rotar have the same name they have different rote numbers. When the Närke-Värmland Regiment was divided all rotar were renumbered.More information about the different military unit's names and history.Note, Grill's work only lists the allotted units in the army and navy. Enlisted units are not listed in Grill!
The images below show in detail how to locate the military unit in Grill with the help of the parish index.
Above, an extract from Grill's parish index(sockenregister), Tryckt litteratur GrillReg:1 (0-9999) Image 480 / page 45 (AID: v792967.b480.s45, NAD: SE/AD/00001).The image shows among other parishes, Ljustorp parish;Grill's work at Arkiv Digital is a digitalized version of the original work by Grill and the references to each volume in the parish index are handwritten. The references to the different volumes are written in Roman digits. Volume 1 is referred to as I followed by a number which is the page number in volume 1. II is volume 2, III volume 3 etc.1.Volume I contains the cavalry regiments2.Volume II contains infantry regiments3.Volume III contains the Navy companies4.Volume IV contains the Extra roteringenFor each parish name in the index there are a references to volumes followed by a page number in that volume where you will find the military unit which had rotar in that parish.According to the extract above, Ljustorp parish has 2 references:1.III 64, volume I, page 64 - Navy. Page 64 points to the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani, no 31, under Stockholm Naval Station. This page includes Ljustorp.2.III 78, volume III, page 78 - "Nya ordinarie roteringen " in the Navy, VästernorrlandWe open volume III and go to page 64 where we find information about the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani (The First Norrland Second Sailor Company). See below:
Ovan Above, page 64 of volume III of Grill; Tryckt litteratur Grill:3 (1858-1858) Image 380 / page 65 (AID: v792655.b380.s65, NAD: SE/AD/00001).The above extract is page 64 of volume III and shows the different rotar the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani (navy company) had in Medelpad province, Västernorrland. The first column is the parish column (Socken). In the lower part of the image we find Ljustorp parish. To the right of the parish name we find the names of the rotar in this parish. They are numbered from 167 to 172, in total 6 rotar. "Åsäng, Frötuna o. Stafre" is rote 172. See the red ellipse in the image above.To the right of the listing of rotar there is a column showing the number of rotar in each parish. Number "6" for Ljustorp is the total number of rotar the company had in Ljustorp. In total there were 173 sailors in the company.There is also a rote called "Frötuna and Edsåker", no 171, that ought to be checked but this is not the rote we are looking for.At the bottom line of the extract above we can read that the navy company consisted of 8 corporals and 165 sailors (båtsmän) of which 37 were artillery båtsmän; in total 173.Now we know that sailor (båtsman) Jöns Jonsson Åsing served in the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani of the Stockholm Naval Station.
The Norrland Navy Companies (Norrlands
båtsmanskompanier)
Sweden is traditionally divided into three major "lands" (parts of the country). Each name of the parts ends with “land”, thereof “lands”. The Lands from south to north; Götaland, Svealand and Norrland. Prior to 1809 Sweden had a 4th Land: Finland.Norrland (Northland) is the northern half of Sweden, encompassing the traditional provinces (landskap) of Gästrikland, Hälsingland, Medelpad, Ångermanland, Västerbotten, Norrbotten, Härjedalen, Jämtland, and Lappland.Norrland is the largest region by area; its land area constitutes about 59 percent of Sweden's total territory. However, population wise it is the smallest of the three lands.The Allotment System was established in 1682 and in the beginning there were two navy companies in Norrland; Norrlands 1. båtsmanskompani och Norrlands 2. båtsmanskompani. These two companies were in 1716 divided into four companies:•Första Norrlands 1:a dels båtsmanskompani•Första Norrlands 2:a dels båtsmanskompani•Andra Norrlands 1:a dels båtsmanskompani•Andra Norrlands 2:a dels båtsmanskompaniThe four company names above are in English; First Norrland First Navy Company, First Norrland Second Navy Company, Second Norrland First Navy Company and Second Norrland Second Navy Company.Ljustorp parish is located in Medelpad provinceand the sailors (båtsmän) in Medelpad were serving in Första Norrlands 2:a dels båtsmanskompani. Between 1756 - 1823 the four Norrland companies were assigned to the Stockholm Squadron of Army Fleet (The Galley Fleet).The names of the four companies were changed in 1875 to: •Norrlands första båtsmanskompani•Norrlands andra båtsmanskompani•Norrlands tredje båtsmanskompani •Norrlands fjärde båtsmanskompani (Norrland First Navy Company, Norrland Second Navy Company, Norrland Third Navy Company and Norrland Fourth Navy Company).
Rolls "Rullor Flottan 1635 - 1915",
RF - The Navy General Muster
Rolls (1)
"Rullor flottan 1635 – 1915" is the name of the archive. The archive contains many volumes of which the Navy general muster rolls are one part.The Amiralitetskollegium Archive (The Admiralty Staff Archive) is another archive with rolls of interest for the genelogy researchers. A subseries to the Admiralty Staff Archive, the Sjömilitiekontoret (The Naval Office), also contains Navy general muster rolls.
The “Båtsman Company”
The basic military unit of the Swedish Navy was the “båtsman company.” A båtsman company (Navy company) had roughly the same number of men as an army company, typically between 100 and 200 but in a couple instances having almost 300 men. Each company belonged to a naval station.
The General Muster Rolls
The best resource for military research is the general muster roll. Army and navy units periodically called a “general muster” an official gathering of all its service members at one place so everyone could be counted and inspected. The results were written down in a “general muster roll” (GMR). General musters were often recorded in great detail. They can hold information about soldiers’ enlistments, promotions, transfers, discharges and even deaths. One can frequently find personal details about individual soldiers, such as his age, years of service and height. Cavalry regiment muster rolls included information on each soldier's horse such as age, years of service and coat color.
Sailor Jöns Åsing
In the example below we will search for sailor (båtsman) Jöns Åsing in the rolls "Rullor flotan 1635-1915".We know that Jöns Åsing served in the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani (31) (First Norrland Second Navy Company) as sailor 172. This information is of great value when we search for him in the Navy general muster rolls for the time period when he was in the Navy. Åsing was born in 1810 so he ought to be enrolled at the age of 20 - 25, i.e. around 1830 - 1835.The next step will be to find out which general musters the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani Company called during this time period. A search online at Arkiv Digital shows that the company had a general muster in 1835 which we will take a look at.Arkiv Digital and SVAR are two online providers of parish and military records and are both subscription-based online services.The 1835 general muster called by Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani show no sign of Jöns Åsing which mean that he wasn't enrolled at that time. The 1835 general muster roll (GMR) shows Jöns Åsing predecessor at rote 172, sailor Matts Larsson Åsing. This roll list Matts Larsson Åsing as "sjövan" (had seagoing experience) which means that he had at least 6 months of seagoing experience. There is also a notation that Matts Larsson Åsing was discharged on October 16, 1835, due to a medical reason "bråck på höger sida" (hernia at his right-hand side).This tells us that our Jöns Åsing must have been enrolled after October 1835.Source: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:315 (1835-1835) Image 620 (AID: v399312a.b620, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036).
Extract from "Rulla flottan 1635 - 1915" for
the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels
båtsmanskompani's General Muster on
August 31, 1840 at the Stockholm Naval
Station
The First Norrland Second Navy Company's next general muster was held in 1840. This GMR holds information that Jöns Åsing was enrolled as a båtsman (sailor) at rote 172 on November 27, 1835, i.e. about a month after his predecessor's discharge.
Above, the front page of the 1st Norrland 2nd Company's 1840 general muster roll: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:321 (1840-1841) Image 1630 (AID: v399318.b1630, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036)
Above, extract from Ljustorp parishbook, Ljustorp AI:4 (1831-1840) Image 187 / page 175 (AID: v121829.b187.s175, NAD: SE/HLA/1010115), Öster Frötuna village.The above image shows sailor (kronobåtsman) Jöns Åsing (b. 1810-09-16) and his wife Anna Cajsa Forsberg (b. 1807-06-25) and their son Jöns (b. 1839-06-10) who died in 1839, i.e. during his first year of life. Jöns Åsing moved to the sailor croft (cottage) in 1835. Jöns and his wife Anna Cajsa was married in 1836.The croft was located in Öster Frötuna, Ljustorp parish.
Above, extract from Ljustorp marriage book, Ljustorp C:2 (1814-1844) Image 105 / page 101 (AID: v121842.b105.s101, NAD: SE/HLA/1010115) for February 1836. The extract above shows the entry in the marriage book for Jöns Jonsson Åsing and his wife Anna Cajsa Forsberg. The couple's date of marriage was 1836-02-14. They married after Jöns was enrolled as a sailor.
Above, extract from the GMR: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:321 (1840-1841) Image 1910 (AID: v399318.b1910, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036) for Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani, 1840 - left-hand side.If we browse through the Navy Company's entries we will soon find sailor 172, Ljustorp parish, sailor (båtsman) Jöns Jonsson Åsing.The first column lists the sailors' numbers and is labeled "Ordinarie" which refers to the regular sailors while the second columns list numbers for the reserve sailors (Fördubblingen).Åsing was enrolled on November 27, 1835, according to the extract above, see column "Båtsmannens Namn" (Sailor's Name). Since Åsing was born in 1810 he was 25 years old when he joined the Navy.The column to the far right "Födelse-Ort" (Place of Birth) holds the word "Infödd" which literally means native-born and in this context means that he was born in the parish in question, i.e. Ljustorp parish.
Above, extract from the GMR: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:321 (1840-1841) Image 1910 (AID: v399318.b1910, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036), Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani, 1840 - right-hand side.•The 1st column "Antagningen i Tjensten" in the extract above lists Åsing's year of enrollment; 1835.•The 2nd column "Närvarande ålder" lists his age; 29.•The 3rd column "Tjenstetiden" lists his number of service years; 5.•The 4th column "Förfarenhet och hvad en hvar har lärt" lists his experience in seamanship; Obefaren. "Obefaren" means "None or poor seagoing experience". In other words, Åsing was a new inexperienced sailor. •The 5th column "General Mönstrings Annotationer" lists notations made at the current general muster. "Approberas" means "Approval" in English and in this context it means that Åsing was approved of as a sailor at the general muster. Newly recruited soldiers/sailors were to be approved of at the next upcoming general muster after they had been enrolled.Grades of Seagoing Experience All sailors had a note about their seagoing experience (Förfarenhet/Befarenhet) in the Navy rolls. There were four grades: 1.Obefaren - Unexperienced, none or poor seagoing experience 2.Sjövan - Have seagoing experience, at least 6 moth's seagoing experience3.Befaren - Experienced, at least one year of seagoing experience including voyages to the The Mediterranean Sea or similar4.Välbefaren - Very Experienced, at least 2 expeditions of one year each to far-distant waters
Sailor (Båtsman) Jöns Jonsson
Åsing's Military Career
What was his military career like and when was he discharged? To get answers to these questions we have to browse through the following general muster rolls for the Navy Company until we find a notation about his discharge.
The 1845 General Muster:
The company's next general muster was called in 1845. There is no new information about sailor Jöns Åsing in this muster roll. There is a notation that he was approved (Approberas) as a sailor at the previous general muster in 1840. The Experience column has no notation at all in this roll.Source: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:326 (1845-1845) Bild 2420 (AID: v399323a.b2420, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036).
Extract from "Rulla flottan 1635 - 1915" for
the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels
båtsmanskompani's General Muster on May
29, 1850 at the Stockholm Naval Station
The company's next general muster was called on May 29, 1850, at Skeppsholmen, Stockholm Naval Station. This general muster roll holds an interesting notation about Åsing; He was now promoted to Corporal.
Above, the front page of the 1st Norrland 2nd Company's 1850 general muster roll: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:331 (1850-1850) Image 2140 (AID: v399328a.b2140, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036).
Above, extract from the GMR: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:331 (1850-1850) Image 2450 (AID: v399328a.b2450, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036), Första Norrlans 2:a-dels båtsmanskompani, 1850.In the second column, below Åsing's name we find the notation: "Korpral" (Corporal).•The 1st column "Båtsmannens nummer" in the sailor number, 172 in Åsing's case.•The 2nd column contains personal details about the sailors such as name, place etc.•The 3rd column "Födelse-Ort" in the sailor's place of birth. It reads "Infödd" which literally means native-born and in this context means that Åsing was born in the parish in question, i.e. Ljustorp parish.•The 4th column "Antagen i tjenst." lists Åsing's date of enrollment; 1835-11-27.•The 5th column "Tjenste-år" lists his number of service years; 14.•The 6th column "Födelse-år och dag" lists Åsing's date of birth; 1810-09-16.•The 7th column "Närvarande ålder" lists his age; 39.•The Experience column (Befarenhet) has no notation at all in this roll (this column is not included in the above extract).
Extract from "Rulla flottan 1635 - 1915" for
the Första Norrlans 2:a-dels
båtsmanskompani's General Muster on May
17, 1856 at the Stockholm Naval Station
The company's next general muster was held on May 17, 1856. This general muster roll lists a new sailor (båtsman) at rote 172, Anders Larsson Åsing. There is no notation about the predecessor at the rote, Jöns Jonsson Åsing. However, there is a notation that the rote had been vacant since February 6, 1856 and that Anders Larsson Åsing was enrolled on March 1, 1856 for rote 172 and was approved at this current general muster held on May 17, 1856.We thereby can asume that Jöns Jonsson Åsing was discharged on February 6, 1856. There is no reason for his discharge in the roll though. Jöns Åsing had in 1856 be in the Navy for 21 years.
The front page of the 1st Norrland 2nd Company's 1850 general muster roll: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:338 (1856-1856) Image 2270 (AID: v399335a.b2270, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036).
Above, extract from the GMR: Rullor flottan 1635-1915 XIIIc:338 (1856-1856) Image 2580 (AID: v399335a.b2580, NAD: SE/KrA/0503036). This roll lists a new sailor (båtsman) at rote 172, Anders Larsson Åsing.The second column holds a notation that the rote became vacant on February 6, 1856, and that the new recruit was enrolled on March 1, 1856. See column "Antagen i tjenst" (date of enrollment).The new recruit was Anders Larsson Åsing born in Ljustorp parish. See column "Födelse-Ort" (Place of birth).Since the rote fell vacant on February 6, 1856, we can asume that Jöns Åsing was discharged that date.Top of page
