Looking For Boer War Participant

[Hunter]

I’ve recently found out about a man who appears to have been in the British South African Constabulary during the Boer War, after his war service was awarded the Kings South African medal and Queens South African medal. Also the Natal Rebellion 1906 medal ?

 

All I know is his first name initial and surname, which are -   F. BERGGREN

 

He is not my relation, but hoped to find out a bit more about him and if possible a photograph.

 

This is a new area of research for me, so apart from his having also served in ROYSTON’S HORSE, I don’t know any fuller details.

 

Thank you for any help

[DavidOwen]

Welcome to the forum

 

The Boer War period is strictly outside of our time frame unless your soldier went on to serve in WW1?

 

I will leave this open for a while to see if anyone can come up with a WW1 connection but it may have to be locked.

 

David

[Hunter]

Thanks David

 

After he had created Royston Horse, Royston himself seems to have went on to serve in the Australian Light Horse in WW1, but can’t be sure if this man Berggren stayed with him or as a trooper in another horse unit for WW1.

 

Berggren from what I’ve read was a Staff Sergeant in 1906.

 

The bits I know appear to end in 1906 but I don’t think he was killed or died, hoping he stayed in military service for WW1.

 

i apologise for unable to supply for detailed information 

 

 

Edited 20 March , 2020 by Hunter

[johnmelling1979]

Had a look online nothing other than the information what you have shows up

Natal Rebellion Medal 1906, awarded for services during the suppression of the Zulu rising in 1906.

 

You could try the website https://www.angloboerwar.com/

 

John

Edited 20 March , 2020 by johnmelling1979

[Hunter]

Thanks John

 

I’m unable to join that site for some reason, but with knowing what Berggren was seemingly doing up until 1906, I was hoping there was a slim chance I could find him serving in WW1.

 

I’ve only just started following the trail of a gun he is supposed to have owned, which was a Colt Peacemaker which was part of a consignment of less than 1000 I think to London, which was purchased and rechambered for the same calibre as the British Adams revolver, specifically for service in South Africa around 1879.

 

Noticing its reemergence recently for sale, I’ve been hoping to find out how it got from then until now from the man who first owned it, to find out if it stayed with his family after his military service, or indeed if he continued using it in WW1.

 

Ive been trying to find out if this make of gun was used by the British military to any great extent, and how and why those who acquired one instead of British models, to serve in campaigns of the time, Berggren is the first proof of a named individual I’ve seen mentioned, so need to find out more about him and where he went.

 

im awaiting a book about the British Colt Peacemaker models to trace their origin and where they went after going to London.

[Keith_history_buff]

You could contact the SANDF archives, and request what information they have. Perhaps he served in a South African unit in WW1? It will take about 12 months for them to process the request. I do not know the state of play, with regard to whether a hired researcher would be able to access the archives on your behalf, given the travel restrictions in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak.

There are 3 persons of that surname who served in the CEF, and a George Berggren who served in the Army Ordnance Corps of the British Army.

[PRC]

8 hours ago, johnmelling1979 said:

You could try the website https://www.angloboerwar.com/

 

8 hours ago, Hunter said:

I’m unable to join that site for some reason

 

You don't need to join it to use functions like Namesearch, although in this case that doesn't add anything you didn't already know,

 

However against their piece on the South African Constabulary, (the unit shown for F. Berhhren), there is this note.

 

Audrey Portman (contact details in Contacts in the top menu) has been researching the SAC for several years.  Those looking for information on men in the SAC are recommended to contact Audrey directly.

 

On the contacts page it is noted that Audrey is a professional researcher in South Africa.

As far as I'm aware you don't have to be a member to use that contact facility, (and apologies in advance if that is not the case).

 

I can't see a likely death in South Africa or Rhodesia for a F. Berggren - but the familysearch website does have gaps.

 

9 hours ago, Hunter said:

After he had created Royston Horse, Royston himself seems to have went on to serve in the Australian Light Horse in WW1, but can’t be sure if this man Berggren stayed with him or as a trooper in another horse unit for WW1.

 

No Berggren with Great War period Army Service records on the Australian National Archive catalogue.

 

Hope that helps,

Peter

[George Rayner]

FWR has this reference saying he is British...

First Name:

F

Surname:

Berggren

Nationality:

British

Rank:

Staff Sergeant

Duty Location:

Natal

Clasps Awarded:

1906

Service:

Militia

Regiment:

Royston's Horse

Collection:

The Zulu Rebellion 1906
 

Campaign Medals:

Natal Native Rebellion

1906

 

Also a medal roll on Ancestry showing Cape Colony and OFS clasps awarded.

 

George

[Ron Clifton]

15 hours ago, Hunter said:

Ive been trying to find out if this make of gun was used by the British military to any great extent, and how and why those who acquired one instead of British models, to serve in campaigns of the time, Berggren is the first proof of a named individual I’ve seen mentioned, so need to find out more about him and where he went.

 

im awaiting a book about the British Colt Peacemaker models to trace their origin and where they went after going to London.

Hello Hunter, and welcome to the Forum!

 

The British "List of Changes in War Materiel" does not mention the Adams revolver as an issue item up to 1918. They tended to use Webleys, although in 1915 patterns were approved for the Colt and the Smith & Wesson. That said, officers were free to buy their own weapons, as long as they could take Government ammunition.

 

Ron

[Hunter]

Thanks very much for the info guys

 

I wouldn’t normally have tried to pursue something like this, but with the initial bits of info I read being quite specific, plus his surname not exactly common, thought it was worth a go. Finally finding details of a British Colt Peacemaker owner in military service was too good an opportunity.

 

Knowing he is actually British too is great, as there was mention his surname appeared to be Swedish.

 

Thanks again

Edited 21 March , 2020 by Hunter

[Keith_history_buff]

I would like to see some source material that proves that he is "British", as I think this is lazy record keeping by a genealogy data provider. The nearest I can think to allude for him being a "British" subject prior to 31 May 1910 is that you had to have British nationality to serve in HM Forces. What is needed is to hire the likes of Audrey and to obtain the primary source documents from the SANDF Archives. This would give a definitive answer as to whether he served in the military during WW1, in addition to the prior mention of military service.

 

[PRC]

5 minutes ago, Hunter said:

Knowing he is actually British too is great, as there was mention his surname appeared to be Swedish.

 

I would take anytthing sourced from Forces War Records with a very large pinch of salt unless it is separately verified by another source. Being British is likely to be a very big assumption on their part.

 

I can't see a F. Berggren in the Census of England & Wales, (1841 - 1911), Census of Scotland (1841 - 1901), GRO quarterly Index of births in England & Wales (1837 - 2007 - well a Frederika in 1998), the GRO quarterly index of marriages in England & Wales 1837- 2005 has a John Frederick Berggren marrying  in Whitechapel, London in 1894 but no equivalent in the census apart from a married John Berggren in 1891, a 47 year old Engine Fitter born Sweden living in Islington - so presumably would have had to have been widowed and remarried if it's the same man, and just to eliminate him altogether the nearest match to an F. Berggren in the GRO Index of Deaths for England  & Wales (1837 - 2007) was a 55 year old John F. Berggren who died in Islington in 1900.

 

Berggren was a Swedish \ Norwegian name but there are a few examples in England and Wales, Australia and South Africa plus many in the United States who by the time of the Boer War were first \2nd generation native born.

 

Cheers,

Peter

[Hunter]

Keith/Peter

 

Thank you. As you can tell it is not my usual area of research, I wish there was more details I could supply.

 

As it is, I’ll mark down every answer I get, then will delete or add to as time goes by.

 

I very much appreciate all the help

[corisande]

1 hour ago, Keith_history_buff said:

would like to see some source material that proves that he is "British", as I think this is lazy record keeping by a genealogy data provider.

 

The balance of probability , I think, is that this could be him. More work required to prove or disprove ! There are quite a lot of leads on him on the web

 

[Hunter]

Outstanding work good sir.

 

What fantastic information you have supplied, incredibly interesting 

 

An amazing lead

 

Thank you very much

[corisande]

If the gun is or was in the USA it would be another bit of confirmation that it was this man

 

 

[Hunter]

Yes, it certainly matches in with everything known so far, can’t believe how quick you managed to find him, as I was sure I must be unsuccessful in my quest.

 

it makes fascinating reading finding out such detailed information about him, never really thought he could be traced

 

Thank you again

[corisande]

It was nothing !

 

[corisande]

If I were you, I would ascertain when and where this man died in USA, and then try to get an obit in a local paper. That might give a potted history of his life , including what he did in South Africa

[George Rayner]

Well done all. I was dubious about FWR but it seems to have led to expert researchers finding what is potentially the correct answer. The date of becoming a British Citizen in SA does worry me a little though.

 

George

[PRC]

3 hours ago, corisande said:

 

The balance of probability , I think, is that this could be him. More work required to prove or disprove ! There are quite a lot of leads on him on the web

 

 

I could see a few references from Swedish sources on the familysearch site for a Frans Johan Berggren, born 11th January 1868.

 

One, possibly an index of Church Birth record, has him born Asarum, Sweden.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W6LS-WCPZ

 

A quick google search brings up that Asarum is a village in Blekinge County. Nearby is the town of Karlshamn – a possible match for the place of birth on the US record identified by corisande.

The Wiki page for Karlshamn includes the statement in a piece of the 18th & 19th Centuries  - “Later the town expanded over the meadows and hills to merge with the adjacent Asarum, a rural village north of town.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlshamn

 

A Frans Johan Snidkare Berggren of the same date of birth crops up on the Swedish Household Examination Books from 1881 to 1894 living at Karlshamn, however the same household also includes an Frans Johan Mansson who was born on exactly the same date. The actual entry for Berggren ends with him leaving for Stockholm on the 19th September 1889. There is nothing specific for Mansson, but both entries also have the number “89” shown in one of the end columns.

Source: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLKF-H2HN

 

There is also a household record which the familysearch transcriber believs shows him living with his family, but I not able to confirm that. I believe the column that relates to occupation shows him as “Sjoman” (Seaman).  There are some dates associated with the entry of the 19th September 1889 to 16th December 1890 but whether that is the period he was resident, registered or absent I cannot tell.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLKX-JN7M

 

He then arrives at New York Ellis Island from Gothenburg on the 3rd November 1921. He was unmarried and gave his normal place of residence as London. His next of kin was his brother Karl Berggren, of Stigtomta. His eventual destination was Chicago, Illinois.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J62C-X62

 

The Illinois Naturalisation Index records that Frans John Berggren was going by the name of Frank Berggren.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XKLF-P7K

 

I next found the 61 year old Frank Berggren returning from Gotthenburg aboard the SS Kingsholm and arriving on April 6th 1929 at New York. He was naturalised at Cook County, Illinois in 1927 and was heading for Golf, Illinois.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24XJ-RF9

 

I couldn’t find any obvious death record, but obviously it has to be on or after that date of landing at New York.

 

Given that he had been a Seaman earlier in life, had served against the Boers and on migration to the US in 1921 he gave his permanent address as London, I though it worthwhile trying UK Naval records. But the 1915 Crew List project has no record of him sailing during that year on a Merchant ship and there is no matching record for him as a Royal Naval Reserve rating or officer.

 

Hope that helps,

Peter

[travers61]

Service in WW1 could have been in the Natal Light Horse, raised by Royston in 1914 for service in German SW Africa, but disbanded in 1915. Royston then took a group of volunteers to London (many of them former NLH soldiers), but they never formed an official unit & most joined London units, with as stated before in this thread, Royston going on to command 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigade in Palestine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natal_Light_Horse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Royston

[travers61]

This is probably him in the shipping records & may explain why London is given as his place of residence when arriving in the US in Nov 1921.

 

Arrivals in UK

Name: Frans Johan Berggren

Arrival Age: 53

Travelled 3rd Class

Occupation: Shipwright

Boarded at: Mauritius

Country of Last Permanent Residence: England

Country of intended future Residence: Foreign country (not UK, Ireland or British Possesions)

Nationality: British

Arrival Date: 30 May 1921

Port of Arrival: London, England

Ports of Voyage: Mauritius via Cape Ports Durban [Natal]; Cape Town; Walvis Bay; Las Palmas

Ship Name: Cluny Castle

Shipping Line: Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company Ltd

Official Number: 118323

https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1518&h=14158358&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=TCZ3&_phstart=successSource

 

Outward passengers

Not found in voyages leaving UK for USA in 1921.

 

 

[corisande]

And probably in London as a Trade Union member in 1918 (left 1919 because of sub arrears)

 

First name(s)	Frank John
Last name	Berggren
Birth year	1868
Admission year	1918
Age	50
Trade	Carpenters & Joiners
Union name	Amalgamated Society Of Carpenters, Cabinetmakers & Joiners
Union branch	Harrow
Union branch as transcribed	Harrow
County	Middlesex

[Keith_history_buff]

On 21/03/2020 at 10:29, PRC said:

I would take anything sourced from Forces War Records with a very large pinch of salt unless it is separately verified by another source. Being British is likely to be a very big assumption on their part.

I saw something amazing on FWR the other day in respect of an RAF Airman. By recycling RAF service number allocation details that are freely available elsewhere, they deduced that the airman attested in November 1945. This is plausible, and stands up to scrutiny.

They then theorised as to what WW2 campaign medals his aubsequent service would have resulted in.