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Hi davecapps,

Thank you so much for this - I believed Frederick was illegitimate but having it confirmed in such detail is great. His mother clearly went to some lengths to make sure he had the best chance in society of the time. I have a birth/baptism record for his mother - it's a transcription sent by the same Ev-Luth church archivist that sent the transcription for Frederick's baptism - but, given the difference between that one and the original you sent, there could be more information on that one too. My email address is *

Cheers!

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BOSCHAN /BASCHAN

My great-grandfather was Friedrich Nägel, born on 16 January 1866 in Neuendeich, Glückstadt, Steinburg, Schleswig-Holstein. His mother was Margaretha Magdalena Nägel, born on 13 June 1843 in Neuendeich, Blomesche Wildniß, Germany. I have birth documents for both.

My query is about Friedrich’s father who, according to the birth record, was Friedrich Boschan, a Soldier. There is a cross symbol before his name, which the archivist at the Ev-Luth Kirchenkraus Rantzau said indicates that he was deceased at the time of the child’s birth; he also believes that Margaretha was not legally married to him - perhaps he was already married or died in the line of duty? I enquired about records of Boschan deaths but none were found in the relevant areas.

Friedrich N married Emma in Altona, Hamburg in 1890. They had several children there before the family moved to London, England, in about 1896-7 (a guess - a daughter was born in Germany in September 1895 and buried in London in November 1897). They had several more children. Emma died in 1907 and Friedrich married again and had another child. I’m in touch with descendants of the children and between us we’ve built a thorough family tree, complete with memories and photos from the older generations.

Our big mystery is Friedrich Boschan/Baschan, the (Prussian?) soldier. Friedrich Nagel must have known about his father because he used that surname on his marriage and the births of his earlier children. Is there any sort of military database which might give us some clues? It’s taken me 30-odd years to get this far - I’m in Australia and much of my research was done the old-fashioned way pre-internet: writing letters, sending money, waiting months for answers...  Many thanks.

Thanks so much - I haven't read it all yet but the information is really interesting. Walter was a clerk in Wales, then a mariner/seaman for some years, and also made a minor name for himself as a horseback wrestler in Australia, NZ and California. The family legend was that he died as a result of a fight or boxing match but the mortuary record says his cause of death was epilepsy. Fascinating stuff -   thanks again!

That's exactly the sort of detail I would miss - thanks again. Life wasn't easy for them, was it? Emma and Friedrich had five children, one of whom who died in Stepney, London, at 2 years old. Emma died aged 38 of uterine cancer in 1907. My grandfather, Max, wrote a book some years later. The main character was named Jimmy. He is exactly the same age as Max, who was known as Jimmy in real life. The story of Jimmy is so close to Max's own life that I think of it as an autobiography - it has given me many clues about the family, but there is no mention of their German and Swedish origins. Max later fought for Britain in World War 1 and Frederick was interned because of his German background, so the family kept the German thing a secret.

Hi Ian,

Thank you so much for all this information. The digitised Swedish birth, marriage and death documents are mostly from Ancestry. I also have the relevant documents from Germany and England. It's taken so long to find Emma's marriage to my great-grandfather because he was also illegitimate and used his father's surname (Boshen or Baschan) when they married in Germany and had their first two children, rather than Nagel, which he went by in England - his mother was Margaretha Magdalena Nagel. All the family in England and Australia (where I am) have always used Nagel. This is fascinating - I'm off to look at Daniel's records now. Thanks again, so much!