Sheila Oakley and a Norwegian Sailor

[Carla Elise]

Hello,
I feel silly for posting this here as it seems impossible but need help finding the identity of a man pictured in a photograph.

My Grandfather, Cyril John Hamilton Oakley was born in Tasmania, Australia in 1927. His mother, Sheilah Evelyn Ismay Oakley died in 1933 and he was raised by his grandparents. He was always told that his father was a Norwegian sailor.

After researching the family tree it was discovered that she had an affair with the sailor between marriages. When I searched for reasons why a Norwegian sailor would be in Tasmania at that time I discovered the Nielsen Alonso, a Norwegian whaling vessel called at Hobart during this time before proceeding to the Ross Sea, in the Antarctic.

I then stumbled upon a collection of photographs from this voyage and immediately spotted a man who looks remarkably like my Grandfather. My entire family is convinced and we've even "adopted" him as our own (my mother going as far as jokingly framing the photo and placing it with other ancestors!) We know that it's unlikely to be my Great Grandfather but finding the name of his father was extremely important to my Grandfather before he passed away and it is not included on his birth certificate.

I'm happy to accept that we'll never find out but thought I'd post here to see if anyone has any idea about possible sources for tracing the identity of this man.

Link to photo. He is on the left.

http://images.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/Exhibitions/Fullimage.asp?ExhibitID=00000002&ExhibitTitle=Nielsen+Alonso+Voyage&ID=00000124


Many thanks,
Carla

I have changed the subject line for this post as it's already on Google and including her name would provide better search results.

[Lass]

Hi Carla!

I won't even pretend to know how to help you, but I'm at work and bored 

Just a thought - is there anyway of finding the names of the crew aboard the Nielsen Alonso?  Perhaps there might be a tie with one of your grandfather's middle names, or are those passed down from previous ancestors?

Good luck!!

Lass x

[Carla Elise]

Hi Lass,

Thanks for your reply. I have tried finding the crew list without success. I have traced the Oakley side of the family tree and there's no record of any one named Hamilton. So I thought it could be his name but it's a long shot! 

[RJ_Paton]

You may have read this before Google Books - Nielsen Alonso which also makes reference to the number of Australians who shipped as crew aboard this ship on its whaling trips.

[Carla Elise]

Thanks so much Falkyrn. I've seen similar books on Google but not that one!

[newbie]

Is there a Norwegian Archives like our National Archives in the UK, if so, then they may be able to help you, I too thought of a Ships crew list, I think I remember(  from the depths somewhere) reading that crew lists were kept for insurance purposes as well? what about where the ship was registered, was it Norway? Do they have anything similar to Lloyds of London?
good luck
newbie

[grandma]

I posted "norwegian whaling ship nielson alonso 1927" on Google, lots of info there. I live in Norway and will see if I can dig up any info for you, won,t be to-day as I,m going out. Maybe I can find the names of the crew.
Mary

[Carla Elise]

Thanks Newbie. I do recall reading about where the ship was registered but will have to search through the hundreds of bookmarks to find it or look for it again. I never thought of a Norwegian Archives, so I'll definitely give that a go.
Carla

[Carla Elise]

Thanks so much Mary - any help would be greatly appreciated