Genealogy Chat

My grandfathers passport, birth cert and naturilazation papers were destroyed before he died, he was so secretive about his life and although I have copies of his marriage and death certs, thats all I know. Would there be a 100-year rule on the naturalisation papers being viewed at Kew? I cant obtain his birth cert as he was born in Sweden and not only do I not speak the language, but we dont know WHERE in Sweden. :-((

Not sure about the naturalisation papers but as for obtaining his birth cert, well, it may not be impossible. Don't think you always have to speak the language to search in foreign countries!
There are many specialist sites in the English language which deal with searching in other countries, ie genforum.genealogy.com for a start, though there are others.
Go to the home page, scroll down and click on 'countries' which takes you to a long list, click on Sweden. Bingo. Ask away. You'll be surprised at how much information people offer.

I just googled 'genealogy searching Sweden' and a whole list of websites came up.

Good luck.

K

Thanks Karen, it seems like mission impossible but I'll venture out there now.

If you subscribe to Ancestry, click on the Ancestry Card Catalogue link and enter Sweden and Birth as keys words. Ensure the "Only records from the UK and Ireland" filter is unchecked ad do a search.

Although you may not be able to speak the language presumably you know your grandfathers name and probably his date of birth too.

Swedish Emigration records from 1738-1951 are one of the items listed.

Michael

Thanks Michael, I do have Ancestry, and do know his name and birth date. I've done a general search on him, but cant recall clicking on the card catalogue so I'll do that now. Thanks.

Romany my love, many Swedes speak better English than we do! So don't be put off with the language as it should not be a barrier.

Agree with Lesley! Swedes generally speak very good English. What was his name?

Hello Lesley :-) Ive sent off a couple of emails just now, and applied to join a Swedish genealogy message board so fingers crossed. Its not the largest country but its like searching for a needle in a haystack. Thank the Lord that foreigners do speak our language so well, not many of us are fluent in their languages lol.
Ann, I do have his details, its his ancestry Im interested in, he destroyed his ID, and was very secretive - a red rag to a genealogist! His name was Valdis Krilovs, but I think he was made to use his stepfathers surname of Swensson.

Have you found his naturalisation record in the National Archives catalogue? I can't see it.

Ann, no I havent. I know he took on British (or should that be English?) nationality when he came over, so presumed Kew would have the records. He had no paperwork at all in the house when he died, save the marriage cert.

You haven't said when he was naturalised - only records up to around 1930 are searchable on TNA's catalogue, I think. Later ones are indexed but you would have to go there to find them. You can apply to see the more "recent" ones. Have a look at their Research guide to Naturalisations which explains the procedure.

It would have been in the late 1940s, or 50s. I'd travel to Kew if it meant finding something but I dont know if I'd be allowed to view them, ie if enough time has passed. How long do you have to be in the UK for before you can become a citizen?

Have a look at the Research Guide that I mentioned. It tells you how to apply to look at more recent records.

You can apply to see naturalisation papers under the Freedom of Information Act. There is a page for doing this via email on the National Archives website.I did it recently for my father, although I haven't had time as yet to go and inspect them.

They do operate a 100 year rule which applies to all cases, unless you can prove the person is deceased. I had to send them a copy of dad's death certificate, before they would agree to open the file.

It took about three months from my initial request for the papers to be made available for viewing at Kew.

Brinsley, thats brilliant thanks. I dont suppose you know how much information is held?

No sorry, not until I go to Kew.