John William Strong was born in 1852 in Stockholm, Sweden.
He married Mary Jane Lea on May 1, 1882 in Christ Church, the Anglican church in Burgersdorp, Albert, Cape Province. She was 18 years old. He worked as a clerk at the time.[1] He was about 30 years old when they married.[2]
William and Mary had four children:
Albert Charles b. 1884
Josephine Ann b. 1886
William Edward b. 1887
Oscar b. 1889
John William was a clerk 1882-1884, a constable in 1887 and a police sergeant in 1889 according to the parish marriage and birth records.
William passed away on February 18, 1898 in Burgersdorp, Albert, Cape Province, South Africa. He was 46 years old and had suffered from phthisis (archaic name for tuberculosis) for 4 years. According to the death record he was to be buried in Burgersdorp Public Cemetery.[3]
16 March 1886. Daughter Josephine Ann is born. John William is a policeman. Sponsor is Mary Anne Brandt.
16 Nov 1887. Son William Edward is born. John William is a constable. Sponsors are William Wardhaugh (Mary Jane's uncle) and Mary Anne Brandt.
The entry above is the christening of Robert Edmund Halliday and Cathrine Graham's son William Thomas Lea. Halliday was a railroad worker.
16 May 1889. Son Oscar is born. John William is a police sergeant. Sponsors at Oscars christening are Albert Hiörth and Mary Anne Brandt.
Research notes
DNA testing in 2022 of a great grand child of John William Strong (Thora Walkden's daughter) strongly suggest that John William Strong is the same person as Swedish mariner Johan Thure Wilhelm Ström (1852-) from Västervik in Kalmar län, Sweden. This has yet to be proven by DNA segment triangulation though. Current matches no not support this . Their trees intersect in the same Swedish region, and some even in the same parish (Västervik in Kalmar län), but the lines are yet to be connected.
The second best DNA match of (Thora Walkden's daughter matched with a total of 67 cM and longest block 29 cM (67/29 cM). The match is from New Zealand and had one Swedish ancestor in her family tree: Swedish mariner Johan August Hjorth (1819-). Johan Thure Wilhelm Ström (1852-) is the son of Johan August's sister Josephina Johanna Euphrosyna Hjorth (1823-1863). Thora's daughter and her DNA-match would be 4th cousins if this is correct, and their shared DNA falls within the possible relationship range according to The Shared cM Project 4.0 tool v4 beta at DNA-painter.
Facts and pointers towards this being the correct person:
Johan Thure Wiliiam Ström is indeed a Swedish mariner who is listed as being "in Africa" during the correct time interval. He disappears in the Swedish records after 1882, the year he supposedly married in South Africa.
John William and Johan Wilhelm is the same name. It's not unusual for Swedish emigrants to omit one or more of their first names when they emigrated.
Ström (litt. stream in Swedish) pronounced with an English slant sounds a bit like Strong. It may just be a coincident though. Many emigrants changed their last names.
John William's daughter is called Josephine, the name of Johan Wilhelm's mother.
Sponsor to John William's son Oscar born in 1889 is an Albert Hjörth. Johan Wilhelm's mother's family name is Hjorth. Johan Thure Wilhelm was raised by his uncle Albert Edward Hjorth who passed away in Sweden in 1906. Did he visit? Is there another mariner Albert Hjorth in the family who emigrated to South Africa?
John William died young in tuberculosis. So did Johan Wilhelm's both parents.
John William worked as police officer. Johan Wilhelm's father was a police officer (landsgevaldier) and later a customs officer. Several of his maternal uncles were customs officers.
Contradictory facts
Last name differs: Strong vs Ström
Birth location differs: Västervik, Kalmar, Sweden vs Stockholm, Sweden.
The Swedish variant of the name John William Strong would be something like Johan Wilhelm Stark. Stark sounds like a typical soldier's name. Depending on the region, a soldier's name would or would not be kept by the children of a serving father. This is just speculation though. It was also common for emigrants to use part of a farm or location name to inspire a new last name. It may also be that John William just chose Strong when he immigrated.
John William may be from Stockholm, but is was not unheard of for emigrants to just state the capital as place of birth instead of the name of their birth parish.
↑ If the data in his death certificate is correct and he was born in 1852, it means he was 30 years old in 1882.
↑ "South Africa, Cape Province, Civil Records, 1840-1972," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2QM-HKRP : 10 March 2021), William Strong, 18 Feb 1898, Albert, Cape Province, South Africa; citing National Archives, Pretoria; FHL microfilm 1,768,719.
His estate file at the National Archives of South Africa (Cape Town) – file reference: MOOC Volume 6/9/642 Ref. 1216.
"South Africa, Cape Province, Probate Records of the Master of the High Court, 1834-1989", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPWP-WNHC : 27 April 2020), John William Strong, 1910.
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