My g-g-grandfather Lorence Johnson was born in Kiel, Denmark, in 1838. In his Australian naturalisation certificate dated 1909 he said that he had come to Australia in 1852 on the Winterthur (which I can't find in 1852 but can in 1854) but also that he was a naturalised subject of England. I can't locate him or his parents in either the 1841 or 1851 census (go figure - William and Catherine Johnson...) so he may have come over after 1841 and then set sail for Oz before 1854. I'd love some help with how to locate naturalisation certificates for this time period in England!

Hi,
See

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-perso...

I have found this on the internet

WINTERTHUR 2 voyages to Auckland, one 1865 with 126 passengers, one in 1866 with 59 passengers.


AUGUSTUS WATTENBACH (1855)
KING OF ITALY [1861]

The British ship AUGUSTUS WATTENBACH was built under Lloyd's Register of Shipping Special Survey, at Bremerhaven, by R. C. Rickmers, in 1855 (completed [seefertig] on 30 August 1855), the third of three vessels commissioned by Wattenbach & Heilgers from Rickmers. (The other vessels were the WINTERTHUR, 648 brutto register tons, built in 1853, and the IDA ZIEGLER, 955 brutto register tons, built in 1854.) Measurements at time of build: 1,595 brutto register tons; 64 x 11.56 meters (length x beam) [Otto Höver, Von der Galiot zum Fünfmaster: unsere Segelschiffe in der Weltschiffahrt 1780-1930 (Bremen: Angelsachsen-Verlag, 1934), pp. 265-266]. The annual volumes of Lloyd's Register of Shipping for 1856/57-1873/74 contain the following information on the AUGUSTUS WATTENBACH:

I hope this helps you in some way.

Thanks, I had found something like this, unfortunately my bloke says he came out to Australia in 1852!

Would this be of any help:-

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/n...

There is no record for a Lorence Johnson in the British Naturalisation records at The National Archives, Kew, England, although it could be done by a Private Act of Parliament. Johnson is a British name and it may be that his name could have been Johnsson or Johansson or similar and he used the name Johnson whilst in England. Incidentally Kiel is in Germany but was apparently ruled by the Danish King.

Thanks to all for suggestions. I've followed a few leads - Lorence is also not spelt in the British way, so it may be that the name was Anglicised. What I know is that his father's name is given as William Johnson, occupation Mariner, and his mother Catherine Peter. He was born in Kiel while it was part of Denmark, then I am estimating sometime between 1842 and maybe 1852 he was in England. I'm not sure why he would have been naturalised there, however on his Australian naturalisation records it does say that he was a naturalised citizen of England. He says he came to Australia in 1852 on the Winterthur, but I can find a record of that ship arriving in Australia only in 1852. No sign of them in the 1851 census that I can see. I'm officially stumped.

I wonder if you have not approached this from the wrong end and that the clue could lie in the occupation "Mariner"? If William Johnson was a "Mariner" why could he not have been a simple British mariner with a simple British name - William Johnson? He may not have had "a wife in every port" but he could have had a legitimate one in Kiel but made sure his son was registered as British in whatever way was necessary then - which has been put as "naturalisation" but not in the sense we take today. If I were in your shoes I would start looking for marriages, births and emigration from Kiel. May not work but seemingly nothing else has! Yes Kiel is in present-day Germany but was involved in one of the hottest 19th century political arguments - the famous "Schleswig-Holstein" Question - who owned the bits on the border of Germany and Denmark, put simply anyway. Good luck.

Thanks! That's an interesting perspective and one which I will certainly try and pursue

Sue

Sue,
If you look at www.kiel.de you will get the official website for Landeshauptstadt, Land (Province) Capital, Kiel. Many of these have an English version, just had a quick look and this doesn't seem to, however perhaps you could get someone to help you because it does refer to its archives and libraries which is where you might get information. If you get really stuck, come back and I will see what I can do. There are online translators but most of them are pretty dire except for the odd word. Good luck.