Copyright © Hans Högman 2017-08-10
Research of Soldiers,
Sweden
The Navy Rolls
The Navy archives are as a rule not
as well preserved as the Army
archives. The Navy archives start
with the year 1630 and contain the
same type of information as the
general muster rolls of the Army.
The Navy rolls also have notes
regarding experience in
seamanship, annual enrollment
(inmönstring) and discharge
(utmönstring), leave of absence
(permission), name of the ships etc.
The rolls also contain information regarding the
"fördubblingsmanskapet" (reserve båtsmän). These
reserve båtsmän are in the rolls next to the regular
båtsman.
(Catalogue: 500, 501 and 502)
See also the card index: "Rullor över sjömilitär
personal" (Rolls covering naval personal).
The Navy recruits were called "båtsmän" (seamen)
and served aboard the Navy ships. They manned the
artillery and also had sailing duties. (It is one båtsman
but two båtsmän.)
The system of recruiting "båtsmän" was very similar to
the system of recruiting soldiers in the infantry. A
number of farmers in coastal areas formed a "rote"
and were required to recruit a "båtsman" and provide
him with a croft (båtmanstorp) and a uniform. The
båtsmän were annually enrolled in early summer and
discharged at late fall (not necessarily every year).
The båtsmän were not kept together in regiments but
in companies. Respective "båtsmanskompani"
(båtsman company) belonged to a naval station
(örlogsstation), normally the station in Karlskrona or
Stockholm.
The Navy Archives contain five folio volumes:
Volym nr 1 (Volume no 1)
Volym nr 1, förteckning nr 500A (volume no 1,
catalogue no 500A), contains the "Amiralitetskollegiets
kansliers" archive (the Admiralty Board's secretariats'
archive)
Volym nr 2 (Volume no 2)
Volym nr 2, förteckning nr 501 (volume no 2,
catalogue no 501), (Sjömilitiekontoret - The office
for Naval Military Affairs) contains economical affairs
and records, among other's, the following four
departments:
1.
Regementsskrivaren för Båtsmanshållet - The
regimental scribe for the Navy Allotment System.
These rolls start in 1683.
2.
Regementsskrivaren för Kofferdibåtskompanierna
samt matros och Skeppsgossekåren - The
regimental scribe for the enlisted companies
(kofferdikompanier) plus the Seaman and Cabin
Boy Corps. These rolls start in 1758.
(Kofferdimatros = Navy seaman enrolled from
the merchant fleet. When they weren’t annually
enrolled they served on merchant ships).
3.
Regementsskrivarna för Volontär- och
Sjöartilleriregementena - The regimental scribes
for the Volunteer regiments and the Sea Artillery
Regiments. These rolls start in 1692 but contain
gaps during the 1700's.
4.
Timmermans- och Hantverksstaterna samt
Arbetskarlar och Arrestanter - The Carpenter's and
Craftsmen's Offices plus laborers and prisoners.
Only a few rolls from the years between 1771
and 1777 are preserved.
Volym nr 3 (Volume no 3)
Volym nr 3, förteckning nr 502 (volume no 3,
catalogue no 502), contain information regarding the
Administration of Justice (Rättskipningen), the
Commissariat Supply Service (Intendenturen) and the
Pilotage Service (Lotsväsenet).
Volym nr 4 (Volume no 4)
Volym nr 4, förteckning nr 503:A (volume no 4,
catalogue no 503:A), contains information regarding
the Army Fleet (The Galley Fleet). These rolls cover the
years 1756 to 1766, 1777 to1790 and 1797 to 1823.
Between 1756 and 1823 the Galley fleet was a part of
the Army and therefore called the Army Fleet. The
archive material is divided between the different
squadrons; The Stockholm, Finnish (Sveaborg), Åbo,
Stralsund, Landskrona, Malmö and Göteborg
squadrons. The number of squadrons has varied over
the years.
Volym nr 5 (Volume no 5)
Volym nr 5, förteckning nr 503:B (volume no 5,
catalogue no 503:B), contains information about the
Stockholm Naval Station and records both the Navy
and the Army Fleet personal. In 1824 the Army Fleet
was reorganized and become a part of the Navy.
These rolls start around 1715 even if older material is
available.
Rulllor Flotan 1635 - 1925, förteckning 503
(Navy Rolls 1635 - 1925, catalogue 503)
The Navy Allotment System's part of this archive is
organized per båtsman company.
Båtsmän
It is difficult to find an English translation of the title
"Båtsman". They were a type of seamen serving
aboard the Navy ships as explained above. The
special thing about the "båtsmän" were the way they
were provided, recruited and trained.
The "båtsmän" were deckhands doing all sorts of
duties plus manning the guns during battle. Generally
you could say that the "båtsmän" were low in rank
and duties on board the ships. Enlisted seamen
(kofferdimatroser) from the mercantile navy were in
charge of the qualified sailing duties on the ships. The
number of "båtsmän" aboard a ship of the line in the
1780's was about 250 and the number of enlisted
seamen about 20. Including the 110 army soldiers,
there was in total about 560 to 570 men and officers
aboard a ship of the line.
The title seaman is not incorrect but "seaman"
doesn't pinpoint the special type of seaman the
"båtsmän" were. A direct translation would be
boatsman, however there is no such naval title in the
English language. Since båtsmän only existed in
Sweden and since this title is very difficult to translate
I’ve kept the Swedish word "båtsman" in the articles
on my website. It then won't be mixed with any
English/American naval titles. It is "båtsman" in
singualr and "båtsmän" in plural.
More information about "båtsmän" and the båtsman
companies
In order to find a båtsman in the Navy rolls you have
to (like for the army soldiers and cavalrymen) know
the name of the parish where he lived in as an active
båtsman. Like for the Army personal you use the Grill
books to find name of the båtsman company the
båtsman served in.
Unlike the Army GMRs there are no uniting series of
rolls for the Navy. For the period after 1860,
information about the regular båtsmän should be
searched in the catalogues of the Båtsman
Company’s archives (Båtsmansrulla) belonging to
the Stockholm Naval Station or the Karlskrona Naval
Station. You will also find the båtsman's contracts in
the naval station's archives. The earliest are from the
1800's. The Kompanirulla (company rolls) were kept
from the 1800's to 1947 and corresponds to the
army's "stamrulla".
Rolls for the enlisted sailors
(enrolleringsmanskapet) are often found together
with the rolls for the regular båtsmän. The rolls for
the Cabin Boy Corps (Skeppsgossekåren) starts in
1677. The Cabin Boy Corps was situated at the naval
station in Karlskrona (south eastern Sweden). The
corps was divided into two companies in 1828 and
later a third company was established. In 1907
another Cabin Boy Corps (two companies) was
established at Marstrand on the west coast. This
corps belonged however to the Stockholm Naval
Station.
In order to find a member of the crew of a specific
ship you have to study the ship’s
skeppsmönsterrullor (Ship Muster Rolls). Information
of a ship’s naval expeditions is found in respective
ship’s logbooks.
Related Links
•
The Allotment System
•
Swedish Regiments
•
Swedish Military Unit Numbers
•
Tutorial: How to Research Soldiers
•
Tutorial: Conscription Enrollment Numbers
•
Example of soldier rolls & documents
•
About the enrollment Numbers (Conscripts)
•
Examples of different notations in general muster
rolls
•
Terms, soldier research
•
The rote numbering of the Södermanland
regiment
Source References
•
Krigsarkivet och släktforskaren, Christopher von
Warnstedt, SSGFs skriftserie, nr 1. 1989.
•
Släktforskaren och Krigsarkivet by Lars Ericsson,
article in Båtsmän, ryttare & soldater, Årsbok
Sveriges Släktforskarförbund 1988.
•
Soldatforska, Lars Ericson Wolke, 2012
•
Soldatforskning, by P Clemensson, L Ericsson, P
Frohnert and B Lippold. Krigsarkivet 1995.
•
Släktforskarna och Krigsarkivet, en vägvisare till de
militära källorna. Message from Krigsarkivet XIX,
2000.
•
Beståndsöversikt Krigsarkivet
•
Inskrivningar av värnpliktiga 1812 - 1969, en
översikt av Evabritta Personne, 1968.
•
My own experiences
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