[#65518] Searching court archives in Bergen.

[Gjest Rob Hansen]

Merry Christmas to everyone in the forum!!Please can you help with this :My grandfather was taken to Norway as a young child before his first birthday about 1905 and was brought up by his family in Ibestad.His mother returned to Norway in 1913 to reclaim him after the death of his father - There appears to have been a question of custody settled in a court room in Bergen- how do I find out about this particularly who in Norway was claiming custody of him.Thankyou for your help,Rob.

[Gjest Yngve Nedrebø]

In Bergen in 1913 you would find several different courts:'Bergen byfogd og byskriver' (county court/stipendiary magistrate's court for the town of Bergen), 'Bergen overrett' (appeal court for civilian lawsuits from parts of Western and Southern Norway) and 'Gulating Lagmannsrett' (criminal court for Western Norway). (Unfortunately, the archives of these courts were destroyed by a fire in January 1916, and only limited information can be found on the lawsuits brought to court in Bergen in 1913.)Ibestad is in Northern Norway, and lawsuits from that part of Norway should normally not appear in the Bergen courts. A lawsuit from Ibestad concerning custody, should be found in Statsarkivet i Tromsø.The best way of finding out would be be to collect the information you have got (names etc.), and send over to the Archives in Tromsø http://www.arkivverket.no/tromso/om.html.

[Gjest Rob Hansen]

Thankyou for your intelligent answer.It is difficult to know what my grandfather was doing in Bergen before travelling to the UK. There was a link between my geat grsndmother and the Mikkelsen family in Bergen. Do you know if any of this family are still alive / where I cuold contact them . They are the family of Christian Mikkelsen, ship owner of Bergen.Thankyou for your help,Rob Hansen.

[Gjest Yngve Nedrebø]

Christian Mikkelsen, ship owner of Bergen, as well as Norwegian prime minister at one time, died in 1925. He had one son, who died without heirs prior to his father's death, and a daughter, living in Eastern Norway. This daughter had a daughter, but she is dead, and I do not think this family could provide you with more information on your request.

[Gjest Rob Hansen]

Yes possibly- it has been surprisingly difficult to ascertain my grandfathers whereabouts in Norway post 1905 do you know when the 1911 census will be available for search