[#7777] William Samson - Arendal to Australia

[Gjest Carol Foster]

My grt. grt. grandfather came to Australia from Norway in 1853. After a long search of the records I finally found the record of his application for Naturalisation. It took a year by year search of the government records until I found the application which was made 61 years after his arrival - I had just about given up hope of finding any record that would help me begin my search in Norway. According to the Application for Naturalisation WILLIAM SAMSON was born 7th August 1834 at Arendal, Aust-Agder. Unfortunately, that is the only information I have. The name he used in Australia was "William Samson", but I am uncertain as to what his name would have been in Norway i.e. Samson, Samsonson, Samuelson etc. Could anyone be so kind as to look in the Arendal Bygdebøker for any possible record of a child born on or about 7th August 1834 named William. Also, could you tell me if there was a family living in Arendal which could possibly have a family name which could be anglicised to 'Samson'. I would greatly appreciate any assistance in tracing William's family history. I am trying to learn about the records available in Norway and the variations that a Patronymic name could make, but in Australia there is little information on Norway available, and trying to read the Norwegian Internet sites with the assistance of a dictionary and word list is a very slow process. Unfortunately there was not the amount of emigration to Australia as there was to America and hence there has not been the formation of Lodges and Societies in Australia as there has been in America.

[Gjest Ron Berkland]

Hi CarolI offer this information for what it's worth - which may or may not be very much.In 1868 I had a granduncle named Peder Svensen who came to the United States to join my great grandmother, Torborg Philipsdatter, and my grandgather, Ole Johnsen. Ole and Peder were half brothers, born to Torborg with different fathers. In the 1870 census of the United States they appeared as a family living in LaSalle county in Illinois under the name Samson with Peder being the head of the household.For years I was perplexed by the name Samson and had no idea how or why that had been chosen as a surname here in the U.S.Then one day I was reading some letters that had been written in 1887 by a cousin of my grandfather's, Berthe Serine Bjårvåg, to her parents back in Norway (Several of her letters, incidentally, are included in the book "In Their Own Words" by Salveig Zempel) in which she was explaining that she was going to name her new son Sven. She then went on to explain that although Sven would be his name, here in the United States he would be called Sam or Sammy because that was the equivalent Sven. It then dawned on me that Peder had apparently used the same reasoning in choosing a surname when he came to this country and hence the name Samson.I should mention that he later elected to use Swensen as a surname and my grandfather adopted the surname of Phillips.Whether or not Sam was the equivalent of Sven in Australia, I can't say. But, it might be worth a minute or two to investigate the possibility.Ron Berkland

[Gjest Jarl V. Erichsen]

Hi! I live near Arendal, but I'm not able to reach any church-records. Arendal is a city, and its not usual with "bygdebøker" for such areas. In an old book I found the name "Samsing" (given names Helene/Michel/Søren)in Arendal. Could there be any transfoming of that name?

[Gjest Carol Foster]

Hello to Jarl Erichsen and Ron Berkland, thank you so very much for answer the submission about William SAMSON.

[Gjest Harald Storaker]

I made some searches at FamilySearch internet (LDS IGI). I found one possible candidate:Willum SØRENSEN Christening: 19 Oct 1834 Østre Moland, Aust-Agder, Norway Father: Søren WILLUMSEN Mother: Marthe OLSDR Batch number: C421263Østre Moland is near Arendal. I think they usually did not wait as long as 2 month for baptizm, but it was possible.Sørensen usually was changed to Sorenson by emigration. But perhaps - -

[Gjest Carol Foster]

Thank you Harold Storaker for taking the time to look for William Samson.Any suggestions and all advice is greatly appreciated as I have little information on William's family. I am trying to learn about the Norwegian records but having no knowledge of the language I am finding it difficult and appreciate any assistance.