Norwegian Research Part 1 - Reidar Toralf Bakke
Part 1 - Norwegian research
I've been given the task at Genealogy Sunshine Coast to research the origins of a man that appears in a couple of our research projects of late and thought I would post my efforts as I go along.
Reidar Toralf Bakke was a young Norwegian man living in Australia when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on the 17th April 1916. In his service record, available from the National Archives of Australia, he states he was born in Christiania (Oslo) Norway, is a Norwegian subject, age 24 and a farm labourer.
He lists his next of kin as his father, Adolf Bakke, of 17 Holand Gaden, Christiania, Norway. The records tell us that Reidar was of fair complexion, light blue eyes, fair hair, 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighed 9 stone and had some tattoos on his arms.
Reidar fought in France and was wounded in action (severe gunshot wound in the right arm) in October 1917 and returned to Australia for discharge in April 1918. He died in 1947 and was buried in the Woombye War Cemetery, age 54.
I will be focusing on Reidar's Norwegian ancestry.
Initial observations are:
1. absolute bonus having father's name and address gifted to me on his service record
2. bonus - 'Reidar' - unusual name - much better than Thor, Lars or John
3. the bad news - he was probably born in Christiania (Oslo) or rural outskirts and as there were many large parishes in and around Christiania, it could be a very long search for his baptism and other records for his family
4. possibly good or bad news - the name 'Bakke', a complication but a clue. A placename, a farm name? Possibly at some stage I'll have to leave Christiania and start looking in rural parishes. I'll have to see how that pans out as I go along.
Conclusion: could be challenging.
I've been given the task at Genealogy Sunshine Coast to research the origins of a man that appears in a couple of our research projects of late and thought I would post my efforts as I go along.
Reidar Toralf Bakke was a young Norwegian man living in Australia when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on the 17th April 1916. In his service record, available from the National Archives of Australia, he states he was born in Christiania (Oslo) Norway, is a Norwegian subject, age 24 and a farm labourer.
He lists his next of kin as his father, Adolf Bakke, of 17 Holand Gaden, Christiania, Norway. The records tell us that Reidar was of fair complexion, light blue eyes, fair hair, 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighed 9 stone and had some tattoos on his arms.
Reidar fought in France and was wounded in action (severe gunshot wound in the right arm) in October 1917 and returned to Australia for discharge in April 1918. He died in 1947 and was buried in the Woombye War Cemetery, age 54.
I will be focusing on Reidar's Norwegian ancestry.
Initial observations are:
1. absolute bonus having father's name and address gifted to me on his service record
2. bonus - 'Reidar' - unusual name - much better than Thor, Lars or John
3. the bad news - he was probably born in Christiania (Oslo) or rural outskirts and as there were many large parishes in and around Christiania, it could be a very long search for his baptism and other records for his family
4. possibly good or bad news - the name 'Bakke', a complication but a clue. A placename, a farm name? Possibly at some stage I'll have to leave Christiania and start looking in rural parishes. I'll have to see how that pans out as I go along.
Conclusion: could be challenging.
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