Napoleon Victorinus Klarstrom was my great-grandmother’s older brother. I don’t know a whole lot about him. He was one of 10 children of Carl Magnus Klarstrom and Christina Elisabeth Bennberg. I posted a bit about him here and here.
I knew from an old letter written by Napoleon’s sister Olga, that Napoleon was a sailor that ended up in Australia – raising goats and sheep apparently. He was never heard from again though and no one knew what happened to him. I haven’t found him in any immigration records yet, but I was pleasantly surprised to actually find some proof of the link to Australia.
This was written in the New South Wales Police Gazette, dated 28 Jan 1920 – found on Ancestry.com.
It reads:
Breaches of the War Precautions Act and Regulations of 1914-1919
Binnaway. – Description of alien, Napoleon Victorinus Klarstrom, who left Hawthorne, Binnaway, about the 12th of November, 1919, and has since failed to give notice of change of abode, – About 40 years of age, 5 feet 8 inches high, medium build, fair complexion and hair, clean shaved, grey eyes, tattoo marks – palm tree on left forearm and girl on right forearm; walks with a limp in left leg; speaks with a foreign accent; a Swede; a labourer. Report if traced. Holds certificate No. 1, issued at Wallendbeen.
I really LOVE this find! It gives such a great description of him. A palm tree and a girl on his forearms, a limp, a foreign accent. I can totally see him as a sailor.
The reason for the article is more confusing to me though. I know that the War Precautions Act had something to do with aliens registering where they lived (during WWI in Australia). I don’t know if this means that he got in trouble with the law and had to register, or he simply had to register because he wasn’t Australian. Any ideas? World War I ended in 1918 and this was written in 1920. Any idea why he was still expected to register?
