Tuesday 8 October 2019

Genealogical Oddities (LVI): A Swede in (17)70s Málaga

Málaga's church of San Juan
On the on the 26th of July 1779 at Málaga's parish of San Juan, Lorenzo Nicolás Wassberg, a native of Stockholm, legitimate son of "Don Nicolas Wassberg y Doña María Kansenstierna", married Doña Josefa Ferrari, native of Gibraltar, legitimate daughter of Don Francisco Ferrari and Doña Maria Facila. This entry was added to the marriage register in use three years later, for reasons not explained.

This entry amused me because as anyone who spent time on the Costa del Sol in the 1970s or early '80s will know, the groom was perhaps the earliest forerunner of a huge wave of Scandinavians who would settle there two centuries later. The priest who married him had probably never seen a Swedish name before. The groom's name at home was likely Lars Niklas Wassberg, or perhaps Lars Niklas Wessberg. His mother's surname could have been Lansenstierna, Glansenstierna, Kyulenstierna, Insenstierna, von Krusenstierna...? Perhaps a descendant of this match will emerge through Google to claim his or her Spanish connection! My thanks to Martin Sunnqvist for enlightening me as to the correct Swedish spelling of these names and possibilities.

SOURCE: Málaga Diocesan Archive, Records of Málaga city's parish of San Juan, Box 462, Marriages 1780-1785, P. 58