TOPIC:

Hello
I joined this site because my Grandfather, Giglio Pagani, emigrated from Fiume, Austria-Hungary,with his friend, Joe Forster, during the Boer war, on a British ship bound for the Cape with Remount horses.
He arrived in New Zealand in May 1902 on the SS Anglo-Canadian.
I am looking for any records of his voyage, what ship he left on, and any records of him in South Africa.

Hello Zaira
Welcome to the Forum.
Is it possible you could provide more details regarding your Grandfather? HIs date of birth, profession? On my first attempt of researching into Giglio I am only getting the New Zealand records and a prominent Pagani family in Lake Como Italy. I found a Josef Forster who was a cattlemen, born in Hungary and emigrated to the US. Not very productive I'm afraid. The more information you can share may provide clues to your request.

Dave..........

Hi Dave
I have made a lot of progress since I posted that question.
In case others are interested this is a useful site www.crewlist.org.uk/
and also this one: mha.mun.ca/mha/holdings/crewlist.php
It seems merchant navy ships aren't mentioned in the usual ship arrivals which seem to be passenger ships only, but merchant ships may be able to be traced through National Archives that hold govt records.
That sounds like the right Joe Forster as Fiume was in Hungary at the time of his birth which would be around 1882, the same as Giglio. I gather that the crew lists are mostly not indexed and so cannot be searched by name, but once you find the record for the ship then there may be records of the crew under the ship record..

Hi Zaira
Thank you for the Merchant Navy link.
Your Grandfather would have been aged about 17 when he left for South Africa. Prior to the merchant navy theory. I have searched for shipping documents regarding your information reference Giglio sailing to South Africa. Unfortunately, there were no matches. He would have probably travelled through Europe to a port for onward transit. I checked Italian, Portuguese, Madeira,Spanish, German,Gibraltar and the UK as he may have made his way to England. No luck with any of those.
It may be possible he used a false name to travel to S.A or he worked his passage to S.A onboard a ship. As for his embarkation to New Zealand in 1902 he could have returned with Colonial Forces and a fresh start in New Zealand. I found details of his time in New Zealand from 1928 to 1960 via electoral rolls. His marriage to Violet Beresford Hill 1916.
Interestingly, no information from 1902 to 1915. His profession was recorded as a fisherman and later a store man. The only shipping document I could find attributed to a G Pagani was in 1916 and this chap was a 33 year old engineer from Italy sailing from Southampton to New York. I hope you have better luck with the National Archives, they may hold the key to your Grandfather. With relation to him travelling on a remount / troopship, was this story passed down the family or is there any written documentation within the family which could help?

Thank you for all your work! I wasn't expecting that.
I have found him at those links I mentioned above. Now I just have to pay for the records and wait for them to be processed. The Canadian one had the crew agreement which will probably show the journey. That might show whether he spent any time in South Africa, I expect not, he probably just stayed with the ship. But I expect it to show if that is the ship he left Fiume on. National Archives show him on a Crew List.: Link:

National Archives UK - Ship: Anglo Canadian; Official number: 114766. W F Splatt; rank/rating, Master; age, 54;... | The National Archives (That link doesn't seem to post as a link for some reason)
Again I will have to purchase the actual record. Also I found a record of the ship in New Zealand in 1902. Probably in NZ to pick up horses to take to the Cape but the record does not say that.
I am interested in the record you found for Josef Forster. I would like to follow that up as well. Do you still have that reference? Where did you find that please?
Thank you again for your interest and help.

Here is the link I was trying to post. I hope this works. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14719865