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« on: Tuesday 04 August 09 18:46 BST (UK) »
Hi Linda!
If you ancestor was Swedish speaking, then he would probably have spelt his name "Karl Kvarnström"
Kvarnström means "running water next to a mill" - a watermill. It's the sort of name that lots of swedish speaking people took in the 1800's when they didn't want to be called "hansson" or "svensson" any more. It means that your ancestor wasn't necessarily related to other people with the name Kvarnström unless you know the parish that he came from.
It may be that he came from sweden. it may also be that he came from the Finnish speaking part of Finland. Finland at that timeincluded the area Karelia which is close to St Petersberg and there were Swedish speaking people who lived in Karelia ( like the poet Edith Södergran).
Also at that time the finnish merchant navy sailed under the russian flag so if he came to England as a sailor for example ( not unusual ) then he would have sailed under thje russian flag even if he was a swedish speaking finn.