ANDERSON, Hannah Birgitte Kirstine
Born c1867; died 1 December 1918; buried 3 December 1918; age 51
The eldest daughter of naturalised Danish migrants, Hans and Kerrsten THEMSEN, Hannah was born in Copenhagen. Her given names are spelt in different ways in different records – Hanna Birgitke/Birgette/Bergitta Kirstene/Kristine. The family, comprising Hannah, and three siblings – Minnie, Albert Johannes, and Frederick Ferdinand came to New Zealand some time before 1876. They seem to have been among Scandinavians taking up an assisted immigration scheme promoted throughout Norway, Denmark, and Sweden during the 1870s. A key part of Vogel’s immigration and public works plans at the time was to establish Scandinavian settlements along surveyed road and rail lines through the bush from the Wairarapa to Hawke’s Bay. Initially, prospective migrants were promised free passage and 10 acres of land by the government of New Zealand. Some immigration schemes offered subsidised passage and 40 acres of land. During the early years of assisted migration (1871 – 76) there were 3,327 Scandinavian arrivals in New Zealand.
In 1876, the birth of a further son to Hans and Kerrsten was registered in New Zealand, and he was named Theen Johannes Themsen. The family settled in Masterton where the father, Hans, worked as a carpenter.
In February 1885 when Hannah was aged about 18 she married Ole ANDERSON (sometimes spelt Andersen), who was also Danish. He was a settler from Tauweru/Taueru, a small settlement in the Wairarapa (on the Masterton/Castlepoint Road). Hannah and Ole had four children:
Florence Rubina (1886)
Marion Rosaline (known as Rosie) (1887)
Walter Hillier (1888)
Elsie Gladys (1893).
The family moved to Hastwell, a tiny bush settlement 5km east of the main road between Mount Bruce and Eketahuna, where Ole worked as an engine driver in timber milling and bush work. In June 1888, he sustained a serious head injury in a work accident (source Papers Past).
Hannah and Ole divorced and Hannah moved to Wellington, living first (according to the 1911 Electoral Roll for Wellington Central) at 29 Nairn Street with her second daughter Rosie. By the time the 1914 Electoral Roll was compiled Hannah was living at 9 Hopper Street in Mount Cook, a couple of streets away from her daughter Florence and son-in-law Matthew Hildreth ROBINSON who lived at 19 Tasman Street.
As if prescient, Hannah made her will on 5 July 1918 dividing her estate among her children equally. Slightly less than 5 months later she was dead, succumbing to influenza on 1 December 1918 at the temporary hospital set up at St John’s Presbyterian Church, on the corner of Willis and Dixon Streets.
Her death was announced in the Evening Post on 3 December:
Hannah Birgette Kirstlne Anderson, the dearly beloved mother of Mrs. M.H. Robinson, Wellington, Mrs. W. N. Chilman, Wellington, Mrs. T.W. Jones, Batavia, Java, and Walter H. Anderson, Royal Flying Corps, England.
A year later her children inserted two memorial notices in the Evening Post on 1 December 1919, the first of which included the following verse:
A faithful mother, true and kind,
No one on earth like her we find;
One year has passed, but none can tell
The loss of a mother we loved so well.
This notice also stated her son Walter was living in London, her daughter Rosie was in Colombo, Ceylon, and Elsie was in Sydney.
The second notice was from ‘her loving family, Flo, Rosie, Elsie, and Walter’ and included another loving verse:
A better mother never lived,
Nor one more true and kind;
Her equal in this weary world
You'll very rarely find.
In memoriam notices were also inserted in 1920, 1921, and finally in 1922.
Hannah’s mother had died in 1908. Her father continued to live in Masterton and work as a carpenter until his death there in 1933. Ole Anderson also died in 1933.
Researched and written by Jenny Robertson
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 167 E
Born c1867; died 1 December 1918; buried 3 December 1918; age 51
The eldest daughter of naturalised Danish migrants, Hans and Kerrsten THEMSEN, Hannah was born in Copenhagen. Her given names are spelt in different ways in different records – Hanna Birgitke/Birgette/Bergitta Kirstene/Kristine. The family, comprising Hannah, and three siblings – Minnie, Albert Johannes, and Frederick Ferdinand came to New Zealand some time before 1876. They seem to have been among Scandinavians taking up an assisted immigration scheme promoted throughout Norway, Denmark, and Sweden during the 1870s. A key part of Vogel’s immigration and public works plans at the time was to establish Scandinavian settlements along surveyed road and rail lines through the bush from the Wairarapa to Hawke’s Bay. Initially, prospective migrants were promised free passage and 10 acres of land by the government of New Zealand. Some immigration schemes offered subsidised passage and 40 acres of land. During the early years of assisted migration (1871 – 76) there were 3,327 Scandinavian arrivals in New Zealand.
In 1876, the birth of a further son to Hans and Kerrsten was registered in New Zealand, and he was named Theen Johannes Themsen. The family settled in Masterton where the father, Hans, worked as a carpenter.
In February 1885 when Hannah was aged about 18 she married Ole ANDERSON (sometimes spelt Andersen), who was also Danish. He was a settler from Tauweru/Taueru, a small settlement in the Wairarapa (on the Masterton/Castlepoint Road). Hannah and Ole had four children:
Florence Rubina (1886)
Marion Rosaline (known as Rosie) (1887)
Walter Hillier (1888)
Elsie Gladys (1893).
The family moved to Hastwell, a tiny bush settlement 5km east of the main road between Mount Bruce and Eketahuna, where Ole worked as an engine driver in timber milling and bush work. In June 1888, he sustained a serious head injury in a work accident (source Papers Past).
Hannah and Ole divorced and Hannah moved to Wellington, living first (according to the 1911 Electoral Roll for Wellington Central) at 29 Nairn Street with her second daughter Rosie. By the time the 1914 Electoral Roll was compiled Hannah was living at 9 Hopper Street in Mount Cook, a couple of streets away from her daughter Florence and son-in-law Matthew Hildreth ROBINSON who lived at 19 Tasman Street.
As if prescient, Hannah made her will on 5 July 1918 dividing her estate among her children equally. Slightly less than 5 months later she was dead, succumbing to influenza on 1 December 1918 at the temporary hospital set up at St John’s Presbyterian Church, on the corner of Willis and Dixon Streets.
Her death was announced in the Evening Post on 3 December:
Hannah Birgette Kirstlne Anderson, the dearly beloved mother of Mrs. M.H. Robinson, Wellington, Mrs. W. N. Chilman, Wellington, Mrs. T.W. Jones, Batavia, Java, and Walter H. Anderson, Royal Flying Corps, England.
A year later her children inserted two memorial notices in the Evening Post on 1 December 1919, the first of which included the following verse:
A faithful mother, true and kind,
No one on earth like her we find;
One year has passed, but none can tell
The loss of a mother we loved so well.
This notice also stated her son Walter was living in London, her daughter Rosie was in Colombo, Ceylon, and Elsie was in Sydney.
The second notice was from ‘her loving family, Flo, Rosie, Elsie, and Walter’ and included another loving verse:
A better mother never lived,
Nor one more true and kind;
Her equal in this weary world
You'll very rarely find.
In memoriam notices were also inserted in 1920, 1921, and finally in 1922.
Hannah’s mother had died in 1908. Her father continued to live in Masterton and work as a carpenter until his death there in 1933. Ole Anderson also died in 1933.
Researched and written by Jenny Robertson
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 167 E