the genealogy

My connection to Denmark and Norway begins with the three great, great grandparents who migrated to Queensland in the 19th Century.

They were:

Jens Peter Jensen, born 14 January 1845 in Snertinge, Særslev Parish, Skippinge Herred, Holbæk Amt, Denmark. Jens appears to have been the fourth illegitimate child of Jensine Christiane Jensdatter, who claimed Jens’ father was Jens Hansen. Jens Peter Jensen arrived in Maryborough on the ‘Shakespeare’, a boat that sailed from Hamburg early 1871 and arrived in Hervey Bay in June. There were cases of small pox on board the ship and consequently, passengers were quarantined until August. Jens married a young German woman in 1882, Marie Louise Auguste Sempf, and they had eight children: Herbert Peter, Eunice Marie, Caroline, Elsie, Helene Sophie, Victor Charles, Camilla and Edna Alexandra Dagmar.

Jens Peter died in 1928 in St Mary’s Private Hospital and in his obituary, printed in the Maryborough Chronicle, he is described as “an old and respected identity of the Maryborough district.” His obituary went on to state that “the late Mr Jensen was a civil engineer in the employ of the Queensland Government for a number of years, but he was forced to relinquish that work for health reasons. He later followed other vocations and retired about five years ago to Pialba.”

He was buried in the Maryborough Cemetery, while his wife, who died five years previously, was buried at Appletree Creek, near Childers.

Frederick Pedersen was born in Oslo (then Kristiania) 14 January 1850 and baptised Frederick Martinsen at the Oslo Domkirken on 1 April of that year. Following the Norwegian custom, his last name was a patronymic, derived from his father’s name, Martinius. At some point, Frederick assumed his father’s last name, Pedersen, and chose to use that as his family name from then on. His Mother was Maren Kirstine Jörgensdatter.

Anne Lovise Iversdatter, whose maiden name came to be recorded in Australia as Iversen, Everson and a range of other things, was born 7 February 1844 in the Aremark parish of Østfold in Eastern Norway. Her parents were Iver Iversen and Mari Larsdatter and she was one of at least 8 children. Her family were living at the Lervig farm. On 18 April 1871 she registered her intention to emigrate in the Aremark parish register, stating her intended destination as ‘Amerika’.

Frederick and Anne Lovise married at the Gamle Aker church on 28 April 1871 and left for Australia on board the ‘Lammershagen’, which sailed into Keppel Bay in Central Queensland in September 1871. Frederick and Anne Lovise then travelled to Aramac in the Central West, before Frederick got a job with the Railways. They had six children together: Mary Ann, Emily, Christian Frederick, Louisa, Maren Elizabeth and Edward Martin. Frederick retired in Emerald in 1912 and Anne Lovise died there in 1918. She was buried in Emerald. Frederick went on to live with one of his sons in Rockhampton until his death in 1937. He was buried in the North Rockhampton Cemetery.