Justin Cahill - The Petersens: From Norway to Croydon Bush

The Petersens

From Norway to Croydon Bush

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Copyright 2015 Justin Cahill

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Please send allinquiries to Justin Cahill at
PO Box 108, Lindfield, 2070
New South Wales, Australia

or e-mail tojpjc@ozemail.com.au

Cover: Peter and Annie Petersen, taken before their son,Henry, left for World War I with the Ninth Contingent, in November1916 (original photograph by courtesy of TerranceCasey).

Introduction

This is amemoir of Peter and Annie Petersen, the parents of Annie LauraNicholson, my great-grandmother. They were among the first settlersof Croydon Bush, a farming district near Gore in Southland. Butsettling there was only the last in a series of episodes theirfamilies had gone through before arriving in that remote andbeautiful place.

The Petersensare the most interesting branch of our family tree, but also themost enigmatic. The family history is full of tales of Sydneyconvicts, Mori princesses and Norwegian whalers who jumped ship,based on half-remembered stories and a few supporting documents.They are all told more fully in my book, A New Life in OurHistory.

As there werewomen named Annie in four generations of the family, sometimesits hard to follow whos who. There was Annie Laurie, who becameAnnie Edwards. Then there was her daughter, who became AnniePetersen. Then came her daughter, who became Annie Laura Nicholson.Lastly there was her daughter, who became Annie Dickey. To avoidconfusion, when it is not clear which Annie is mentioned I haveincluded her maiden name in brackets. I have referred to mygreat-grandmother, Annie Nicholson, as Laura, as that is how shewas known. I have also provided a family tree so that you can keeptrack of everyone.

I am gratefulto those who kindly helped me along the way by sharing theirmemories and lending me family photographs and papers. They includemy grandmother, the late Doris Biggar (Nicholson), my great-aunt,the late Annie Dickey, my great-uncle Lewis Nicholson, mygreat-aunt Isabel Cunningham and their cousins the late PeterAlexander Petersen, Mary Palmer, the late Violet and Bessie Lynch,Rose Hawke, Gordon Hewlett and Terence and Dennis Casey. I amindebted to Jill Mitchell for her paper about the Edwards family,Where did she come from ???, the she being Annie Edwards(Laurie). I am also indebted to John Williams for his paper onAnnie Edwards (Laurie), Who are Annie Lauries Parents ? Iam also grateful to Nancy Nicholson, Russell Biggar, Graeme Biggar,my mother Kathleen Cahill (Biggar), the late Margaret van Sprang,April Fisher, Brenda Donovan, Auriette Gilmour, Ann Cooper, MariaAiau, Anne Golding, Lynette Graham and Dale Nicholson forinformation and material.

Des Matagakindly provided me with copies of the letters of Annie Edwards(Laurie) and family photographs collected by the late DulcieBooker. Information on the Edwards, Perry and Baggott families waskindly provided by Jill Karetai, Nola Edmonds, Nerida Been, BrucePerry, the late Stewart Smith, Anna Gratton, Lorraine McDonald andMurray Kelly. The late Paula Dickie, author of A History ofCroydon Bush provided me with material from her files. BruceCavanagh of the Gore Historical Museum provided material from theMuseums collections. The staff at the New Zealand Registry ofBirths, Deaths and Marriages and the Dunedin Regional Office ofArchives New Zealand were unfailingly helpful and efficient.

I was fortunateto meet Mary Plank, Peter and Annies last surviving daughter, inFebruary 2001. Mary was 97 then and passed on some of the oralhistory of the Edwards and Petersen families. I am also grateful toBruce Mitchell, who lives next to the land once held by thePetersen family at Croydon Bush and gave me a guided tour in2007.

I went to thePetersen family reunion at Bluff in 2007 and often still oftenthink of the amazing Bluff oysters, mussels and paua patties servedup for lunch ! As there is another reunion this year, I offer thismemoir of our pioneering ancestors. It is a work in progress, aliving document that can be added to and corrected. Ive detailedthe sources used in the endnotes. There are, inevitably, mistakesand omissions in any history and I would be very happy to hear fromanyone who wishes to provide additional material or correct errors.If anyone wants further copies of this book or of the familyphotographs used in it, just contact me at the above addresses.

Justin Cahill,Lindfield

16 February2015

Stop Press

Thanks toresearch by members of the Norway Heritage website(www.norwayheritage.com), I think we can now say the PeterPetersen mystery has been solved. I am especially grateful to ViviBekk for her research and providing me with copies of originalNorwegian documents and her translations of them.

24 February2015

I

Mothers are often anxious about their daughters. The worriesof Mrs Bennett, mother of five daughters in Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice ,reflect what they go through. The businessof her life Austen tells us was to get her daughtersmarried .

While Annie Edwards (Laurie) could relate toMrs Bennet, being deeply religious she took a more philosophicattitude to life. Even so, Annie was starting to worry. By 1880 shewas the proud mother of four daughters. Elizabeth, her eldest girl,was 17. Mary, the next eldest, was only a year behind. But whatkind of husbands would they get ?

That November Annie wrote to her cousin, Polly Gibbons,confiding her worries. Annie weighed up her daughters strengths.Mary, she wrote, was a clever girl shecan do all manner of wool workand cook As for Elizabeth, [she] is more forthe dairy .

Annie understood that some parents took it upon themselves tofind their daughters a goodmatch . But Annie and her husband,William, preferred to ... let them choosefor themselves . Even so, any futurehusbands had to measure up to certain standards. I think a girl should [find] a goodworking man Annie explained toPolly. [I]fa girl can get a truegentleman she is lucky but nine out of ten make very bad husbandsfor girls for when the cash runs short theydo not know where toturn themselves [or] what to do .

Elizabeth and Mary had no trouble attracting suitors.Elizabeth was being courted by Edward Henry Gibbs and Mary byArchie Ingram Baggott. Annie and Edward observed both men closelybefore giving their daughters permission to marry. Annie told Pollythat it took a little time for us to makeup our minds; it took some time to see that the young [men] weregood workers and honest boys; and they have proved themselves allthat .

Elizabeth and Edward Gibbs were married in about 1879 andmoved to Big Bay, on the west coast of the South Island. MaryEdwards and Archie Baggott were married in 1880. Annie shared herrelief when sending Polly a piece of Marys wedding cake. I have been busy with getting my poor girlaway Annie wrote it is a great relief to get themmarried and off your mind; they both [Elizabeth and Mary] have goodhusbands; that is one good thing they are not rich but veryrespectable young men and good workers .

Another,not-so-young man would soon come under Annie and Williamsscrutiny.

II

Peter Herman Petersen is one of the more enigmatic figures inour family history. Originally from Norway, he was quite short, hadthick blonde hair, fair skin, striking blue eyes and was of a retiringdisposition . Hewas born sometime between about 1851 and 1857 to Peter or DanielPetersen and Jeannie Johnston. Where they lived and how they made aliving are uncertain. Peter described his father as afisherman. Others say his parents weremusic teachers, that his father taught the cello and violin and hismother the piano. The family are said to have lived Kristiana, nowOslo. There may be something in this, as Peter was a talentedmusician. Mary Plank, his daughter, recalled that he played theviolin like aprofessional . Hewas also a good singer and performed at local functions.