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The New Zealand Connection THE THOMSEN FAMILY has a link to New Zealand through the descendants of Hans Thomsen, the fourth child and third son of ship Capt. Tolleif Thomsen and Katrine Nilsdatter of Engesund, Norway. Hans' son, Hans Carl, immigrated to New Zealand in the 1870s, married and had a family there but left no male heirs. Hans Thomsen was born on Sept. 12, 1824, at Kroken Under Sunde farm on Tysnes Island about 40 miles south of Bergen, Norway. He was baptized on Sept. 19, 1824, on Tysnes and was confirmed on Aug. 11, 1840, at Fitjar Church on Stord Island. In 1851 Hans bought Straumøy farm the Sveio (Valestrand) area. About the same time he married Kari Knudsdatter (1826-1872) of Austvik. Hans died on Oct. 8, 1853, at his farm and was buried on Oct. 13, 1853. He was just 29 years old. His only child, a son named Hans Carl, was born about three months after his death on Jan. 5, 1854, at the Straumøy farm. When the baby was baptized on Feb. 19,1854, his sponsors were Guri Andersdatter, Oline Olsdatter, Knud Knudsen, Gunder Johannessen and Taulerius Thomsen. Hans Thomsen's estate was one horse, five cows, 25 sheep, one timbered house, two fishing boats, a new boathouse, a bridal crown and a half partnership in three fishing nets and a grain mill. He also owned a Bible, a prayer book, a Bible songbook, three hymnals, a book on Christian marriage, three bundles of "small books," and books entitled "The Speeches of Gosner," "Heart's Mirror" and "The Soul's Song Offerings." Hans' farm was appraised at 525 specie (silver) dollars. The sum was a large one for a farm like his and indicates that Hans was a clever and capable man. His widow Kari married Jon Johannessen (1831-1919) of B¿mlo in 1855. Jon took over the farm. They had three children. Hans Carl Thomsen was raised by his mother and stepfather at Straumøy. About 1870 the 16-year-old sailed for New Zealand. A year or two later he returned to Norway, stayed there for a time and then returned to New Zealand for good. The story of Hans Carl would have been lost at this point had not one of his daughters, Anne Wallace, contacted T.G. Thomsen and his daughters, Astrid and Marie, when she visited the United States in the late 1940s. Astrid subsequently visited Anne in Norway and England and contacted other descendants of Hans Carl when she visited New Zealand in 1991. One of Anne Wallace's daughters (and Hans Carl's granddaughter), Audrey Carlyle, still lives there and provided the following information about his life. Hans Carl (also known as H.C.) had a farm near Masterton, which is northeast of Wellington, New Zealand. He was married to Ellen or Helen Griffiths, a woman of Welsh origin who immigrated to New Zealand from Birmingham, England, date unknown. She had been a school teacher and Bible bookstore clerk. At some point she and Hans Carl separated, and she died in a rest home, place and date unknown. Hans Carl died "during the war years" when Audrey was "about 12." She was 78 when I spoke to her in late 2005, so she was born in 1927. That means Hans Carl must have died about 1939. He and Ellen had "three or four children," of whom two survived to adulthood: Anne Wallace and Kari Bradford. A son, George, died in a mental institution. Hans Carl was a farmer, "and a poor one at that," Audrey said. He chose land with inadequate soil and tried to raise Merino sheep, which were not suited to the place where he lived. They became diseased and had to be killed. Audrey said Hans Carl was a self-centered, domineering, cruel and eccentric man. As a parent he was a strict disciplinarian who verbally and physically abused his children. Audrey believes the boy George was institutionalized as a result of being struck on the head or ears by Hans Carl. Hans Carl's reputation for abuse was so bad that Audrey's father confronted him about it and absolutely forbid him to touch Audrey or any other of his grandchildren. She said Hans Carl was nominally a Lutheran but attended Plymouth Bretheren meetings because they were closest to his beliefs (the Plymouth Bretheren is a major denomination in New Zealand). Hans Carl had belonged to a sect in Norway that believed that once you accepted Christ you could do no wrong. Audrey didn't know the name of the sect. For some reason, Hans Carl was kind to Audrey and they got along well together. Perhaps he mellowed in his 80s, or perhaps it was the warning from Audrey's father. She said Hans Carl wore hobnailed boots and had a particular stomping walk that she liked to imitate as a child. Hans also chewed "snuse" and paused often to spit when he walked, something she also imitated. Hans Carl could play the violin very well. He told Audrey about Tolleif Thomsen's voyages but nothing about his own life growing up in Norway. Perhaps Hans Carl was an embittered stepchild who had himself been abused. In his final years Hans Carl ran for the New Zealand parliament on an anti-immigrant platform. He apparently failed to see the irony of this. New Zealand had many settlers from Scandinavia but they had been assisted by the British and New Zealand governments in coming to the country, while Hans Carl had paid his own pasage. As a result, he refused to associate with any Scandinavians in New Zealand. As a child, Audrey worked on Hans Carl's political campaign, mostly folding political brochures and stuffing them in envelopes. Hans Carl was not elected; in fact, he got so few votes that it was an embarrassment to him and he lost the bond he had posted in order to run. His leftover campaign literature was used as toilet paper by Audrey's family, something that outraged Hans Carl when he discovered it while using their "dunny" (outdoor toilet). Hans Carl suffered a severe heart attack while working alone on his "bachelor farm back in the hills." He managed to reach his homestead, saddle a horse and ride to a neighbor's house for help. He died later at a hospital in Greytown. If he died in 1939, he was 85. Hans Carl wrote two manuscripts about his life. Audrey has them because she was the only person in the family who could easily read his handwriting. She has partly transcribed them, but she can no longer type and has difficulty writing because of arthritis. She said the manuscripts are "very hard going" because they are all "me, me, me." For example, Hans told how a crate being hoisted aboard the ship he sailed on almost fell on him but he managed to get out of the way just in time, thanks to God's timely warning. Audrey was married to Wally Carlyle, who had a trucking and carrying business. She worked in the business, which eventually grew to six trucks. She has twin daughters, one living in London.
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