Christian Olesen, son of Ole Tonne Olesen, a Danish master mariner, was born in Denmark circa 1844-1845. A master mariner is the commander of a merchant vessel and is sometimes called a captain. The earliest record found to date regarding Christian is the 1871 United Kingdom census where he is listed as a boarder in the Weiss house located on Victoria Terrace, Stranton, West Hartlepool, England. Christian was employed as a clerk with a ship broker in town. On August 3, 1874, he married Ferdinande Weiss, daughter of Frederick Weiss and Ferdinande Lehman. The ceremony took place at the Christ Church, West Hartlepool was performed by G.E. Pope, and witnessed by the bride�s brother, Adolph Weiss. Ferdinande was born on November 14, 1855 in Hamburg, Germany. She immigrated to England circa 1859-1861 with her family.
Christian Olesen listed his employment as ships chandler on his marriage certificate. A ship chandler is someone who deals in cordage, canvas and other furniture of vessels. In 1881 the Olesen family was living at 47 Redworth Street in Stranton, Durham, England. Stranton was later incorporated into West Hartlepool. Christian is unemployed, but lists that he is a ship store keeper. There are three Olesen children; Frederick, Elizabeth and Wilhelm.
On the 1891 United Kingdom census, Christian is missing. Ferdinande is listed as married, so perhaps Christian is out at sea. The family is residing at 4 Bolton Street, West Hartlepool and numbers five children; Frederick, Elizabeth, Wilhelm, Emily, Adolph and George. Bolton Street no longer exists in Hartlepool, but in the later part of the 1800�s, it was the northern boundary of a large paced open square and was one of the �better� addresses in West Hartlepool.
When Elizabeth Ferdinande Olesen married in 1897, her father, Christian Olesen was listed as deceased. To date I have not located his death certificate or found where he is buried. Christian spent his lifetime working on and with merchant vessels. He probably located in Hartlepool as it was the second largest ship building port in the British Empire during Queen Victoria and there still remains a relatively sizable Scandinavian community. I will note here that Christian Olesen is later referred to as Christopher Olesen. I suspect that the change was an attempt after his death to Anglicize his name.
Following her husband�s death, Ferdinande remained in West Hartlepool and lived at 7 Bolton Street. Only three of her children are still at home; William, Emily and Ernest. To date there is still census work to be done on the Olesen family. Records show that Ferdinande lived at 73 South Parade in West Hartlepool but by 1920 she was near Liverpool living at 39 Clarence Road, Wallasey, England.
I have not been able to find any immigration and/or naturalization record for Ferdinande, but feel that she came to the United States about 1921, perhaps following the death of John George Hughes, her daughter Elizabeth�s husband. Four of Christian and Ferdinande�s children immigrated to the United States, Elizabeth with husband John George Hughes and son, George Henry Hughes; William; Emily with husband Rowland Richards and Ernest with wife Ann and son Oscar.
Ferdinande, also known as Ann, lived with her daughter, Elizabeth Olesen Hughes in Woodlawn and Monaca, Pennsylvania. Son, Bill also lived with them. Daughter Emily while married to Rowland Richards and following his death, to Leo Brown lived one street away in Monaca. Ernest Olesen and his family lived in Lynbrook on Long Island, New York.
Ann Olesen, called �Granny Olesen,� took a �dose of salts� every day for her health. Her great grandchildren remember her as a quiet and gentle woman. She was a member of the Episcopal church in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania where she had lived for sixteen years before relocating in Monaca with her family in 1937.
Ann died on February 14, 1942, at the age of eighty-seven, in Monaca, Pennsylvania from heart disease. She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania along with her son, William C. Olesen and daughter, Elizabeth Olesen Hughes.
Children of Christian Olesen and Ferdinande Weiss:
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A special thank you to my dad, George VanGilder Hughes and my aunt, Faith Hughes Roolf for sharing family memories, old photographs, and memorabilia AND to Heather of Middlesbrough, England who has researched the Olesen roots through UK census reports.
Updated: November, 2004
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