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Olga Sophie Berthelsen was born at Pialba in the Hervey Bay region on 24 May 1881. She was the third child of Jørgen and Ellen— Alfred and Thyra being her elder siblings. Sometime later the family moved away from Pialba and settled in Maryborough when the children began their schooling at the Albert State School. A further move to Bundaberg around 1884 inspired Jørgen to return to tailoring and so life was beginning to show signs of an upward trend.
Photo Olga Sophie (R) and her niece “Lizzy” Curtis (L)
Bundaberg is famous for the growing of sugar cane being one of severalregions in coastal Queensland. It was the centre of several mills either extracting juice or producing crystal sugar. Although many mills have operated in the region over the years, the larger and more well-known mills were Millaquin, Bingera, Fairymead and Qunaba.
Coincidentally, the Bingera Plantation,1 south-west of Bundaberg, was where Olga was working when she met her husband-to-be, John Jackson who was also employed there as a carpenter. Johnny, as he was known, arrived in Brisbane on 12 October 1883, aged 2 years with his parents and siblings aboard the “Western Monarch” from England.
Olga and Johnny were married in Bundaberg on 27 June 1906 and within a few years became the parents of two offspring—John, born 5 April 1907 and Thelma Ellen, born 30 March 1909.
On arrival in Brisbane from Bundaberg, Olga and her husband, Johnny, resided for some years at 226 Harcourt Street, New Farm in a house which still stands today and which was occupied at various other times by either a Madden or a Berthelsen family. Such a coincidence cannot pass without some comment as Post Office directories show that Olga's younger brother, George Christian Berthelsen (1885-1944) and family lived there from 1917 to 1919 and I seem to recall also a 1930s entry for Nora Madden, (George Berthelsen's mother-in-law). Thelma attended the Fortitude Valley Girls' School (photo) and was in the same year as her cousin, Olga Margaret Berthelsen (1909-2003)—George and Margaret’s daughter.
Olga Sophie and her husband did not enjoy a very happy marriage and this eventually led to a parting of the ways. Not surprisingly, she was left financially deprived and had to rely on whatever work she could obtain to support herself and family. She took in washing and ironing and also cooked in hotels to make a living. Just like her brother, George and his family, Olga moved around the suburbs and is recorded as living at several addresses, including the suburbs of Oxley, Woolloongabba, Mitchelton, Milton, Buranda and Balmoral.
In a conversation I had with Thelma several years ago, she related that her mother did not let her go out too often and when she finally had the opportunity of going to a dance, she met a Russian, (Andrei) "Tony" Antonieff, whom she married in 1932 against her mother's wishes. Thelma, who became affectionately known as “Tatiana” and Tony lived for some time in Glenholm Street, Mitchelton alongside a small market garden owned by a Sister Ewing, matron and proprietress of the former Newmarket Private hospital on Enoggera Road. Thelma and Tony went through some rough patches in their married life and when all was not too rosy, Olga went to live with her daughter, Thelma. In the 1940s Thelma moved to Red Hill on the corner of Glenrosa and Waterworks roads.
The marriage of Thelma and Tony resulted in the birth of four children:
The marriage of Thelma and Tony resulted in the birth of four children:
Olga Andreavna (1932-2002) enjoyed a party as did many of Brisbane’s Russian community and she was often the subject of the newspapers’ social columns. Olga married Jirí Pika, a Czech national who met his untimely death in a motor car accident near Doboy Creek just before Christmas 1957. The marriage was about to be dissolved when Jirí’s death hastily brought it to an end. Olga relocated to Sydney where she met and married Neil Baker. Both have since died.
Then came Valentin Andrei (1935-2001)—the second child and first son. He married Colleen L. but this marriage has also been dissolved. Five daughters were born to Valentin and Colleen, some of whom live in Sydney, others in Brisbane. Most have married and have families of their own.
Gregory Andrei, second son and third child sat the State Scholarship examination in 1951 and completed his schooling at the Church of England Grammar School (CEGS). He is more familiarly known as “Jackson” and entered the Australian Navy on turning 17 years of age. He married Jean H-M (1935-2004) and raised a family of three children. Greg was a keen sailor and lays claim to winning a gold medal in 1969 at the South Pacific Games held in Port Moresby, PNG.
Natalia Andreavna “Nata” , the last child, attended Sommerville House, a well known private girls' school at South Brisbane. Nata is single and was a very fine speech teacher. She has been a tireless worker in her specialised field to promote the art of good speech and through her contributions she has made a name for herself, particularly her support to the performing arts. She also studied law but did not pursue a career in this field as she found art of speech much more satisfying.
Their mother, Thelma, worked for a short time at Finney Isles and Company, one of Brisbane's leading emporiums of the day (now a David Jones store). Her pride and joy, however, was for many years "The Blue Room", a tea room above Spiers the Chemist in Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley where, over a refreshing cup of tea, she told people their fortunes and read their tea leaves.
Husband, Andrei, known to most people as "Tony" or Andrew, owned Woodcraft Furniture Company2 on Coronation Drive, Milton. Business was declining with the outbreak of World War II and he later worked at Hixco's Furniture Store on the corner of George and Ann streets and at the Queensland Furniture Company in Petrie Bight at 532 Queen Street. Tony enjoyed the good life and was known to many lady friends, a situation which ended in divorce in 1963. Thelma, then a free woman, enjoyed her new life which brought with it the joy of living in a home overlooking the Brisbane River. She later sold the property, preferring to live with her daughter, Nata at Morningside. Before he died in 1991, Tony Antonieff was an inmate of a Salvation Army aged men's home. Thelma moved to a nursing home c2002 and passed away two years later.
In 1963, Olga Sophie Jackson sustained a broken hip as a result of a fall and one week later, pneumonia set in from which she did not recover. She died aged 82 years while living with her son, Jack at Balmoral.
Jack (John Jnr) Jackson married a Bundaberg girl, Camilla "Milly" Petersen and they have two daughters, Jocelyn Ellen and Sandra Jeanette. Prior to his death in 1994, Jack and his wife resided with their married daughter, Sandra and her husband, Norman at 45 Martha Street, Camp Hill before moving to Hervey Bay. Sandra and Norman, have three children.
Jack was a very good wood machinist in his day and worked at "Tony" Antonieff's Woodcraft Furniture factory at Milton. He also worked for Bell Brothers, manufacturers of master built furniture on the corner of Brunswick and Water streets, Fortitude Valley.
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[1] Bingera Mill photos
[2] Woodcraft Manufacturing Co factory was destroyed by fire on Friday, 3 April 1959. See the article “Families Flee as Fire Threatens Flats, Homes at Milton in The Courier-Mail, Saturday 4 April 1959. A furniture blaze also caused £10,000 worth of damage to the family’s furniture factory at Woking Street, Oxford Park just before Christmas 1951. _____________________________________________________
Jocelyn Ellen, photo 2005
Jocelyn’s marriage to Bruce McNaughton, a pilot, ended tragically when he died on 25 April 1958 (see newspaper article) in a plane crash near Dirranbandi. According to some, the incident was clouded in suspicion and, according to family circles, someone is alleged to have tampered with the plane before takeoff. Two children were born of this marriage.
After the loss of her first husband, Jocelyn married Graham Wallace John on 18 July 1961 and were known to be living at Grenfell near Cowra, and in Sydney, NSW. Three children resulted from this union. All of Jack's family, excepting Jocelyn and her husband, are followers of the Exclusive Brethren.
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