Thyra's Letters - a real gem

Thyra's Correspondence

(Courtesy of Shana, grand-daughter of Alfred Magnus Waldemar Berthelsen)

These letters which were written during the Second World War came to light as a result of my desperate search for Alf's daughter, Mary Alannah, whose eldest daughter has donated them in memory of her mother who passed away in 2006. RIP M.A. They are very much appreciated and only for them I would have known very little about Alfred, Jørgen and Ellen Berthelsen's eldest child.

Letter #1

L.A. Thrush

“Hillsboro”

Sackville Street

GREENSLOPES SE2

Brisbane, Queensland

Australia

10.2.1944

Dear Mary

I got your air letter this morning 10 of Feb, you wrote it on the 18 Jan so you can see how long it takes. I also got your other letter at Xmas time, I have been a long time answering it but thought I had better write straight away so that Lorna [Chenery, dau of Nellie (Berthelsen) Chenery] can post it tomorrow. I have been very bad with my leg since August, the lining of my veins are so week (sic) they have never been so bad before. The Dr has been calling once a week since August so you can guess what sort of a bill I will get. Most of my money goes this way, good job I cant get out and about to wear out clothes, one thing you dont wear out much at home. Our coupons dont go very far we have to take care of our garments we have to give coupons even for towels sheets and pillowcase how do you fare.

I have mislaid your last letter so will have to trust a little to memory. I was pleased to hear that you were glad to have Danish blood in your veins. I always loved the danes, I think it is because my mother and father always spoke Danish, my mother came from Sweden but she spent many years in Denmark that was where she met my father she became engaged to him there but he came out here first to see what the place was like because all sorts of rumors went about this black fellows land as they called it, people said you had to sign on as slaves for a year but when Dad found out when he came he landed in Brisbane. It must have been a small place then that they had to sign a paper to say they would not leave the state for two years otherwise they were free men. So he wrote back to Mum to come as soon as possible but her mistress did not want to lose her so as soon as dad sailed she got Mum to sign on for 2 years longer with her and when dads letter came she would not release her so it was over 2 years before they were united.

She sailed from Hamburg, the seaport that has been so badly bombed by the allies. She could speak german and would have had a good time but they struck very bad weather and she became very ill; she said she would have died only for the care and attention of another danish lady aboard. It was sailing vessels in those days and they had to depend on the wind. Twice they were right over to the American coast; it took 4 months to get here. Over one hundred people died on the voyage. Dad was working in McKay [Mackay] up north at the time so he got his boss to send her money and her fare to the Danish interpreter but he was a rogue and kept the money. Poor Mum was stranded in Maryborough, no dad to meet her so she was offered a situation on Degilbo Station which she took and was there till dad fished her out. He was that worried with no tidings of her that he threw up his job and came to Maryborough to look for her. Poor fellow, he did not know if she was dead or alive and he accused his boss of not sending the money but he said you will find out I did so as soon as he got to Maryborough the first man he recognised was the Danish interpreter and he was between 2 policemen being arrested for some reason or other and he called out to him not to tell the police on him as he was in terrible trouble already He said I got the money but kept it and dad said did Ellen [Jonasdatter] arrive and where is she and he told him where and how to find her so it took him 3 days before he got somebody to identify him. He had sent his money through the bank and could not get it till he found somebody that knew him. By that time the coach was gone so he started to walk. Before he had tramped from Brisbane to McKay [sic] but he was very glad when the next coach overtook him but he said he could not hang around Maryborough and wait for it; he was so anxious to see his girl. Well the busman showed him a short cut into the station and Mum saw what she thought was a black fellow coming down the track but she thought it is the first blackfellow she had seen with a white helmet on so she did not know him till he put his hand on the house gate and called out in Danish good day Ellen. He had long black whiskers, they were worn in those days, so you can guess how she felt so she ran into her mistress and told her in broken English that her sweetheart had arrived and he told her that she had come out to marry him and how things had happened. And she was so sorry for them that she would not hold Mum to her agreement, that she could get ready and leave by return coach, which they did, but he could not persuade her to go to McKay [sic] with him because people had told her the further north she went she would see more blacks and Chinamen too. She had never seen a Chinaman before she landed in Maryborough and she said she could not keep her eyes off them. She did not want to go further to see any more, so dad got naturalised and took up land at Pialba.

Mum's name was Ellen Jonason [Danish form Jonasdatter; anglicised to Jonasen]. She had an elder sister called Sisar; they were born in Blekingheim in the south of Sweden . Her father's name was Jonas Anderson (Andersen). In those days the children had to take part of their father's Christian name and surname. Mum was very young when her mother died, she could not remember her. Dad was not born in Denmark but on a little island called Alse in the Baltic, about 4 hours sail out of Copenhagen, where Denmark 's large ship were anchored. It passed into German hands after the war in 1864. Dad had a brother called Christian; he was born in Iceland were [sic] his father met his mother. She was one of many children but I never thought to ask dad what her maiden name was though I have often been sorry because we must have a lot of relations there but before my father was born his father brought his wife and son to his home port because he could see more of her there but sad to say he sailed away and neither ship or men were ever heard of again. The poor woman could not speak danish, she was a stranger in a strange land. But one good thing, she was a Christian and had grace to look up for help which never failed her when the bad news came out, everybody on the island was so kind to her and helped her to rear her boys.

Dad was born in 1840 and Mum was 11 years younger. After the war [1864] dad went home to see his mother a few times but he could not bear the thought of that little fruitful island being in German hands. He got a position as shundarm which means an officer to watch that no smuggling went on over the boarder between Denmark and Germany but he got tired of it and thought he would do better out here. His brother was wounded in the war. He had to have a big ring to sit down on because his hind quarters had had a bad time. Dad said they used to tease him saying he must have been running away. Mothers sister was Mrs Denison, she had 4 or five children, her eldest daughter was called Christina thats all I can remember about her. I believe she lived in Denmark . Mum's dad said Denison said he met Mum once but she could not remember him. Dad sent that family group like your mother has got after Mum died and by the time it got home dad got a letter from Mums father saying it was so long since he had a letter that he wondered if they were alive. These letters crossed and neither of them wrote again but he was walking of [sic] crutches so perhaps I have the same complaint as him. So now you know a little about the old family tree.

I hope your mother got the photos of Fred [Chenery, son of Nellie (Berthelsen) Chenery], his wife [Margaret née Whitla] and little Greta and I also sent a few cards at Xmas. I called your husband hubby, now I know his name is Harry [Henry Summers], I hope if he has to go away as you say that God will preserve him for you that is all we can do. If it is His will, He will answer prayer, if not, we must be prepared to say Thy will be done. We read in Gods word the Lord shall give that which is good, some times it is painful and not to our liking but if it is good for us all is well in His loving hands. It is good to look forward to spending eternity with Him the One who loved us and gave Himself for us, He was despised and rejected in the very world His hands had made.

I will write to Con [”Connie” (Pollitt), wife of Tom Hiscock and daughter of Ida (Berthelsen) Pollitt] and Nell [”Nellie” Pollitt, also a daughter of Ida] and tell them you received their cards. Con is coming to Brisbane with Tom her husband and young Con [Constance] and Alwyn [Hiscock] so will let you know more about them. Next, Liz [Thrush, née Curtis, Thyra's daughter], Les [Thrush] and Ronald [their son], also Lorna and Mavis [daughters of Nellie (Berthelsen) Chenery] went to the Tweed for Xmas. They had a good holiday. Ronald had his photo taken, they paid for them and were told they would get them in 6 weeks, they have not come yet. If they do I will send you one; he will be 13 on the 19th of June [1944]. More next time.

Aunt Thyra Curtis [née Berthelsen]

P S

Love to Mum and Harry. Hope you can read this, my hands are very sore. Love and kisses from your loving aunt Thyra Curtis.

Letter #2

L.A. Thrush

“Hillsboro”

Sackville Street

GREENSLOPES SE2

Brisbane, Queensland

Australia

11.7.1944

Dear Mary

I am going to try and tell a little about your fathers early days as you asked me. I don't know if my memory will play any tricks with one but I will do my best. To start with he was born at Pialba on a farm called Danevang in the year 1876; my mother had three mishaps before and was married three years when he was born. There was no school at Pialba in those days though there had been many petitions sent in to the Government for a school so dad got tired of waiting and put his farm up for sale and just when he had sold it and was packing up to go into town, Maryborough, the school started to get built but it was too late for us but the schoolmaster had a bad time teaching the children because the children all spoke Danish because all the settlers were Danes, so the second wife of Uncle Cecil [Pollitt] told me she was one of the first to go to school there, it was strange both uncle Cecil's wives were born in the same place, your father was over eight years old I was one year and nine months younger.

I was born on the 12 of December 1877 and I can tell you it was hard to be a native of the country and not to be able to speak a word of English. You know how children laugh at new chums, well the school we went to was called the Albert State School. Mr Kennedy was head master and he was very kind to us afterwards he was promoted to inspector. I saw him at the state school at Bundaberg but I was too shy to make myself known to him. Well Alf [Berthelsen] got more education that I did; I don't remember when he left school and started to learn tailoring with Dad [Jørgen Berthelsen] but I left school when I was only in lower third being the eldest. As more babies came along I was kept home too much and the lessons got too hard so Mum [Ellen Berthelsen] let me stay at home altogether I was glad but no parent could do that today because schooling is compulsory, besides it is not fair to the children, well mother died on the 25 of Jan 1893. About 15 to 18 months after that your father left Bundaberg with a younger chap called Otto Showers. I think they came to Brisbane and joined their boat which was called the Royal Tar. I often wondered how my father let such a young lad go all that way but he was so wrapped up in politics which a Christian never should be but he had got astray in his soul otherwise he would not have done it, every family paid £60 so Alf was to go by the first boat and we were going to follow. I am very glad the Lord overruled, at that time there was only 4 labour members in Parliament and they were so much against the government blaming them for keeping the poor working man down so a Mr [William] Lane started a movement and he had a lot of followers and they arranged with the Government in Paraguay to let them settle there they gave them land and they called the place New Australia and all those that went thought they were going to Paradise they were to live in separate houses but all as one family but I think the novelty soon wore off the leaders gradually saw how things were going so no doubt got out while the going was good. I know a Mr Ulger from Bundaberg made the excuse that his wife was too ill and could not stand the climate so they returned him some of his money and he went home to England, his daughter, Daisy, wrote to me a few times then she stopped. I suppose I did not give her enough information about New Australia but I could not tell when I did not know the poor mugs stayed on and Alf was one of them. Another girl, a school mate of mine, who went in the same boat as Alf told me what a good dancer he had become and of the good times they had over there but later on they were glad to write back to the same government they had condemned and begged them to help them back to Australia which they did. I don't know if you ever heard of Miss Molly DeGunst she was a noted Australian singer but married in England, her parents was helped back as well with others that I did not know but Alf and some other young fellows was nearly the last to leave they worked their way down the river to Montevideo and got a few pounds together while he was there he wrote to me to try and get him an English and Spanish grammar but I couldn't, he said the language was such a draw back but at last he got a boat on which he worked his passage to S. Africa. He landed at East London and had to pay 18/6d. [R$1.85] poll tax straight away which he said was very hard on him when he was so short but he got through alright until the war broke out in S. Africa then he enlisted and came through pretty good but the long marches played up with his feet and brought up his varicose veins, then, while he was away his mate made love to his girl and married her, but she lost her child and husband and Alf married her but I do not think they were too happy. Your father said she allowed her people to influence her too much, but your mother will be able to tell you I never wrote to his first wife, she wrote only to our father, your Auntie Olga [Jackson, née Berthelsen] had a photo of her in widow's weeds just after her husband died, she looks very thin there. Later we heard she took galloping consumption and it soon took her off, and later he married your mother and I think they were much happier, so your dad told me. Your mother suited him better, not that he did not love the first one, but he did not like her relations about the house all the time and one of her brothers even had the cheek to come down to her even to borrow his best clothes if he wanted to go out dressed up.

Well, I must stop now, I never bothered to look at the paper till this afternoon it was late coming. It has rained very hard all night and is still raining and nobody had a chance to look at the paper this morning and when I did look at it what did I see but Olga's [McGibbon, née Berthelsen] husband's funeral notice. They rung us up about Uncle George [Berthelsen], but they must have all been too upset, he [Walter McGibbon] must be buried by now in teeming rain. I will put their address in so if you would care to write to them. I feel very sorry for them two widows in so short a time but the Lord knows the way He takes All He wants is for us to put our trust in Him to own our need of Him.

Your affectionate Aunt,

Thyra Curtis [née Berthelsen]

Love to Hub and Mum

Mrs M Berthelsen, Symes Street, Valley, Brisbane

Mrs O McGibbon, Cartwright Street, Windsor, Brisbane

George - Died 27/6/1944 Walter James McGibbon - died 10/7/1944

P .S.

Edna [Wright, née Berthelsen] told Lizzie [Thrush, née Curtis] that Walter [McGibbon] got up one day last week but felt too bad and had not got up since. They did not tell him about George [Berthelsen] because he was very fond of him, but some neighbours who went to see him said that was sad your father-in-law going so quick, so his family had to tell him. Liz was in Allan & Starks [a well known Brisbane Emporium in Queen Street] yesterday but did not go to Edna's department, she must have been home then. Thyra

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