Christensen Family of Manawatu, NZ

The Swedish Family of Marie Nilsdotter (Christensen)

Marie, evidently frowning because her son Richard had bitten her finger

See also pedigree charts for: Anders Christian Christensen ; Marie Nilsdotter

Marie Nilsdotter was born on 1 June 1840, at Brunskog, Varmland County, Sweden. Her father was Nils Jonsson, of Byn, Brunskog. Although research on her pre-migration life and family background is in its early stages, she is understood to have moved to the Nes area of Norway to housekeep for her brother (a baker and miller) and it was at that time that she met and married (on 12 July 1868) Anders Christian Christensen, also a baker and miller. Perhaps he and Marie's brother were involved with the same bakery?

Part of the difficulty with researching Marie's background is that she died in childbirth in 1885 and her family of seven surviving children was largely dispersed to be raised by others. This was typical of many cases where the mother died. When the father died, the mother more often simply remarried to one of the single men then available. New Zealand at that time had a far more men than women, due to the gold rushes of the 1860s and the greater tendency of single men to migrate than single women.

Last updated: 9/5/2001