The Petersen Family, Foxton

She had a German stepfather who tried to force her to marry a man of his choice. To avoid this, she ran away to England but apparently returned to Denmark to board a ship for New Zealand. Carl Thorvald Petersen was born in 1854 in Copenhagen and died 16 August, 1939 in Palmerston North.

Carl left Denmark on 19 November, 1874 on the "Humboldt" and arrived in Wellington on 28 January, 1875.

Note: We have been advised that this is in an error in the commentary and that 'The "Humboldt" left Hamburg 10 October 1874, and reached Wellington in 108 days, arriving 28 January 1875.'

Caroline came on the "Shakespeare", leaving Denmark on 9 October, 1875 and arriving in Wellington on 23 January, 1876. Both being Danish, it is not surprising that they met. They were married on 15 January, 1877 in the Registrar's Office, Foxton. The Registrar was John F. Rockstrow. Carl apparently found work at Moutoa because their first three children, Emma born 1877, Annie 1878 and Carl Johannes 1880, were born there. However, the other four children, Frederick 1880, Gordon 1881, May 1883 and Nora 1886 were all born in Ashhurst where the family lived until about 1912. It is thought that Carl Thorvald may have done an engineering apprenticeship in Denmark because when they moved to Ashhurst he was employed by Joseph Nathan as engineer in charge of the Alfa Laval separators in his creameries. He was also probably the engineer for the butter factories owned by Nathans and when the first dried milk factory was opened at Bunnythorpe, Carl Petersen may have been the engineer there.

At the age of eleven, Carl Johannes (known as Charles) began driving a team of horses for a Mr. Hanlon, a farm contractor. He had no formal schooling and could not read or write. This seems strange as his father was a well educated man. It has been suggested that the Petersen family in Denmark expected to receive money from Carl Thorvald so young Charles was pressed into service early.

Before 1900 he came to Foxton and began his own contracting business. His experience with Mr. Hanlon would stand him in good stead in this venture. Charles had twenty Clydesdale draught horses and besides the farm contracting, he, and two teamsters, carted metal from the Whirokino pit for road making throughout the district.

On 25 December, 1900, Charles married Hannah Easton who was born in 1879, the daughter of Theophilus and Rebecca (Coley) Easton. They first lived in Duncan Street, Foxton, where their first child, Charles Edward was born on 26 August, 1901. Later Hannah's father and her two brothers Willie and Dick who were carpenters built the two houses in Avenue Road, on the northern side of the road before the cemetery, one for Charles and Hannah and the other for Willie and his wife. Charles and Hannah had two other sons, Eric born on 24 March, 1904, died 3 October, 1972 and Lloyd born 6 February, 1917. Another baby born between Eric and Lloyd died in infancy. In "The Sanson Tramway" we read that in 1913, Charles had a flax mill in the Oroua Downs area because in April of that year he asked permission to lay a tramway along Ballahooly Road from his mill to the Oroua Downs siding. It is presumed that the family were still living in Foxton at this time.

Hannah died on 16 October, 1920 and about a year later Charles married her sister Charlotte, a widow with a son Aretus (Jim) Wilson. Charles and Charlotte had one daughter, Maisie Rose, born on 6 December, 1922 in Bulls where the family was now living. Charles had left Foxton to start flax mills at Bulls and at Blind Island, Santoft. At this time Charles' eldest son Ed had just finished his engineering apprenticeship in Palmerston North so he worked as an engineer in his father's mills. Eric, who was eighteen years old, became a driver for the Rangitikei Dairy Company doing a cream collecting round. He continued working for the Dairy Company until he joined the Petersen Carrying Co. in 1940. Lloyd began his schooling in Bulls.

About 1925, Charles and Charlotte returned to Foxton with the younger children. Ed moved to Miranui. In 1928, he became a Government hemp grader and worked first in Wellington where he married Katrina Martin in 193 L After a time back in Foxton where he was a grader in the New Zealand Shipping Co. shed, he was transferred to Westport in 1942 to the mill which supplied some of the fibre for the Woolpack and Textiles factory in Foxton. He worked there for 36 years. After his retirement, he and Katie returned to Foxton in April, 1978. They have four children, Gloria, Joan, Diane and Martin.

Eric meanwhile had married Ivy Whiteman of Bulls in 1927 and they lived in a house built by her father. They had four children Charles John (Peter), Nancy, Beverley and Graeme. About 1937, Ivy suffered a stroke and was ill for about four years so Eric brought her and the children back to the old Petersen home in Foxton. Lloyd was with them and remembers it was no an easy time with a succession of housekeepers. After Ivy's death on 4 August, 1941, her sister Eva came to look after the children and on 14 December, 1943, she married Lloyd. Lloyd and Eva have two daughters, Lesley and Elizabeth. Eric later married Esmerald Phyllis Jones. They had one daughter, Kaye Lorraine.

When Charles, Charlotte, Maisie and Lloyd returned to Foxton in the 1920s the previous interest of a carrying business must have returned but now with motor vehicles rather than horse teams. From Lloyd's memories, Charles bought his first Reo lorry in April, 1931 for 875 pounds. About this time Charles bought a sawmill at Orangi to which he carted logs and then the sawn timber to wherever there was a demand. At one stage he was carting timber to Wellington for R.N. Speirs.

In 1938, the Petersen Carrying Co. was formed by Charles Petersen, Lloyd Petersen and Jim Wilson (son of Charlotte and her first husband Lewis Wilson). At that time they had four Reo motor lorries, one metal loader engine, one saw bench engine as well as various tools. As well as general carrying they were still carting metal for the Public Works Department and they carted the flax cut in the swamps to the stripping mill in Johnston Street for N.Z. Woolpack and Textiles Ltd.

In 1940, Eric Petersen joined the company. Later Jim Wilson left and went into business on his own account. Charles and Charlotte had moved to Palmerston North in 1939 but Charles continued to come to Foxton each day until not long before his death on 25 August, 1957.

The Petersen Carrying Co. was continued by the brothers Eric and Lloyd until Eric's death on 3 October, 1972. By this time Woolpack and Textiles was winding down following the cessation of government assistance in 1973, so the contract for carting flax was bound to finish. In 1975 the Petersen Carrying Co. was sold to K.J. Reid, D.H. Reid and R.A. Reid although the Petersen name continued for a year or two and the office was still in the Cook Street yard. Lloyd Petersen moved to Palmerston North and began a company of his own.

Compiled by Marjorie Mitchell from information obtained from members of the Petersen family.