Nørgaard/Lassen Family of Denmark
Last update of page: 21 August 2019.
In the family tree and in the texts below, bolded names are direct ancestors that are covered on this web page. Hyperlinked names lead to other chapters of this site.
Laurits Thomasen --- m. --- Else Jensdatter
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Thomas Larsen, b. 1724 --- m. --- Anne Jensdatter
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Jens Thomasen, b. 1756 --- m. --- Johanne Svensdatter
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Las Nørgaard Jensen, b. 1799 --- m. --- Maren Christensdatter
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Christen Lassen, b. 1830 --- m. --- Grethe Elsie ("Lia") Hansen
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Tinus Christensen, b. 1867 --- m. --- Ane Lassen b.1869
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John Barclay, b. 1901 --- m. --- Gudrun Christensen
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William Graham, b. 1929 -- m. ---Margaret Barclay
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Douglas J. Graham, b. 1959 --- m. --- France Marcoux
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Camille and Stéphanie Graham
Notes on the Family Names
Under the traditional Danish system of family names children formed their last name based on the first name of their father. Thus, a daughter of a Christen Larsen would be Christendatter and a son would be Christensen. This was the tradition until about 1860/70 when a law in Denmark forbade this practice and required that all children should use the surname of the father (6).
We have in this chapter some confusing situations with regard to family names:
Nørgaard
The name Nørgaard is first used in our family in the marriage record of Christen Lassen (26 November 1858) in which his father is referred to as "Lars Nørgaard". Lars Jensen or Lars Nørgaard Jensen was baptized in 1799. This name would be occasionally used over the next generations. As adults, the brothers and sisters of Gudrun Christensen used Christensen or Kristensen but one used Nørgaard as a surname (1, 2, 8). Nørgaard was given as a second name to most of the children (1).
The name "Nørgaard" is always spelled with an "aa" in our family records even though the "aa" is replaced by "å" in modern Danish lettering. Possibly the original spelling was "Norregaard"? One of Kaj Kristensen's grandson's has "Norregaard" as one of his names.
Larsen/Lassen
Lars Nørgaard Jensen was thus baptized in 1799 but by the census of 1850 he had become Las and the Nørgaard had been dropped (6). His nine children with Maren Christensen were all baptized as Larsen according to the "Christen Pedersen" records of Torben Ejlersen (6). According to Ejlersen's "Ane Kristensen" set of records, the oldest, Christen, and the fourth child Martin, plus the two youngest, are all Lassens. According to the census of 1850 (6), the seven children at home are all Lassens.
Further, on the son Christen, we have the following records (6) regarding his name: baptized 1830 as Christen Larsen, confirmed 1844 as Christen Larsen, census record 1850 as Chresten (sic) Larsen, census record 1870 as Christen Larsen, census record 1880 as Christen Lassen and death record 1888 as Christen Lassen.
We have not been able to find any record documenting that his daughter Ane Christensen became Ane Lassen although that is how her name appears in various family records (1). In 1890, Tinus was already working at her parents farm. They married in 1893. It could be that she decided to call herself Lassen to distinguish herself, or to just lessen confusion over having the same name as her husband who was also a Christensen? Also, in 1860/1870 the laws had been changed in Denmark so that the daughters and sons no longer had to use the father's first names to form their last name. Ane's father had now become a Lassen and being a modern woman she may have decided to use Lassen as well.
Laurits Thomasen
Laurits Thomasen was apparently born in Aagaard. He m. Elsie Jensdatter, also born in Aagaard. We have no birth or marriage dates. The had at least one son, Thomas Larsen (6).
Thomas Larsen, b. 1724
Thomas Larsen, bapt. 8 October, 1724, Bindslev, m. Anne Jensdatter, b. about 1719, Bindslev. According to a census of 1787 (6), Thomas was 63 years old and his wife Anne was 68 years old and they were "still in their first marriage" (a direct translation from the census record). They had a son, Jens Thomsen.
Jens Thomsen, b. 1756
Jens Thomsen, bapt. 25 March 1756, m. to Johanne Svensdatter, bapt. 6 August 1760 (or 1766?), both bapt. in Bindslev. Jens died 5 September 1826, and Johanne died 4 September 1838 in Bindslev. Jens and Johanne Thomsen had a son, Lars Jensen, b. 1799.
Family of Johanne Svensdatter
On Johanne's side, we have information back to her grandparents: Christen Pedersen m. Karen Lauridsdatter, no birth or marriage dates. They had a son, Svend Christensen, bapt. 6 January 1726 in Bindslev. Svend had a daughter Johanne Svendsdatter (see above) but we have no name for his wife. In the census of 1787 (6) he was a widower and the owner of his farm. His daughter Johanne appears on the census record as well as two employees, Lars Chrisensen and Morten Pedersen.
Johanne was bapt. 6 August 1760 in Bindslev (6). Her mother, whose name is not recorded, was "itroduceret" on 17 September 1760. Torben Ejlersen (6) explains this term as follows:
The explanation of the words in the baptism "indlæses", "indført" or "introduceret" and a date is that earlier when a woman had born a child she was found unclean and impure. Therefore when she wanted to go to church again after the birth, she had to wait at the entrance of the church. Then the vicar would introduce the woman to the church and the congregation. This date was noted in the churchbook. The date was normally 2-3 months after the birth and sometimes on the same day as the baptism of the newborn child. This tradition was still living in Denmark in rural district until 1900. Some places in Western Jutland you could find this solemn introduction in the 1930s.
Las Nørgaard Jensen, b. 1799
Lars Jensen, bapt. 8 October, 1799, Bindslev, m. 2 November 1827, Maren Christensdatter, bapt. 20 September 1805, in Bindslev. Lars died 12 August 1878, Maren died 4 April 1876, in Bindslev (6). He was a farmer in Bindslev, a village near Hjørring in the far northern tip of Jutland. He owned a farm in the region of Ravheden (5). They had 9 children (see following section).
Family of Maren Christensdatter
Her father was Christen Christensen, bapt. 28 May 1772, m. 8 November 1804 to Dorthe Nielsdatter, b. 1770. Christen's father was Christen Pedersen, the mother is not recorded. It is stated that Dorthe was a maid/farmworker for Heile Olufsen in the Ejaas area (as there are no parents or other records for her possibly she was an orphan?. Christen d. 24 February 1852, in Bindslev, and Dorthe d. 27 December 1819, in Bindslev (6).
Christen Lassen, b. 1830, and Siblings
The children of Lars Jensen and Maren Christensdatter, all born in Bindslev (6), were the following (for family names see also note at beginning of chapter):
1) Christen Larsen, b. March 1830. He married the widow Grethe Elsie ("Lia") Hansen on 26 November 1858 (6). At the end of this chapter see a separate section on the Hansen family. Christen and Lia lived for most or all of their lives on the farm in the Bindslev, Ravheden area. They were financially comfortable. His granddaughter, Gudrun, would later typify him as a "daredevil" (1). Their daughter Ane is recorded as being born at Bindslev in 1869. The census of 1880 shows them living at Bindslev, Ravheden.
Christen died 14 November 1888, in Bindslev, and is also buried in Bindslev. Grethe lived till she was 90, dying 19 June 1928, in Søndergaard, Sindal and was buried in Bindslev.
We have a photocopy of Grethe Elsia's obituary: "We wish to announce for family and friends that our dear Mother, Mother-in-law, Grandmother and Great-grandmother Grete (sic) Elsia Lassen, nee Hansen, died today, at 90 years of age. The funeral will be on the the 25th, from the Home at one o'clock, and from the Bindslev Church at 3 o'clock. The home is at Søndergaard in Sindal, the 19 June, 1928" (8).
2) Jens Larsen, b. abt 1828.
3) Thomas Larsen, b. abt 1832.
4) Martin Lassen, bapt. 12 December 1834. He married Helene Pedersen (1838-1923). He died in 1886. We had a poor photo of his tombstone from Bindslev, on which he is named Martin Lassen.
5) Johannes Larsen, b. abt 1837.
6) Niels Johan Theodor Larsen, born 30 January 1840, baptized 11 March 1840.
7) Hannea Dorothea Ane Mathaline Larsen, born 18 November 1842, baptized 25 December 1842.
8) Senius Christian Lassen, b. abt 1848.
9) Hanne Martine Lassen, b. abt 1845. Christen Lassen, bapt. 29 March 1830 in Bindslev. He married in the Bindslev Church on 26 November 1858 the widow Grethe Elsie ("Lia") Hansdatter, bapt. 7 April 1838 (see section below for more information on Grethe and her family). The marriage record states that he was living at home with his "father Lars Nørgaard", a farmer who owned his own farm (6).
Ane Lassen, b. 1869, and Siblings
Christen Lassen and Grethe Elsia had twelve children, of whom the sixth was Ane Lassen. The remarkable photo below, estimated to be from about 1893, is of Grethe and seven of her children. From left to right: Lassen, Hansine, Kristian Alfred (below), Jens Peter, Grethe Elsia, Maren, Thomine, and Ane.
The children were the following:
1) Thomine, born 23 September bapt. 29 September 1859, Bindslev, m. 1 April 1884 to Svend Jensen Thomsen, bapt. 13 June 1857, d. 4 March 1931. He had a business in Bindslev transporting goods by horse and wagon and was apparently quite well to do. He was involved in local politics for many years (6a).
Torben Ejlersen (great-grandson of Thomine) wrote the following to us in February 2001 (6a):
In 1905 the telephone exchange was established in Bindslev. Thomine and Svend Jensen Thomsen were the very first operators. Svend started outside Bindslev as a farmer, but then established his transport service about 1900. Mathilde his daughter took over the telephone in the same house in 1919 and my mother Ragnhild (pet name Søs) continued this family tradition in 1955 until the telephone system was automated in 1970. This house will now be sold. Nearly 100 years in the same family - of course modernized. As my father just moved to Tversted he gave me as a sort of genealogical present an old ceramic jug which has belonged to Thomine and Svend Jensen Thomsen!
Thomine and Svend had 15 children, one of whom was Elna. We have a photo of her gravestone from Bindslev. showing birth date 23 September 1859 and died 30 March 1912
We have records of them provided by (6):
1. Mathilda, b. 1 January 1885, m. 3 October 1911 to Dinus Jensen, b. 27 July 1883, son of Lauritz Christian Jensen and Marthe Marie Christensen. Mathilda d. 16 November 1963 and Dinus d. 5 December 1969. They had four children, one of whom was:
a) Ragnhild Jensen, b. 2 November 1913, m. Leif Ejlersen, b. 1912. Ragnhild d. 2 January 1978 (6). Leif Ejlersen at the age of 89 moved from Bindslev to Tversted to an apartment. He worked for many years in a store in Bindslev. He knew some of the Kiil family (Tinus Christensen's sister) in Bindslev. They had two sons: Finn, b. 1936 and Torben, b. September 1940, and a daughter Marianne, b. 1948. Torben is our correspondent (6, 6a). Torben m. Stine Holm, b. 1942. They have one daughter Marie Kirstine who has two children.
2. Signe, b. 1885.
3. Kristian, b. 1886.
4. Karl, b. 1887.
5. Marie, b. 1888.
6. Gine, b. 1889, d. 1941.
7. Margrethe, b. 1891.
8. Axel, b. 1893.
9. Valdemar, b. 1894.
10. Dagmar, b. 1895, d. 1978.
11. Martin b. 1896, d. 1918.
12. Oskar, b. 1898.
13. Elna, b. (or baptized?) 26 October 1900 in Bindslev (4). She became engaged to Emil Marius Jensen, b. November 17 1901, in Sindel, Denmark. Emil emigrated to Canada in 1927 (with his brother Axel) and his fiancee Elna arrived the following year. They married in 1929. He worked at first for about a year on a farm in Saskatchewan but for most of their lives, they lived in Winnipeg. After working at a great many different occupations (logging, carpentry, brick laying, fishing, etc.), Emil eventually became a superintendent of two large apartment buildings, working for 40 years for the same family that owned the buildings. Elna and Emil lived for many years in a large house in Winnipeg on Furby Street and when they sold their house they moved into a Lions retirement home. They finally had to move into a nursing home where Elna died February 20 1997. Emil died in 1998.
They had two sons, Torben ("Tom"), b. March 13 1931, and Clifford, b. 1945, who died in 1967 in Portage La Prairie, MB. Tom married Nancy Lou Jamieson on June 28 1957. She was born July 2 1934. They had four children. Tom died 23 December 2001. Their four children are:
a) Karen Ann Jensen.
b) Maureen Susan.
c) Patricia Janet.
d) Paul.
14. Emanuel, m. Ellen Jensine Knudsen, b. 1912, d. 1977. They had two children, Alfred Thomsen, b. 1932, and Bodil, b. 1935. Alfred married Jonna Løth Kristensen, b. 1955 and they have two children, Peter Løth, b. 1963 and Mette Løth, b. 1966. Alfred has been very helpful in giving us family information (5). Douglas, Marg and Bill Graham visited them at Aalborg in October 2000.
15. Jens?
2) Maren, bapt. 1 July 1861, Bindslev (6).
3) Ane, bapt. 15 September 1863, d. 6 March 1869 (five years old) (6).
4) Lassen, b. 29 March 1865, Bindslev. He was known to Gudrun as "Uncle Lassen" (1). He married Olga and had two children and was a school teacher in Randers (8).
5) Hansine, bapt. 23 Aug. 1867, d. 1951 in Bindslev. She lived in Aarhus and died unmarried. A photocopy of the death notice (8) states: "Our Sister and Friend Hansine Christensen, has gone home to God, 83 years old. On behalf of family, Vilhelmine Holmstoel [probably a friend], Aarhus. Peter Christensen. The burial will take place from the Bindslev Church, Thursday the 10th, July".
6) Ane Lassen, born and home baptized on 21 October 1869, North Bindslev in the Ravheden area. The church baptism was on 28 November 1869. Her mother, Grete (sic) Elsie Hansen was "indlases" (introduced) on 28 November 1869 (see note above on the meaning of "introduced"). We have a copy of Ane's birth certificate (dated 19 October 1926, so issued when she was about 57). She is noted as the daughter of Christen Lassen and Grete Elsie Hansen.
On 23 October 2000, Douglas, Marg and Bill Graham visited Bindslev. We set out to find the birthplace of Ane, Marg's grandmother. We were told that a farm called Ravheden still existed at # 42 on the road south from Bindslev. There were three elderly persons living there, all Lassens, but not related to our Lassens. We visited the farm but the Lassens there knew nothing of our family, Lassens or Christensens. Their parents had bought the farm in 1906 and in 1911 the original farm burned down. The present home was then built. Nothing of the original is left. We have since discovered that Ravheden is also an area in the district. We then visited Bindslev Church graveyard. We could not find any Lassens or Christensens from our family but we only had about 15 minutes and it was pouring rain! It is possible they were there but we were not knowledgeable enough about family names at that time. Nearly everyone in the family in this chapter was born and died in Bindslev. Apparently the first one to leave Bindslev was Ane Kristensen.
On 17 March 1893, at the age of 24, One married the family's farm manager, Tinus Christensen. See the separate chapter on the Christensen family for more details on her and for their children. She died on 18 May 1959 of pneumonia and is buried in the churchyard at Sparkær (8).
7) Tomas Kristensen, b. 1 January 1872, North Bindslev.
8) Ottine Johanne Kristensen, b. 27 December 1873, Bindslev.
9) Jens Peter Kristensen, b. 31 March 1876, Bindslev, m. 7 May 1901 to Olga Frederikke Thomsen, b. 3 June 1881 (6). They lived in Vogn and then moved to a farm called Hedegaard at Tversted, a small village north of Sindal (9). It later became his farm. He died 29 November 1967. In 1976, Olga, then 95, was still alive (1). The photo below of Jens Peter was sent to us by Kirsten Simonsen.
They had at least three children (9):
1. Christen Hilbert, b. 5 June 1902. He was an historian and a finishing carpenter. He had a big business employing about 20 men (1). In 1976 he was living at Nyköbing. He died in about 1989. He had two children, a girl and a boy (9).
2. Aksel Bernhardt (9), b. 22 September 1904 at Vogn. He died on 30 June 1987. He married Margrethe Christensen, b. 12 November 1905, d. 26 April 1990. He inherited the family homestead of Hedegaard. They had five children, all born at Hedegaard.
a) Knud, b. 1930.
b) Svend, b. 1932.
c) Eric, b. 1937, d. 1999 of cancer.
d) Jens, b. 1942.
e) Kirsten, b. 1944, m. Per Simonsen. Kirsten and Per have two sons, Peter and Heinrik. Douglas, Margaret, and Bill Graham discovered the existence of Kirsten (Marg's second cousin) by visiting the cemetery at Tversted, finding Aksel Berhardt's grave and then just walking down the street to Kirsten's house, following the directions of the graveyard keeper. It was a big surprise for everyone! The Grahams later visited the farm Hedegaard.
3. Tage, died at four months old.
10) Semine Maria Kristensen, b. 2 July 1878, Bindslev, d. 29 April 1966, m. a farmer who was also a real estate man, named Jens Jepsen and had three children: Marie, Viggo, and Ellen. One of the daughters committed suicide. We have a death notice from Kirsten Simonsen (9) for Semine Maria Jepsen Christensen: "Our dear Mother, Semine Maria Jepsen Christensen, died today at the Old Peoples Home, in Bindslev, the 29th April, 1966. From the Children. The burial will take place later.".
11) Kristian (or Christian) Alfred Kristensen, b. 10 December 1880, Bindslev according to his record in Ancestral Quest (19). He was baptized in the Church of Bindslev 3 April 1881 with a home christening (“hjemmedøbt”) on 24 June 1881. His parents are the farmer Kristen Lassen and Grethe Elsie Hansen, aged 42. The godparents (or witnesses?) were the farmer Jens Senius; Martin Lassen also mentioned (all of Bindslev). He owned the largest furniture store in Helsingør (Elsinore Castle, the home of Hamlet, is situated in Helsingør) (1). The photo of him below is noted as being taken in Helsingør. Anna Sofie, b. 1877, his wife, died 30 April 1966, aged 89. She lived in Hjørring, but is buried in Bindslev (we have her death notice). They had five children. One son had an engineering firm in Copenhagen and another son owned the Helsingør store, at least in the early 1980s. A daughter was a nurse in Aarhus. C. A. Christensen d. 11 March 1955 in Helsingør (8) (we have a copy of his death notice).
12) Mathias Johannes Kristensen b. 24 February 1882, Bindslev, d. 10 January 1888, buried in Bindslev (8).
Family of Grethe Elsie Hansdatter
Grethe's father was Hans Nielsen bapt. 20 December 1799, Asdal Hjørring, died 22 April 1841 in Bindslev. He married, 29 February 1824 to Ane Marie Jensdatter bapt. 26 Apr 1801 in Asdal, Hjørring, d. 4 June 1882 in Bindslev (6).
Ane Marie Jensdatter's parents were Jens Nielsen, bapt. 18 June 1769 and her mother was a Kristensdatter bapt. 6 May 1764 (6). Jens Nielsen's parents were Niels Svendsen, b. about 1738 and Maren Mathisdatter b. about 1727 (6).
Hans Nielsen's parents were Niels Hansen b. 1763 and d. 11 January 1801. He married Else Pedersdatter bapt. 3 September 1775 Tomby, Vennebjerg, Hjørring, died 17 April, 1849 in Asdal, Vennebjerg. Else Pedersdatter's parents were Peder Jensen, b. 1739, d. 1822, married to Kirsten Christensdatter b. 1749, d. 1819. Both were also from Tomby, Vennebjerg, Hørring (6).
Ane Marie Jensdatter had a four year old son, Niels Christian Nielsen, b. 1820, at the time she married Hans Nielsen in 1824. Hans and Ane then had five children. They lived at a farm called Hesthavn (Horse Heaven) in Asdal, Sindal, near Hjørring. This farm apparently still exists (5). They then moved to Bindslev where Hans died 22 April 1841. The last daughter Hansine was born in that same year (6). The six children of Hans Nielsen and Ane Marie were: Niels b. 1820, Karen b. 1824, Maren b. 1831, Jens b. 1834, Grethe b. 1838, and Hansine b. 1841.
In 1842, Ane, now 41 years old, a widow with 6 children, 4 of whom were under the age of 11 (she also had an 18 year old and a 22 year old, neither of whom may have been living at home), married Peder Christian Jensen, b. 1819, 26 years old! (1).
When she was nineteen, Grethe Elsia m. on 20 November 1857 to Thomas Christian Larsen, b. 1827. He was the son of Lars Thomsen, farmer in Ravheden. Six months after the marriage, in May 1858, Thomas died and she was given the deed of their estate in Ravheden area by her father-in-law (5). She then married Christen Lassen, 26 November 1858 (6).
Sources
The original text on this family for A Family Reunion of July 1982, was written by Douglas Graham drawing heavily on information collected from his mother but more so from his grandmother, Gudrun Barclay née Christensen.
A very complete rewrite and update with much new information was undertaken in late 2001/early 2002 by Margaret Graham (née Barclay Estrup).
Footnotes
(1) Material from Gudrun Barclay. This is based on personal communication with Douglas Graham (recorded in the original A Family Reunion of July 1982) and with her daughter Margaret Graham. Additional material is from her written notes (dated 1966) and her diaries.
(2) Pers. comm. with Annie (née Watson) and Kaj Kristensen as well as various communications between Annie and Margaret Graham.
(3) Information on Edel's children is from a letter written by her daughter-in-law, Lillian Pedersen to Margaret Graham in December 1997. Information was also obtained during a visit in October 2000 to Vejle by Douglas, Margaret and Bill Graham. Also subsequent correspondence between Lillian and Margaret Graham.
(4) Information on the Canadian Jensens comes from: an October 19 1997 letter and subsequent correspondence from Torben (Tom) Jensen to Margaret Graham, an essay written by Paul Jensen in 1989 about his grandparents' immigration to Canada, a letter from Elna Jensen with information on Christen Lassen and Thomine Lassen, and letters from Karen Jensen Large (1996).
(5) Letters, maps of the Bindslev area, and other information from Alfred Thomsen in Aalborg, Denmark. Also pers. comm. during a visit to Alfred in October 2000, by Douglas, Margaret and Bill Graham.
(6) Letters, maps, and information printed out from a genealogical software programme (Ancestral Quest) from Torben and Stinne Ejlersen. They also provided copies of family photographs.
(6a) Personal letters from Torben Ejlersen, February 2001.
(7) Notes by William Graham, 1995, after a visit to Canada by the Jansson family.
(8) Material received from Ingelise Nygaard. Includes letters, photocopies of family birth certificates, and obituaries. Help with translation of one of Ingelise's letters was given by Tom Volquardsen of Salt Spring Island, B.C. Information from notes made by Anna Kristensen was also given by Ingelise. Pers. comm. information was obtained during an October 2000 visit to Ingelise by Margaret and Bill Graham.
(9) Pers. comm. information from Kirsten Simonsen during a visit to Bindslev in October, 2000 by Douglas, Margaret, and Bill Graham. Information also comes from letters sent later by Kirsten which included family information and photographs.
(10) Pers. comm. information from Kirsten Sorensen during a visit to Copenhagen in October 2000 by Douglas, Margaret, and Bill Graham. Also information from Kirsten in letters to Margaret Graham.
(11) Pers. comm. from Gudrun and Jan-Ake Jansson during a 1995 visit to the Grahams in Thunder Bay.
(12) Sigrid Nørgaard Christensen's family book transcribed by Margaret Graham during a visit to Sparkær in 1984.
(13) General information collected by Margaret Graham during visits to Denmark and through miscellaneous correspondence with various family members. Also included here are Margaret Graham's personal recollections.
(14) Letters in late 1990s from Gerda T. Nielsen which included names, addresses and occupations regarding her side of the family.
(15) Letters in late 1990s from Dagney Nørgaard Gaarsvig regarding her side of the family.
(16) Letters in late 1990s from Sonja Nørgaard Sorensen regarding her side of the family.
(17) Tracey Watson Disturnal (pers. comm., August 2005), ID-193, a niece of Annie, is working on the Watson family history.
(18) Correspondence with George Christensen [ID-407], starting in 2004 and continuing until now (2012), including visits with my mother.
(19) Baptismal record of Kristian Alfred Kristensen, accessed by M. Graham at a Danish web site, Ancestral Quest.
