Anna Margaretha Larsen (Naugardt)
Image: Geoff Larsen
FatherPeter Thomas Naugardt1 b. 15 Apr 1814
MotherAnna Johanna Hansen b. 1820, d. 15 Sep 1874
Pedigree

Birth, Death, Marriage

Anna Margaretha Naugardt was born on 26 June 1848 in Flensburg, Schleswig, Denmark.1,2 
She married Laust Larsen, son of Lars Andersen and Karen Lauridsdatter, on 10 December 1870 in Fryers Creek, Victoria.1,3 
She died on 24 September 1904 in Congupna, Victoria, at age 56.4 

Family

Laust Larsen b. 13 Jan 1843, d. 23 Jan 1917
Children
ChartsLarsen, Laust, descendant chart
Williams, Roy, pedigree chart

Story

Anna Margaretha was born in Flensborg/Flensberg (Danish/German spelling) in the duchy of Schleswig, Denmark on 26 June 1843. She was the third child of Anna and Peter.2,1
 
In the early records 'Naugardt' is sometimes spelled 'Naugaardt' and translates to 'New Garden'.2
 
(Anna?) Margaretha
Anna Margaretha is the name given on her 1904 death registration, three of the children's birth or death records, and other family documents.

The Anna seems to be dropped in more public events such as shipping records (where she is Margarethe and Maria), her marriage (Margaretha), son Andrew's death (where there was an inquest), daughter Karen's birth (Margaret), and on daughter Anna Caroline's marriage registration.4,3,5,6,7,8,9,1,10,11,12
 
Mother Mystery
Sisters Anna Margaretha and Catherina Dorothea Naugardt created a mystery for family history researchers. On both their marriage registrations, they give their mother as Anna Decker, though other documents have Anna Hansen. Some certificates also have Anna Deager.

On Anna's 1904 death registration, her mother is now Anna Hansen. On Catherina's 1908 death registration, her mother is Anna Deager.

A researcher in Germany looked in the Flensburg records and confirmed that their mother is Anna Johanna Hansen.1,13,4,14,15,16
 
We have researcher Richard White to thank for solving most of the mystery as he commissioned the research in Germany. In March 2009, he wrote:

It does settle the family indecisions as to whether Anna Margaretha & Catherine Dorothea were full sisters and that their mother was Anna Johanna Hansen but there is no explanation as to why the both listed Anna Decker as their mother on the marriage register.

Richard is a grandson of Catherina Riedell (Naugardt), through Lilian Catherina White (Riedell). Sadly, Richard Dane White died in September 2015 on his 87th birthday.15,17
 
Turbulent Schleswig
Schleswig is an area connecting Denmark and Germany. It has been disputed for hundreds of years.

In the early 1800s, Aastrup, Toftlund and Flensborg (German spelling: Flensburg) were all part of Denmark.

In the First Schleswig War 1848-1851, the Danes repelled the Germans. Laust Larsen, Magnus Riedell, and Anna and Catherina Naugardt were all children.

Following the 1864 Second Schleswig War, Schleswig became part of Prussia (within the German Empire). So Aastrup remained in Denmark, but Toftlund and Flensburg were now part of Germany. Laust Larsen was 21 years old, Magnus Riedell 27, Anna Naugardt 16 and Catherina Naugardt 21.

See map showing Aastrup, Toftlund and Flensburg. Aastrup is about 45 km north of Toftlund. Toftlund is about 50 km north of Flensburg.18,19,20
 
Anna Margaretha Naugardt
Image: Richard White
Emigration
By September 1867, Anna Margaretha's sister, Catherina had joined her husband Magnus and his friend Laust on the Victorian goldfields.

Two years later, Anna left Denmark to join them.

In August 1869, she travelled from Hamburg on the Gitana to Liverpool where she boarded the Stockbridge bound for Melbourne. She arrived 29 November.8,21,9,22
 
Marriage and Family
Margaretha Naugardt and Laust Larsen were married 'at the bridegroom's residence', Fryers Creek near Castlemaine on Saturday 10 December 1870. They had eleven children between 1871 and 1893, with two early deaths.

The residence was at New Years Flat (near Vaughan) in the Fryers Creek gold mining district. The marriage was performed by PG Jacobsen, Lutheran pastor.

Three children, Anna Caroline, Lars and Andrew were born there though only Anna Caroline survived past childhood. The other children were born in the Shepparton district.1,3
 
Their early married life on the goldfields must have seemed totally foreign. Not only were they now in an English-speaking country, but the immediate area was host to large communities of Chinese, Irish and Italians. This 1868 photo of nearby Vaughan is as they would have seen it.23
Vaughan 1868
Image: Shire of Mount Alexander
From Goldfields to Farmland
In the summer of 1876-77, the Larsen and Riedell families travelled by wagon from Fryers Creek to Congupna. Laust and Anna Margaretha had two children, Anna Caroline and Andrew. Magnus and Catherina had six children, Magnus jnr., Wilhelmina, Peter, Charles, Annie and five month old Matilda. As well as twelve people, the wagons were loaded with all the posessions of two families plus supplies for the approximately 180 km journey.24
 
Family Life
Magnus had prepared sites and basic accommodation in Congupna, but with two growing families, work began on more substantial homes.24
 
The four Larsens initially lived in a tent, pitched just inside their selection. Laust and Magnus then set about felling trees to build rooms of logs with clay plastered between them, gradually forming permanent homes.

Laust and Margaretha named their home 'Fairfield' and it remained lived in till 1925.25
 
On 29 June 1877, within a few months of arriving in the area, Laust and Magnus were signatories to a petition to the Minister of Education calling for a school in the Congupna parish. Petitioners included their children between the ages of four and fourteen who would attend.

The small school, Congupna State School No. 2164, was opened in July 1879.

All the Larsen and Riedell children attended the Congupna township school.26,25
 
27
Laust & Margaretha (Naugardt) Larsen
Image: Geoff Larsen
Later Years 
Anna Margaretha suffered for several years from tuberculosis, known at the time as consumption or phthisis.

Anna Margaretha Larsen died of tuberculosis in Congupna on the morning of Saturday 24th November 1904, aged 56. She was buried at the Shepparton cemetery on 26 November.7,4,28
 

Citations

  1. [S4] Laust Larsen and Margaretha Naugardt, marriage registration no. 4562, 10 December 1870.
  2. [S453] Naugardt Ancestry, family tree, 2009.
  3. [S480] Anna Carolina Larsen, birth registration no. 26913, 4 November 1871.
  4. [S116] Anna Margaretha Larsen, death registration no. 10704, 24 September 1904.
  5. [S479] Lars Peter Larsen, death registration no. 8485, 22 August 1873.
  6. [S478] Laus Andrew Larsen, birth registration no. 26431, 14 June 1874.
  7. [S284] Laust Larsen detailed ancestor table, computer file, ancestor table, unpublished, 2010.
  8. [S458] Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934, index and register, 'Margarethe Naugardt' entry, ship Gitana, 1869.
  9. [S388] Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists 1839-1923, online, 'Maria Naugart' entry, Stockbridge, 1869.
  10. [S115] Andrew Larsen, death registration no. 12488, 16 November 1877.
  11. [S240] Richard Cornelius Williams and Anna Caroline Larsen, marriage registration no. 6123, 1 October 1896.
  12. [S516] Karen Larsen, birth registration no. 11662, 11 March 1877.
  13. [S457] Magnus Ferdinand Elkjer Riedell and Catharina Naugardt, marriage registration no. 3237, 8 September 1867.
  14. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, 'Cath Dorothea' Riedell entry, death registration no. 11967, 1908.
  15. [S83] Richard White, personal communication, 19 March 2009.
  16. [S495] Catherina Dorothea Riedell, death registration no. 11967, 19 August 1908.
  17. [S83] Richard White, personal communication, email from wife Naida, 16 October 2018.
  18. [S246] 'First Schleswig War', Wikipedia, online, webpage, Wikimedia Foundation, viewed 12 December 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Schleswig_War
  19. [S246] 'Second Schleswig War', Wikipedia, online, webpage, Wikimedia Foundation, viewed 12 December 2017, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Schleswig_War
  20. [S246] 'Flensburg', Wikipedia, online, webpage, Wikimedia Foundation, viewed 12 December 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flensburg
  21. [S40] Unassisted Passenger Lists 1852-1923, online index, PROV, 'Maria Naugard' entry, ship Rockbridge, 1869.
  22. [S1] Some shipping records have the ship as Rockbridge, others as Stockbridge.
  23. [S481] Heritage Study of the Shire of Newstead, Stage 2: Section 2, Environmental History, report prepared by Phil Taylor, May 2004.
  24. [S89] The Riedell Family, letter, 1975.
  25. [S79] 'The early days of the Larsen family: Congupna', The Centenary of Congupna Schools and District 1884-1984, Congupna Centenary Committee, 1984, p. 19, story by Ursula Reynolds.
  26. [S79] The Centenary of Congupna Schools and District 1884-1984, Congupna Centenary Committee, 1984, p. 5.
  27. [S213] Geoff Larsen, personal communication, 3 December 2010.
  28. [S18] '[Death Notice: Mrs Laust Larsen]', Shepparton News, 1877-, newspaper, Roy McPherson, 27 September 1904.