A brazier's grave, Our Saviour's Cemetery, Oslo, Norway (Tombstone Tuesday)

© 2016 Dag Trygsland Hoelseth

 

I came over the grave of brazier (gjørtler) Carl Peter Larsen (1827–1925) during my visit to Our Saviour's Cemetery (Vår Frelsers gravlund) today. The grave plate also shows the name of his wife Hanna Severine Larsen, née Soelberg (1829–1900) and their daughter Vally K. Larsen (1858–1931). The latter worked as a teacher, according to the 1885 national census.

 

A brazier is a person (craftsman) who works brass. In the cemetery register Larsen is actually listed as a gjørtlermester (brazier master). While the grave plate only shows three names, the cemetery register tells that grave no. 01.026.04.007 is leased (festet) together with grave no. 01.026.04.008 and that all in all 8 persons are buried there. I didn't notice any Larsen headstone next to the grave plate. Some of the other five are listed in the 1865 national census.

If one combines the names in the cemetery register with various national censuses you get the following list of children of Carl Peter and Hanna Severine:

1. Vally Kathinka (1858–1931)
2. Albert Frederik (1859–after 1910), gjørtler
3. Carl Oscar (1861–1944), also a gjørtler
4. Fanny Augusta (appr. 1863–after 1910), probably married Bjørnseth, and if so, she died in 1947, according to the cemetery register
5. Sigurd Halfdan (1865–1868)
6. H. Severin (1867–1868)
7. Thorstein (1869–1872)
8. Sigrid Helene (1871–1873)
9. Thorstein Emanuel (1876–1884)

There could have been more children, of course. If the details above are correct, Hanna must have been around 47 when Thorstein Emanuel was born. It seems a bit old, but not impossible. One has to go through the church books to find more details and to double-check everything. Maybe another time.