olson brothers

Fri, 03/08/2024 - 03:49

This photo was developed from a group of old family negatives inherited by Leslie Warren and taken to Canada by his wife, Cicely. The negatives were given to Evelyn Lewis's son Brian when he was compiling the history of the Warren family. The young men were identified by Geoffrey and Diana Warren as John and Charles Olson. I hesitate to say which is which. Although later photos show John to have been slimmer than Charles, that is not necessarily the case here. Weights went up and down according to John's granddaughter, Jennifer Maslen. This is the earliest photo of John Olson that I have seen and I wouldn't put it later than 1915-1916 when he and his wife Annie first moved into 13 Broadwood Road. This does not mean that the photo was necessarily taken at 13 Broadwood Road. Certain details, such as the floor tiles don't match up with later photos of 13 Broadwood Road. The Siamese cat appears in another photo in the arms of my grandfather, Charles Warren, which may help to place the location.

Fewer photos of John Olson in Hong Kong seem to have survived than of his younger brother, Charles. For comparison, the following photo of John and Annie (on the left) with Charles and his wife Ethel and friends would have been taken about six years later. They were apparently about to board the Siberian Express.

Date picture taken

1910s

Comments

Re: Main Photo

Just musing. The hill on the right looks like Beacon Hill in Kowloon as in here Noted the cross arm in the background. A nautical connection?

Beacon Hill?

Beacon Hill would seem to be a match for the hill in the background with the little dent in the middle. Could it be seen from Broadwood Road? Before they moved to Broadwood Road, John and Annie Olson lived at 8 Humphrey's Avenue in Kowloon. Charles Olson is listed as living with Charles and Hannah Warren at 4 Fairview, Kowloon in 1910. In this photo of the Olson brothers together they look younger than other post-1915 photos that I have seen. The family portrait of the Olson family that I've seen after their first three sons were born show John jnr with a moustache, for example.

As to the nautical significance of the cross arm, John Olson snr was nothing if not nautical. My Olson cousin mis-interpreted the item as a flagpole.

Any ideas about the less distinctive hill silhouette in the photo of Charles Warren with the unknown women? I haven't been able to verify if the photo was taken in the garden of 13 or 20 Broadwood Road, or even another house. The Siamese cat is the common factor in both photographs.

See https://gwulo.com/media/48807

View to Kowloon

Would your View to Kowloon pic suggest that we can see Kowloon from Broadwood Ridge, Jill?

View to Kowloon from Broadwood Ridge

I assume so. The legend to the photo was written by my cousin who lived at 19 Broadwood Road until she was eleven years old. I'm sure that locals and ex-locals will confirm if Kowloon is visible from Broadwood Ridge or not.

Re: View of Beacon Hill

Just my thoughts.

Normally views of Beacon Hill from Nathan Road, Kowloon are directly in line. Not sure but it looks like the photographer was taking the photo at a position west of Beacon Hill ? There seems to be open water (?) between the low rooftop wall and Beacon Hill. If one was on Broadwood Road, I would expect to see a city view below, then Kowloon and the Kowloon Hills.

Perhaps other contributors can chime in.

Charles on the left, John on…

Charles on the left, John on the right (and family dog sprawled on the terrace floor?)

The same location photo with Jons Jakobssson (aka John Olson) (1838-1918) and 7 of his grandsons, towards the end of the chapter 'Growing Families and Growing Expectations' in the 'Hong Kong Legacy'. The photo is taken at about the same time of 1916 given the age of Sonny Boy Melcher, the youngest in the photo - dare I say maybe even taken on the same day given the same overcast sky. May I even venture the photo was taken on 24th February 1916 - the 78th birthday of John Olson senior - a good reason for such a group photo.

Yes, I would agree the location is to the west of the North-South line looking towards Beacon Hill.

The big question is: what exactly is that cross like structure behind them? It's BIG. Knowing what it is and where will help pinpoint the location of the photo. Surely it should be present in other photos?

Note: The same mast like structure is also seen at the beginning of the chapter 'The Fallout' in the same 'Hong Kong Legacy' link, where 10 children are lined up. It says there it was taken on the terrace at The Towers on Broadwood Road about 1917.

Looks almost like there is a cross like structure above 7 Broadwood Road in this photo. Maybe its me imagining things (!)

Photo location - the Towers.

I've just been looking at 'Hong Kong Legacy' and three quarters of the way through (Number 9/19 of 'Towers' search references) there is a photo of 10 of the Olson grandchildren in this same (or very similar) location. The wall is similar, the porcelain plant stands are there, the tiled verandah is similar and the nautical 'mast-like structure' is there. The only things missing are the sea and land in the distance.

The text says the following, 'this . . . can be seen from pictures of all the children taken on the terrace at The Towers on Broadwood Road probably around 1917.

'There are many other such pictures including a shot of John 2 and Charles Olson on the terrace which is in the possession of Jill Fell. They look very much at home on what was clearly the family’s chosen spot for pictures.'

Does that answer our question?

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