Charles William OLSON [1888-1966]

Submitted by David on Thu, 10/24/2013 - 20:25
Names
Given
Charles William
Family
Olson
Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
Born
Date
(Day & Month are approximate.)
Birthplace (country)
Hong Kong
Died
Date
(Day & Month are approximate.)

From Sean's website we know that John Olson I had a son Charles William Olson, born in 1888.

Here's what we know about his working history:

  • 1904: Working at C. E. Warren and Co.
  • 1906: Listed as an Assistant at the International Banking Corporation based at 9 Queen’s Road, Central. (Research Brian Lewis)
  • 1907: Working for Thoreson and Co., based on this postcard: http://gwulo.com/node/8639.
  • 1917: Also in the 1917 Dollar Directory, Charles Olson pops up as working for Thoreson and Co, Shipping Agents and living at 98b Wanchai Road. (Research Brian Lewis)
  • 1922: It is also noted in the China Directory that C.W.Olson is now joint manager of Thoresen and Co.
  • 1922: The 1922 Dollar Directory shows "Olson, C.W., manager, Thoresen & Co., Ltd"
  • 1923: The China Directory of August, 1923 lists him as a director of Thoresen and Co.

Tags

Connections: This person is ...
Child of
Jons JAKOBSSON (aka John Olson) [1838-1918]

Sibling of:

Spouse of
Ethel OLSON (née DAVIES) [c.1899-????]

Photos that show this Person

olson brothers
1910s
ArthurWarrenCharlesOlson
1923

Comments

Came across my great uncle Charlie in the 1927 Juror's list if memory serves me rightly.

Left HK about then. Think his debtors caught up with him. 

He certainly made off with, or used, a considerable sum from John 2's business interests in HK. He was supposed to be looking after them but figures of 96/97K which went walkabout have been bandied around the family. Wine, women, song and Macau seem to hve played their part.  John 2 made a rushed visit to HK to sort things out in 1926. Have postcards showing he went the quick way. 

Have been told by another relation, now dead, that Charlie owed money all over the Colony. His marriage to Ethel broke up but I am not sure whether before or after he left HK. Lived for some time at 13 Broadwood Road not far from The Towers.

Went from HK to Canada where he died at Naniamo on Vancouver Island in 1966. Think he spent many years chasing money and women in no pariticular order. Judging by the Will there were no offspring. At least none that he claimed!

Left me 2K sterling in his Will which I thought rather decent. You can read about him and his wife Ethel in HK at www.thehongkonglegacy.com of which there is  new version on web.

He was definitely the playboy/blacksheep of the family. Suspect being the youngest of John 1's children with Ching Ah Fung he only ever saw the good times and took them to be his right.

Sean

 

Canada Ocean Arrivals April 1922

Charles William Olson age 34 merchant born Hong Kong. Race Swedish.Citizenshp Britsh.In transit to Hong Kong Accompanied by Ethel Olson wife

Nearest relative Brother J Olson 20 Nelson Road Southsea
 

Noticed an advertisement in the Hong Kong Telegraph dated 3 January 1925 that Charles William Olson ceased to be connected with Thoresen & Co. Ltd., from 1 January 1925. 

I don't know how John Olson's snr's bequest was shared our between his surviving children, John, Nellie and Charles. According to the Jurors Lists of 1926 and 1927 Charles had set up his own business as a broker, using his home address of 13 Broadwood Road (actually John Olson's property). We know from Sean Olson's account that Charles absconded with a lot of family money, leaving debts all over Hong Kong in 1926/27. In the absence of John and Nellie, he would have been guardian to Elizabeth Warnes's daughters, Iris and Marjorie, who boarded at the Canossian Convent after the death of their mother. Iris would have attained her majority in 1927 and become entitled to her share of her mother's inheritance. It appears that Charles, who had access to the bank account containing the girls' potential inheritance for their fees and expenses, simply emptied the account. I have interviewed Iris's daughter, Sally, who knew that there had been a great deal of family money but also knew that it had "disappeared". It seems that John Olson jnr. rushed out to Hong Kong to try to sort things out, as, according to Sean, Charles had left debts all over the colony. His abandoned wife, Ethel went back to England eventually. Hopefully John and Annie Olson were able to help her out financially. I think there is a photo of her on Gwulo hosting a croquet party at 13 Broadwood Road which included Iris and Marjorie and Charles's nephew, Reggie Warren in about 1924.