Everything tagged: John Olson snr

Anders Olson was the youngest brother of John Olson, the Swedish proprietor of the National Hotel and Tavern in Queen's Road. He arrived in Hong Kong ahead of his elder brother, Olof, but died of smallpox quite soon after his arrival at the Seamen's Hospital. His funeral is recorded in the register of St. John's Cathedral under the name "Andrew Olson". His grave is in the Colonial Cemetery as are those of his brothers and his infant nephew, John Olson. Anders and Olof are my great-great-uncles.

Bertie Warren was the first child of Charles and Hannah Warren and the first grandchild of John Olson, the retired Swedish tavern owner. The story handed down to later generations was that a Warren baby had died from being scalded in a bath. Bertie was a toddler rather than a baby. Hannah Warren had given birth to her second child, Leslie Warren, the day before his death. It is possible that an inexperienced amah had given Bertie his bath without testing the temperature. "Sunstroke" may have been given on the death certificate to avoid involvement of the law.

Yau Kum is my great-grandmother and mother of my grandmother, Hannah Warren, née Olson. My question to Gwulo contributors is whether this name on the birth certificates of her two children could just be a nickname as has been suggested to me. On the certificate the name is written as Yau, Kum - supposedly surname followed by name, but on the gravestone of her first child her name is given as Y. Olson. I believe that Yau Kum is a "lucky" name. I forget which is which, but I was told that the translation is "jade" and "gold".

The actual first name of Sonny Boy Melcher has never been recorded by the Olson family, to whom he was most closely related. He was the son of Evert Melcher, resident of Shanghai and of Ellen (Nellie) Melcher, youngest daughter of the retired Swedish tavern owner, John Olson snr and his Chinese wife, Ching Ah Fung (later Ellen Olson). Sonny Boy was youngest grandchild of the elder Olsons and probably born in 1917, as his mother was still named in 1916 passenger lists as Miss E. Olson. Sonny Boy appears in Hong Kong family photos that show John Olson snr with all his grandsons.

Very little has been found out about Evert Melcher, husband of the youngest daughter of John Olson and Ching Ah Fung. He does not apparently spell his name with an "s", so is not a member of the famous Melchers family, we suppose. He was Dutch and lived and worked in Shanghai at the time that he and Nellie married. He is supposed to have worked for the East India Company and the family was posted to Indonesia. They returned to Holland during WW2. Nellie and Evert separated and it is not known whether Nellie, who emigrated to the U.S., married again.

Daphne Cook was born to Marjorie Cook (née Warnes) and John Turnbull Cook in Hong Kong in April 1934. She was one of the great-grandchildren of the Swedish tavern owner, John Olson. As her parents separated when she was a baby, she was brought up by her aunt, Iris Gaby and her husband Cyril, who worked for the Chinese customs. When WW2 broke out the Gaby family were at first interned at the American Club in Shanghai and then included in a POW swap via Lourenco Marques. They settled in Australia.

Nellie was the youngest daughter of John Olson and the fifth of his six children. She was step-sister of my grandmother, Hannah Warren. Her birth certificate gives her mother as Cheng A-Fung, who would later take Ellen as her Christian name, making two Ellens in the family. Nellie was born at 1 Ladder Street Terrace. The Ladies Directory gives her as living with her mother in Caine Road until at least 1907 after the birth of her nephew, Arthur, when her address is given at Charles and Hannah Warren's home at 2 Observatory Villas.

I am relying on John Steward's gravestone 08/19/01 in the Colonial Cemetery for the correct spelling of his surname. His age at death was 55. His obituary notice giving 22 January 1877 in the Hong Kong Daily Press, which matches that on his gravestone, gives his name as John Stewart. Carl Smith switches backwards and forwards between "Stewart" and "Steward". The first entry in the Carl Smith cards gives "J. Stewart as Ist Officer on the Schooner, "Royalist" in 1849.

Cyril Warnes was the third and youngest child of Charles and Elizabeth Warnes. He was a great-grandson of John Olson snr. His mother died of cancer in 1917 and his father died on 7 August 1920 at the General Hospital, Singapore (info via moddsey). Cyril is listed as attending DBS in 1918 and he is shown as a smiling boy together with all the other grandsons of John Olson snr. in group family photos before John Olson's death.

Elizabeth Warnes was the second daughter of John Olson snr. and half sister to Hannah Warren. Her mother was Ching Ah-Fung. Her other siblings were John Olson jnr., Charles W. Olson and Ellen Melcher née Olson. She married Charles Aspinell Warnes at St John's Cathedral in 1905. Their children were Iris, Marjorie and Cyril. Iris's and Marjorie's descendants now live in Australia. They lost touch with their brother, Cyril, who is thought to have emigrated to Canada. Elizabeth is buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Happy Valley near her parents.