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Axel Andersen (later to be changed to Jarlov) arrived in NZ on the S.S. Monowai on 12 April 1905. His younger brother Holger arrived on 21 February 1909. It was sometime between 1906 and 1909 that the family name changed from Andersen to Jarl? (though the struck through o has never been used by any of the family). Hans Christian Andersen, Axel's father, was a schoolteacher and an eager researcher in languages. Some of his research resulted in him being allowed to take the name 'Jarl?' (it related to the historical pronunciation of his home town of Errindlev). The brothers settled in the Matamau area, north of Dannevirke. Axel applied for, and received, naturalisation. As Holger had not been in the country long enough, his application was somewhat delayed.
Axel's naturalisation application
Holger's naturalisation application
Axel and Eva's intention to marry
After marrying on 11 September 1911 at Umutaoroa, Axel and Eva (nee Larsen) Andersen Jarlov lived the first three years of their married life in the area north of Dannevirke. Eva had lived with her parents, Charles (Carl) and Johanna (nee Nielsen) Larsen in Umutaoroa since about 1900. She had, altogether, 11 brothers and sister, all but 1 of whom survived to adulthood.
In that time that Axel and Eva lived near Dannevirke, they had their first two children, both girls: Evelyn (born 31 August 1912) and Rita Andersen Jarlov (born 30 September 1913).
Midway through the following year, 9 June 2014, Axel and Eva boarded the steamer Warrimoo in Napier, bound for Gisborne. There is no mention of the two children, though other passengers are recorded as having children. It could be that they would both be considered 'infants' - both girls would be under 2 years old - and so not mentioned, or there is the possibility they were left with Eva's family in Dannevirke.
PapersPast showing Jarlovs going to Gisborne
The move to Matawai (more specifically, to Motuhora, just a few kilometres further on toward the town of Motu) would have been for the sawmilling and timber opportunities. The land inland from Gisborne had been promoted for about 20 years for its potential, and Matawai was just starting to prosper as a small town. Even one of the Prouse family, James Prouse (the other side of Averil Jarlov's family tree) had been there in 1901 as a proponent of opening up the interior by building a railway to transport the timber down to Gisborne.
James Prouse inspects the timber near Motu, 1901
Opportunities in timber milling at Matawai
The railway was begun in 1900 but made slow progress toward Matawai. It reached Ormond in 1902 and Te Karaka in 1905 - the easy part of the construction across the river flats. It took until April 1913 for the rail to reach Matawai. The final 8 km of track to Motohora were not completed until November 1917. In those days, the journey from Gisborne to Matawai would take about 4 hours - the trip down from Matawai took only 3 hours. Two trains up and two trains down the line were usual for many years.
Description of the railway line
Description of Matawai and the railway
When Axel and Eva arrived, there were at least three sawmills operating, and several more planned. Axel took on work almost immediately, taking over a timber contract associated with Sloan's Sawmill in October 1914. The association with Sloan's Sawmill was to continue for most of the 15 years living in the area.
A feature of Axel's first few years of employment was his involvement in various court cases relating to timber. He was, variously, a witness in several cases and a plaintiff in at least one. These sort of disputes seem to have been fairly common with the times and the place - Matawai was a bit of the frontier of the country back then, and there were lots of fast and loose business transactions. Axel's sometime employer Frank Sloan appears in a number of these legal actions, with Axel sometimes seeming to support him but other times appearing on the 'other side'.
Axel appears in a court case relating to timber sales
Axel as the plaintiff in a case
Axel wins but award is reduced for various reasons
When Evelyn was about 2 1/2 years old, and Rita just a bit over 1 year old, Axel and Eva had their third child, a boy this time. Oliver Andersen Jarlov was born in Matawai on 23 January 1915. His short life would have been marked by the eventual cause of his death - a "congenital dilatation of the colon". Oliver would have been named for Axel's younger brother Holger, who Anglicised his name to Oliver when he came to New Zealand a few years after Axel. They had spent their first few years in the country together in the Dannevirke area.
During that six months of baby Oliver's life, however, there was at least one significant event that involved travel. Axel's brother Holger/Oliver married Ellen ("Nellie") Moran on 22 May 1915. It appears that Axel and Eva returned to Dannevirke for the wedding. On 25 May 1915, two people named Jarlov left Napier for Gisborne on a boat - it seems reasonable to believe this was Axel and Eva returning home.
Young Oliver's short life ended on 4 August 1915, after a one week stay is what appears to be a small private hospital/maternity house in Gisborne. He was buried that same day at the Hauhaupiko (Makaraka) Cemetery. No marking was placed on the grave, and it remains unmarked to this day, though it can be easily located.
Map of Makaraka Cemetery - Oliver buried on western boundary (Section E)
Oliver's plot - map oriented with north to the top
Axel and Eva's life in Motuhora continued through the next decade, a combination of social activities and more children. Axel played the piano for many social events, and he also acted as the secretary pro tem of the Labor Party in Matawai.
Axel speaks in the the local hall at a farewell
Axel as secretary pro tem for the Labor Party
Jarlov plays some 'excellent' music
More 'excellent' music in the local hall
Axel speaks for the Gisborne timber workers union
Ivan Charles Christian Jarlov was born 9 June 1916, followed by Albert John Andersen Jarlov on 27 February 1918. "Christian" was Holger's middle name. "Albert John" was a brother of Eva. They were followed by Lindsay Axel Jarlov (born 8 September 1919) and, finally, Flora who was born 21 September 1921. The family was now complete - 3 girls and 3 boys, and young Oliver who had died.
The defining element of the next few years was the failure of the railway to ever get pushed past Motuhora. The intention was that it would eventually go over the ranges and down toward Opotiki, connecting to Taneatua and eventually all the way to Auckland. It never happened, leaving Motuhora as the end of the rail, and consigning the potential of the area to something that "might have been".
The 1920s saw the family well-established into the life in Motohora/Matawai. With hard work, Axel and Eva developed the family's position, while the quantity of bush to fell diminished. By the late 1920s, sawmills in the area started to shut, and it was time for the family to make another major move.
Though not certain, it seems the Jarlov's followed the Tunnicliffe family to the Rotorua area in August 1929, continuing the work of both families in the sawmilling industry.
These events can be seen in the context of the wider Andersen-Jarlov family here.