a Danish presence
Hans and Marie Jensen and their three children arrived in Christchurch in 1873. By the early 1880s, the family had bought land and built in the Avon loop, on Kilmore Street. They would live here until 1905, by which time they had had 10 children, two of whom died at a young age.
The Jensens were one of several non-British families who lived in the loop.
In Willow Street alone there were the Oppenheims (Dutch descent), the Weidners (Austria) and, briefly, Raphael Portelli (Italy or Malta). Just down the road from the Jensens were the Lezzas (Corsica). And John Stinnear (Italian descent) was over in Oxford Terrace. Perhaps more diverse than you might expect for 19th century Christchurch?
The rubbish the Jensens buried in their backyard revealed nothing of their Danish roots. There were enough Asiatic Pheasants plates to suggest that they had an Asiatic Pheasants dinner set. They might have had two tea sets, one in a blue and green pattern and other of slightly mis-matched Greek key decorated cups and saucers - perhaps for every day use. There were toys for the children, including a jug from a tea set, a doll and ceramic figurines.
There were alcohol bottles and a bottle of Davis’ Vegetable Painkiller, a generic painkiller. There were just two shoes - so Hans (a bootmaker by trade) probably wasn't making or repairing shoes on site (but he may have run a store there). Curiously, there was a clay pipe embossed with a Scotch thistle, a very Scottish sort of artefact.
The Jensen children who were born in Denmark had Danish names - Ane, Nielsine - while those born in Christchurch had very 'English' names, such as Leslie, Ethel, Mary and Charles. This suggests quite a deliberate attempt to fit into their new home.
