Ludolph Waldemar Marcker (21.07. 1866 – 15.02. 1945) Nexø, Bornholm, Denmark.
Ludolph W. Marcker was the youngest and the 8th child by merchant and city treasurer Andreas Marcker (2o.05. 1824 – 05.03. 1907) and Anna Johanne Sophia Christine Fog (31.10. 1828 – 26.10 1869). He was born into a merchant family, which during generations had lived in the same family merchant farm in Nexø, Bornholm. Connected with the early death of his mother when he was 3 years old, the housekeeper Karna Kristine Stephansen (1815 – 03.01. 1896) got employed. She became very important for him. 1)
Grandfather, Ludolph, was 15 years old when he left home. He began his education as an Exam. Pharm. at The Swan Chemists Shop in Viborg and later on he worked at The King Salomon Chemists Shop in Copenhagen. As he could not stop his longing to go abroad he asked his farther for the permission to leave for Australia, where he made his first stop at his uncle, merchant and “justice of peace” Jørgen Fog in Coonamble. As he went bankrupt about a year later Ludolph continued to Sydney, where he after a short time entered into partnership with pharmacist Mr. Newth in Burwood. They worked together through 7 years, before he in 1895 tried his hand as a gold digger in Calgoorli and shortly and in vein moved on to ”Hampton Plain” and to “Londonderry”. His physical hard gold digger adventure lasted for about 1½ year and he did not find much more gold than he was able to pay for his daily living life. Yet, he kept the first lump of gold he found.
Shortly he took up again his work together with Mr. Newth in Burwood but it did not last because he found it too monotonously. Instead he chose to start up as a businessman. E.g. he bought a wine shop in Sydney, and in Cessnok by Newcastle near Hunter he bought a wine yard of several acres. During the period from 1895-98 he had furthermore his own import of agency with Danish Export & Trading Company. In 1898 he took over an agency of Chr. Hansens’s Dairy Articles from Mr. Edvard Gommesen. 1908 he took over the sale of L.C.Gad’s Dairy Articles. These businesses brought him on long business trips not only I New South Wales, but also in Victoria, Quensland and New Zealand. 1909 connected with a commercial travel to Christchurch, N.Z. he met Ernst Henry Shackleton’s South Pole Expedition, which just had arrived (1907-09). From Sydney he knew Professor Mr. David, The Universitet of Sydney one of the participates.
In 1896 Ludolph Marcker got married to Emma Emilie Stahlfest-Petersen (20.01. 1861 – 03.11. 1927) Broager, South Jutland, Denmark. They got three daughters: Jenny Karna Myee Marcker (18.12. 1897 – 07. 09.1981), Emilie Bjørg Myee (Topsy) Marcker (20.02.1900 –1980) and Dagmar Sophie Myee (Tootie) Marcker (09.12.1903 –17.04.1986).
Firstly the family lived Sct. Johns Road in Glebe Point and in 1901 they moved to “Bornholm”, 49 Leichardt Street, Glebe Point, Sydney.
Around the turn of the century “The Danish Club” got founded and the General Consul Theodor August Boesen became the Chairman and Ludolph Marcker became the secretary of the club. When T.A.Boesen died 1904 Ludolph Marcker became elected as General Consul, which he continued to be until he left for Denmark 1912. Besides visiting the family the purpose of the journey was for Ludolph to find some investors to a Silver mine which he had an option on. He succeeded in London and besides in 1914 he was appointed to Knight of The Dannebrog of the Danish king Christian X. Unfortunately the climate once again had a bad influence on the health of grandmother
(problems with her lunges which had been the very reason why she emigrated in1879 to Australia quite independent of Ludolph). The First World War (1914-18) broke out and all connection with the world out site was cut off. As the war ended and Ludolph and his family were supposed to leave for Sydney some unlucky difficulties showed up so they never got the opportunity for leaving at all. The Silver mine had been handed over to the Australian government in the meanwhile so the rather big fortune which Ludolph already had invested in this mine had totally gone. The lawyer who was supposed to sell their home “Bornholm” betrayed him so he did not get any money for that either. If the health of grandmother at this time maybe had been too bad for a long journey by steamboat is not quite known.
Anyway, from having been a rather wealthy man grandfather and his family suffered the indignity to come down in the world, at the same time they had to manage a new life under distant skies. They settled in Hillerød, where a sister to grandfather had married chemist Laurits Vilhelm Lindtrup who owed Hillerød Apotek, the chemist’s shop in Hillerød and helped Ludolph and his family in the beginning until they got a house for themselves.
For grandfather, who in Australia had been a rather active and successful businessman and as a whole had taken great pleasure and the respect of all, the life in Denmark became of a quite other quiet character. In the beginning he supported his wife and family by entering into a partnership with a coal merchant in Copenhagen. Later on he ran The Hillerød Audit Department together with a Mr. Martin Andersen.
The health of grandmother got worse as the time went by. The daughters helped nursing her in terms. Topsy became a solicitor secretary, remained unmarried and lived continuously at home. Tootie became controller of the telephone service in Hillerød. She married Svend Olsen. The two sisters stayed childless.
Karna Myee Marcker, our mother, married our farther the vicar Svend Aage Reerslev (Sv.Aa.) (20.09.1985–14.06.1966) a son of the dentist in Hillerød. They got married 09.10. 1926 and had of children: Torben Fog (14.08. 1927), Emma Christense (10.12. 1928), Jørgen Fog (03.11. 1929 – 03.07. 1999), Esther Theodora (03.05. 1931), Karna Lilian (13.06. 1933 – 29.03. 1934), Karna Birgit (called Bitte, 13.12. 1934), Kai Fog (14.06. 1936) and Kirsten Bjørg (07.08. 1940).
Fate willed it so, that after having lived and worked in Hillerød for about 30 years, and after the death of his wife 1927, grandfather returned permanently to the farm of merchant where he was born in Nexø and which he as sole heir took over after the death of his sister Jenny Sophie Karen Marcker (22.ll. 1852 – 21.09. 1931). Aunty Jenny had over several years build up a little museum (ceramic, kitchen utensils, furniture, dresses from different locality etc.) solely of old things from the island Bornholm. Grandfather took over the responsibility of these things and as he was a very kind and interesting person who at his old days did not hold back to tell very lively from his interesting life in Australia, then people came to him. He and Topsy had moved together to Nexø where she became solicitor secretary in town. The family merchant farm which today only consist of the main house, belong to my brother Torben. It is used as a leisure house but he has devised the collection of the old objects as a whole in the house to The Museum of Rønne, Bornholm.
The experiences in Australia and Denmark of mammy Karna:
Mammy kept back telling about her childhood and youth in Sydney. When one happened to make her talk, she obviously shined. There was no question about that it had been a terrible disappointment that she and her family never returned. She especially missed her good friends and the cousins, with whom she had a close relationship. Mammy tried during all the years in Denmark to keep in touch with them, and in the 1970’ties two of her cousins visited her in DK, they had then both moved to USA.
Mammy told that she had liked her school very much. She liked all the subjects and was as a whole eager to learn. E.g. she mastered the language Latin as an every day language, which she benefit by when she later on visited Swiss and Italy together with our farther.
When the family arrived in DK mammy went for a shorter or longer period to school. As grandma at a time needed daily help, her daughters did that by turns. Then for about 2 years Mammy served at the seed fabric owner Mr. Almann Olsen and later on at the cigar fabric owner Mr. M.A. Hirschsprung. Mammy had close relationship with the daughter and the son of the last mention family for the rest of her life.
Mammy had through her entire life a ‘funny’ Danish language. She never learned the differences of the and a and when she counted she always did it in English. As English speaking mammy has been to great help during the years when foreigner came to our village and surged for assistance, and during the 2. World War was mammy able to follow the news in BBC Radio, when daddy was skilled in German.
Mammy learned to like horses very much in Australia, and I have experienced have good she was to handle them in my childhood many years later. She told that they had horses and a belonging wagon in the building standing at the right angles to their house. During summertime the whole family went by horse wagon up in the Blue Mountains and visited friends there. Sydney had been too hot.
Mammy was in the possession of a well-developed capacity for catching the possibility life gave her. After having married dad 1926 they moved to the out-of-the-way parish in the north of Vendsyssel, Raabjerg, just south of Skagen, and there a new era began for mammy. As the clergyman’s wife mammy got a certain social status, which continued for the rest of her life even after the death of our farther 1966. Their four eldest children were born in Råbjerg and the rest in the much more fertile Sønderholm parish close to the pulsating city Aalborg.
Besides being mother to many children and all what that imply, she was also the wife to daddy. Daddy was a rather complex person. Besides being a vicar he was also a writer. He did novels and plays. He gave lecturer and readings of his own or others works. More of his plays were performed in Aalborg and Odense. At home mammy played piano and dad played the violin. Both of them enjoyed to go to concerts in Aalborg.
To the vicarage belonged a big garden, which also was mammy’s field of responsibility. As we did not have much money, we had to be self-sufficient with fruit and vegetables, and mammy had great passion for flowers and the green house with e.g. peace and grape. Besides kept mammy hens and was a skilled bee-keeper.
Mammy was a proud person and took always interest in the people around her. In spite of being very helpful where she could and without any doubt she was a very well-liked person wherever she was, still I found her personally difficult to approach.
Mammy had many interests. Besides having green fingers – continuously she tried to growing flowers – she made beautiful embroidery and knitted a lot to all her children. She kept up with social problems threw newspapers and rode various books. Finely she was lively commit to watch match football.
Mammy was interested in a great many things to the very end of her life. She used to visit her children where ever they lived – France, Sweden, Island and of course in DK.
Mammy passed away peacefully as she took part in a clerical conference and suddenly collapsed 02.09 1981.
Explanation of words:
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The picture of the lady hanging on the wall in the dining room in the house ‘Bornholm’ is Karna Kirstine Stephansen.
- ‘Justice of peace’: Small towns in Australia were only visited by a lawyer/solicitor if bigger things of great importance had to be decided. In cases of less importance according to drunk and fight etc. a layman could manage that.
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E.H. Shackleton was a British Navel Officer and south polar investigator and he joined e.g. ‘The discovery Expedition’.
During 2004 The Rønne Museum had an exhibition of Ludolph Waldemar Marcker called ‘The Consul from Sydney’ and the same exhibition came to Hillerød a year later. My brother Torben found with great effort the materials and Cand. Mag. Jakob Bilsted (The Museum of Rønne) prepared the exhibition.
The words by me about grandfather Ludolph is based on his own text which apparently is dictated to Topsy when he/they lived in Nexø and other left materials. The words by me about mammy is my own experiences and observations.
Written by/Kirsten Bjørg Reerslev, Hjørring 11th of November 2010.