An Ipswich-based historian is searching for any information, photos, letters, cards or memorabilia relating to his great grandparents.
Terence King reached out to Mackay Life in his journey to research Jens Lauritzen and Anna Cathrine Meng who migrated to Australia from Prussia in 1882.
“I’ve been working on it for a few years, so I’ve been able to gather quite a lot of information about them so far, tracing their life from when they were born in Denmark and their journey out here to Australia and their life out here,” Mr King said.
“I’ve got a fair bit of information, but I thought before I finish, I’d better try and flush out anybody in that Mackay area that might be harbouring some wealth of information tucked away in that proverbial shoe box.”
Mr King has researched and written multiple books on different sides of his family history, self-publishing them to immortalise the stories for generations to come.
“It’s just fascinating to discover, not just the bare bones of their life, when they were born, what they did, but to try and look at the context in which they lived and what was going on at that time in history,” he said.
Jens Lauritzen and Anna Cathrine Meng settled in Walkerston after emigrating from Prussia, originally Denmark.
Mr King hopes to make contact with any descendants of them or their following children: Hans Christian (Christie) Meng, Anne Catherine Roots, Martha Maria Letchford, Jens Peter (Hen) Meng, Frank Andreas (Bam) Meng, Christina Cecilia (Trinna) Stoneham, Hans Peter (Peter) Meng and William Jensen (Billy) Meng.
“I’ve been able to trace from when they were born in Denmark, and I’ve traced some of their lives up to the point of 1864 when there was a big war with Prussia,” he said.
“Where they lived was taken over by the Prussians and they came out here as Prussian citizens as opposed to being Danish citizens.
“They always dismissed any suggestion that they were German, particularly in the first world war, they were always adamant that they were Danish.”
Anyone with information or artefacts is asked to contact Mr King on 07 3282 3087 or email terenceking@bigpond.com.
Anna Kathrine Meng and Jens Lauritzen with their son Lauritzen Jensen Meng, Terence’s grandfather
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