Charles Wilhelm Thesen
Encyclopedia
Charles Wilhelm Thesen (14 November 1856 Stavanger
- 1 February 1940 Knysna
), was a Norwegian-born shipowner and timber merchant who played a leading role in Knysna's public affairs.
Charles was the fifth son of Arndt Leonard Thesen (26 October 1816 - 24 June 1875), a wealthy and respected man in Stavanger. The German-Danish War of 1864-67 caused a downturn in trade and shipping, and in 1868 caused the collapse of several companies in Stavanger, among which was A.L. Thesen & Co.
Arndt, together with his wife, Anne Cathrine Margreta Brandt, seven sons, two daughters, his brother Mathias Theodore Thesen (26 October 1813 - 18 June 1884), and his son, Hans Adolf (17 October 1843 - 5 March 1909), and a crew of seven, left Norway for New Zealand 14 August 1869 in his 117-ton schooner
Albatros. The ship was loaded with timber to be sold on their arrival. They reached Cape Town
on 16 November 1869 and after a week’s stay for repairs and provisioning, the voyage to New Zealand was resumed. Storms at the Cape forced them to put about and return to Table Bay
. In Cape Town, the Swedish-Norwegian consul, Carl Gustaf Åkerberg, told the Thesens about the shortage of cargo ships plying the South African coast. The plan to sail to New Zealand was at first postponed and later set aside.
After several coastal cargo voyages, the Thesen family settled in Knysna. They started with shipping timber, a business they knew well from Norway, but soon ventured into saw-milling and acquiring forested land. From February 1872 Charles worked as a clerk for William Anderson & Co in Port Elizabeth, but on his father's death in 1875, he joined and managed the family firm, adding new vessels to their fleet, buying more land and trying oyster farming. They also diversified into hardware stores, supermarkets, whaling, gold prospecting and mining, railway construction and road transport. Thesen did not forget his Norwegian roots and commissioned his freight ships such as “Outeniqua” in 1915 from “Porsgrund Mekaniske Værksted” in Porsgrund
. He married Eliza Bessie Georgiana Harison (5 March 1863 - 6 August 1901), daughter of the first conservator of forests, Christopher Harison
, an opportune joining of the two families. They produced ten children, 5 sons and 3 daughters surviving. After Bessie's death of pregnancy complications in 1901, he married Lucia Johanna Christine Thesen (1875–1963), the daughter of his cousin Hans Adolf, and she bore one son and two daughters.
Charles was active in local politics, serving on the divisional and municipal councils, filling the offices of mayor, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Cape Provincial Council. In 1904 he bought Paarden Island, part of the Melkhoutkraal Estate of George Rex
. Here the Thesens processed cut timber from 1922 and the island later became known as Thesen Island.
One of Charles' sisters, Blanka Thesen, married Francis William Reitz
, president of the Orange Free State
.
Charles's other brothers were Hjalmar (14 February 1846 - 1923), Rolf (9 August 1850 - 18 October 1883), Ragnvald (9 August 1850 - 8 July 1936) and Nils
(24 April 1853 - 23 November 1929).
The vessel Albatros traded along the Southern African coast, sailing to Mauritius
on one occasion, taking two months and ten days for the round trip. In March 1874, en route from Knysna to Cape Town and under captain Knud Thomasen, she struck a reef off Cape Agulhas
and went down. The passengers and crew were stranded for three days on Dyer Island before being rescued by local fishermen and then travelling by wagon to Caledon. The Thesens' next vessel was the 191-ton brig
Ambulant which, in 1883, was the first ship to take on cargo at the new Government Wharf off Thesen’s Island, the cargo consisting of 3 000 railway sleepers to Cape Town. Competition from the Castle and Union Lines forced Thesen's to shut down this route and Ambulant was sold off in 1884. This was followed in 1895 by the 427-ton mail packet Agnar, a steamship nicknamed ‘Agony’ by the local school children she regularly carried to boarding schools in Cape Town. She stayed in service for some 40 years, as troop carrier for the British colonial government in the Boer War
(1899–1902) and for the German government in the ‘Herero War’ in German South West Africa (1904–1907). She was taken over by a business in Madagascar
in 1934 and was lost in a cyclone off Mauritius
in 1938. The 706-ton Ingerid was taken into service in 1901 and the 600-ton Karatara in 1913. The 1019-ton Outeniqua joined the fleet in 1915, the 139-ton Clara converted from a sand barge and suction dredger and the 216-ton Nautilus in 1917.
The Outeniqua was the company’s flagship, could accommodate fifty passengers and remained in service until 1945. In 1916 the Thesen Line became the Thesen’s Steamship Company, but the coastal shipping trade was languishing. Vessels which had been conscripted during World War I
were free to ply commercial routes after the War, leading to keen competition. Improvements in the road and rail infrastructure, particularly the opening of the George-Knysna railway line in 1928, led to cheaper tariffs for travel by land. The Thesen family sold off four of its eight vessels, and in 1921 the entire company with the remaining Agnar, Ingerid, Outeniqua and Clara. The buyer was the English-based Houston Line, which continued to use Thesen’s red swallowtail with white star.
Stavanger
Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...
- 1 February 1940 Knysna
Knysna
Knysna is a town with 76,431 inhabitants in the Western Cape Province of South Africa and is part of the Garden Route. It lies 34 degrees south of the equator, and is 72 kilometres east from the town of George on the N2 highway, and 25 kilometres west of Plettenberg Bay on the same road.-History:A...
), was a Norwegian-born shipowner and timber merchant who played a leading role in Knysna's public affairs.
Charles was the fifth son of Arndt Leonard Thesen (26 October 1816 - 24 June 1875), a wealthy and respected man in Stavanger. The German-Danish War of 1864-67 caused a downturn in trade and shipping, and in 1868 caused the collapse of several companies in Stavanger, among which was A.L. Thesen & Co.
Arndt, together with his wife, Anne Cathrine Margreta Brandt, seven sons, two daughters, his brother Mathias Theodore Thesen (26 October 1813 - 18 June 1884), and his son, Hans Adolf (17 October 1843 - 5 March 1909), and a crew of seven, left Norway for New Zealand 14 August 1869 in his 117-ton schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Albatros. The ship was loaded with timber to be sold on their arrival. They reached Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
on 16 November 1869 and after a week’s stay for repairs and provisioning, the voyage to New Zealand was resumed. Storms at the Cape forced them to put about and return to Table Bay
Table Bay
Table Bay is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named because it is dominated by the flat-topped Table Mountain.Bartolomeu Dias was the first European to explore this...
. In Cape Town, the Swedish-Norwegian consul, Carl Gustaf Åkerberg, told the Thesens about the shortage of cargo ships plying the South African coast. The plan to sail to New Zealand was at first postponed and later set aside.
After several coastal cargo voyages, the Thesen family settled in Knysna. They started with shipping timber, a business they knew well from Norway, but soon ventured into saw-milling and acquiring forested land. From February 1872 Charles worked as a clerk for William Anderson & Co in Port Elizabeth, but on his father's death in 1875, he joined and managed the family firm, adding new vessels to their fleet, buying more land and trying oyster farming. They also diversified into hardware stores, supermarkets, whaling, gold prospecting and mining, railway construction and road transport. Thesen did not forget his Norwegian roots and commissioned his freight ships such as “Outeniqua” in 1915 from “Porsgrund Mekaniske Værksted” in Porsgrund
Porsgrunn
is a town and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Porsgrunn....
. He married Eliza Bessie Georgiana Harison (5 March 1863 - 6 August 1901), daughter of the first conservator of forests, Christopher Harison
Christopher Harison
Christopher Harison , was a Conservator of Forests and an authority on forest practice in South Africa....
, an opportune joining of the two families. They produced ten children, 5 sons and 3 daughters surviving. After Bessie's death of pregnancy complications in 1901, he married Lucia Johanna Christine Thesen (1875–1963), the daughter of his cousin Hans Adolf, and she bore one son and two daughters.
Charles was active in local politics, serving on the divisional and municipal councils, filling the offices of mayor, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Cape Provincial Council. In 1904 he bought Paarden Island, part of the Melkhoutkraal Estate of George Rex
George Rex
George Rex was a British-born entrepreneur, who spent most of his adult life in the Cape Colony, South Africa. He founded the town of Knysna in the Western Cape and played a key role in its development...
. Here the Thesens processed cut timber from 1922 and the island later became known as Thesen Island.
One of Charles' sisters, Blanka Thesen, married Francis William Reitz
Francis William Reitz
Francis William Reitz, Jr. was a South African lawyer, politician, statesman, publicist and poet, member of parliament of the Cape Colony, Chief Justice and fifth State President of the Orange Free State, State Secretary of the South African Republic at the time of the Second Boer War, and the...
, president of the Orange Free State
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
.
Charles's other brothers were Hjalmar (14 February 1846 - 1923), Rolf (9 August 1850 - 18 October 1883), Ragnvald (9 August 1850 - 8 July 1936) and Nils
Nils Peter Thesen
Nils Peter Thesen was a Norwegian-born, South African businessperson.He was a son of Arndt Leonard Thesen and Ane Catherine Margrethe Brandt...
(24 April 1853 - 23 November 1929).
The vessel Albatros traded along the Southern African coast, sailing to Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
on one occasion, taking two months and ten days for the round trip. In March 1874, en route from Knysna to Cape Town and under captain Knud Thomasen, she struck a reef off Cape Agulhas
Cape Agulhas
Cape Agulhas is a rocky headland in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of Africa and the official dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and went down. The passengers and crew were stranded for three days on Dyer Island before being rescued by local fishermen and then travelling by wagon to Caledon. The Thesens' next vessel was the 191-ton brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
Ambulant which, in 1883, was the first ship to take on cargo at the new Government Wharf off Thesen’s Island, the cargo consisting of 3 000 railway sleepers to Cape Town. Competition from the Castle and Union Lines forced Thesen's to shut down this route and Ambulant was sold off in 1884. This was followed in 1895 by the 427-ton mail packet Agnar, a steamship nicknamed ‘Agony’ by the local school children she regularly carried to boarding schools in Cape Town. She stayed in service for some 40 years, as troop carrier for the British colonial government in the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
(1899–1902) and for the German government in the ‘Herero War’ in German South West Africa (1904–1907). She was taken over by a business in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
in 1934 and was lost in a cyclone off Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
in 1938. The 706-ton Ingerid was taken into service in 1901 and the 600-ton Karatara in 1913. The 1019-ton Outeniqua joined the fleet in 1915, the 139-ton Clara converted from a sand barge and suction dredger and the 216-ton Nautilus in 1917.
The Outeniqua was the company’s flagship, could accommodate fifty passengers and remained in service until 1945. In 1916 the Thesen Line became the Thesen’s Steamship Company, but the coastal shipping trade was languishing. Vessels which had been conscripted during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
were free to ply commercial routes after the War, leading to keen competition. Improvements in the road and rail infrastructure, particularly the opening of the George-Knysna railway line in 1928, led to cheaper tariffs for travel by land. The Thesen family sold off four of its eight vessels, and in 1921 the entire company with the remaining Agnar, Ingerid, Outeniqua and Clara. The buyer was the English-based Houston Line, which continued to use Thesen’s red swallowtail with white star.