A "field trip" to Aabenraa, Denmark - The home of our many times great-grandfather, Peter Benson Lutge

Well, the time is fast approaching when I'll be standing in the very square in Aabenraa where my 2nd great-grandfather, Peter Benson Lutge, was born and lived from his birth on 15 March 1837 until he left his parents and seven younger siblings in 1862 to settle in Australia.  Peter married Mary Bonner in 1864 and they had 10 children.  All us "Lutge cousins" are descendants of Peter Benson and Mary.

 You can read about Peter Benson Lutge here.

 We have quite a heritage in Aabenraa!  Here are our ancestors that I've been able to trace.  All the births shown in the chart were in Aabenraa - apart from one!  Peter Benson's father, Johann Friedrich Lutge, was born in Copenhagen.  So, Peter Benzen (or Bentzon), my 6th great-grandfather, was born in Aabenraa in 1718 - 300 years ago!  I'll be visiting Copenhagen but family history research will have to wait for another visit.


Peter, his parents and siblings are shown as living at Vaegterpladsen, Aabenraa in the 1855 Danish Census. Here they are at the top of the right hand page.


 I've tracked down the square where their home was (red dot) and it's 8 minutes walk from my hotel (green dot).


 This is what I'll see when I get there!  My aim is to find their home and also visit the local cemetery to see if there are any familiar names.  I've attempted to engage a family historian in the area for the last six months without success.  There will be plenty to fill my two day stay.


Here's a chart showing Peter Benson, his parents and siblings.  You can see that Hans Jensen went to the US dying in Milwaukee in 1913.  We've had DNA matches with a number of Hans Jensen's descendants who are intrigued to hear of their Australian "cousins".  I've also had contact with descendants of the youngest child, Marie Christine Lutge, who still live in the area.  Time is too short on this visit to look them up but this could well be a reconnaissance visit!


So, in a little over 4 weeks, stay tuned for a report on my visit to Aabenraa.....

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Commencing our Lutge voyage of discovery - Peter Benson Lutge died on 17 May 1890

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We've set up this space to connect with Lutge descendants in Australia - to share stories and develop our understanding of the family in Australia and our Danish and Irish roots. Peter Benson Lutge was born on 15 March 1837 on Aabenraa, Aabenraa-Sonderborg, Denmark.  Peter was the oldest of the eight children of Johann Friedrich Lutge (Lytge or Lutje) and Maria Cathrina Jensen (Jensdr).  The various spellings demonstrate how difficult this research can be!  Equally, there can be absolute gems fall into you lap like this page from the 1855 Denmark Census. https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10258-1907202-/peter-b-lutge-in-1855-denmark-census?indId=individual-382609941-2000217&s=382609941 Dated 4 August 1855, Peter Benson, aged 17, is living at Vaegterplads in Aabenraa with his father, Johann Friedrich (47), his mother, Maria Cathrina (45) and his 2 younger brothers and 5 younger sisters - Cathrina Dorothea (16), Hans Jensen (14), Johann Friedrich (12)
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The voyage continues with Mary Lutge (nee Bonner) - Peter's wife

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Having spent last Thursday at a study course on Irish records, it's a good time to share my findings to date about our matriarch, Mary Bonner.  Again there are many variations to the spelling of the name including Bonnor, Boner and Bonar.  Maybe we should just call her Mary B! Over the last year, I've been working with our Lutge cousin, Karen, on our family story.  We had Mary B's marriage and death registrations.  Based on these, we thought that Mary B was born in the late 1840s in County Donegal, Ireland and came to Australia in the early 1860s.  Our next stage was to find out about Mary B's birth family and voyage to Australia. A few weeks ago, we were sitting in a coffee shop, laptop between us and looking at the new information AncestryDNA provides called "Genetic Communities".  We've both tested with AncestryDNA and the strongest "Genetic Community" I belong to is the one formed around Donegal highlighting Mary B.  
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Denis (Dinny) Lutge (1879 to 1953) - The eighth child of Peter Benson and Mary Lutge

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Denis (Dinny) is the most well known of our Lutge family.  There's even a "wikipedia" entry which gives Dinny's birth date as 26 November 1879.  All sorts of searching of the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages and still no success in finding a birth registration.  So, the search continues.... Dinny was the eighth child of Peter Benson and Mary Lutge.  He moved to the Mosman area with the family in the mid 1880s.  While Dinny worked as a stevedore in his early life, he commenced his rugby union career with the Mosman Junior in 1893.  We can see how young he is in this picture where he is second from the right in the second row (behind the fellow with the cap).  Three of his brothers are in the bottom row -  far left is Bob Lutge, second from left is Peter Lutge, second from right is Paddy Lutge. Between 1901 and 1907, Dinny played rugby union for the Northern Suburbs Club.  He made his international debut as a lock-forward in the first rugby un
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