On 04 December 1772 in Aabenraa, Aabenraa-Sonderborg, Denmark

So just 2 years after Captain Cook "discovered" Australia, the great grandparents of Peter Benson LUTGE, our patriarch, were married in his home town in Denmark - 245 years ago!


Through the wonders of modern technology, I can record that this shows the marriage between Carl Nicolai FLOR and Helena BENTZON on 04 December 1772 at Aabenraa, Aabenraa-Sonderborg, Denmark.

We've previously seen the location of the town and also where it sits in Denmark.  I'll be visiting the town of my 5th great-grandparents and their descendants in July next year!



Carl and Helena's daughter, Anna Christine FLOR, was born on 29 August 1781.  She married Friedrich LUTGE and they were Peter Benson's paternal grandparents.  

Friedrich and Anna's son, Johann Friedrich LUTGE, was born about 1808.  He married Marie Cathrina JENSEN on 11 November 1835 and their first child was Peter Benson LUTGE.  

Peter Benson was born on 15 May 1837 in Aabenraa and came to Australia in 1862 where he met and married Mary BONNER, our matriarch.

My DNA research continues!  A couple of weeks ago, I found that cousin Karen and I had a DNA match with a woman in the US, Michelle.  She's our 4th cousins.  Her 2nd great-grandfather is Hans Jensen, Peter Benson's brother.   Hans was known by the name of LYTGE when he went to the US in 1872. He married Anna Maria THOMSON before he left Denmark and they settled in Michigan.  At this time, I've not heard from Michelle.  

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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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