This web page is about our ancestors, Albert Jónsson and Sigridur Þorsteinsdóttir, who migrated to Canada from Iceland in 1887. (The Icelandic character, "Þ" is an unvoiced  "th").

Albert Jónsson

Albert Jónsson (name later anglicized to "Johnson" in Canada) was born in Trollatunga, Strandasysla county, North-West  Iceland, 1858 May 7.  See Ancestors of Albert Jónsson.

He was aged 29 when he migrated to Canada in 1887.

He died 1908 April 8, in Winnipeg, aged 50  (1909 Almanak).  (According to his obituary, he worked nights and slept days).
In the Icelandic language newspaper,  Lögberg,  published in Winnipeg, Number 16, Volume 21, 1908  April 16,  there is a notice on the front page regarding his death, and inside the paper there is some more about the accident that caused his death.  "Albert Johnson died 8 Apr 1908 in Winnipeg of poison gas in a well or sewer while trying to rescue a co-worker who had already succumbed to the gas."  (Translated by Hálfdan Helgason).

Sigriður Þorsteinsdóttir

Sigridur Þorsteinsdóttir was born 1861, September 17, in Husavik, Strandasysla county, North-West Iceland.    See Sigridur's ancestors.
 

She was aged about 27 when she migrated to Canada with Albert in 1887.

She belonged to a Kvennfelag, a woman's association for doing community services.

She died after a long illness,  1902 January 11 (according to her obituary), or 1903 January 10 (according to the 1904 Almanak), aged 40 or 41, in Winnipeg.   Her elderly mother was apparently in Iceland at the time of her death.

Ástrós Jónsdottir

Ástrós (Rose) Jónsdottir, Albert's second wife, survived her husband.  Together they had one child, stillborn.   Ástrós originated in Dalasýsla county, Western Iceland, from the farm Spagilsstadir.  She was the stepmother of Alice, Winnie and Blondie. Dorothy (Piper) Bartle recalls meeting her in 1941 in Winnipeg during Albert Bartle's pre-embarcation leave, prior to going overseas in W.W.II.    "Ástrós Jónsson died at her home in Winnipeg.  She was 82 years of age, from the farm Spagilsstaðir in Dalasýsla county, had been in Canada for more than 50 years."  Almanak 1947.  (By Icelandic naming, she was Jónsdóttir.  In this article, the author used Jónsson, her late husband's surname, as in the English Canadian naming protocol.)

Albert and Sigriður

Albert and Sigriður emigrated together with their three year old son, Vesteinn Albertsson, (born 1884, August 30), to Canada in 1887 from the farm Kollafjardarnes in Strandasysla county, Iceland, on the ship Camoens.

Albert and Sigridur had three surviving children:

• Thorstein Jónsson, Blondie Johnson:  b. 1893, Served overseas in World War I, worked as a logger in BC.  d. 1958 November 6. Buried in Vancouver (306 E 11th Ave, Plot 57, Lot 8, Veterans area).
• Jona Gudbjorg Jónsson, Alice Johnson:  b.1894, December 17, married Walter Kelly. d.1966 March 13.
• Guðneÿ Jörgína Jónsson, Winnie Johnson:  b.1897, d.1924 (see the Jack Bartle page),  mother of Albert Bartle

Their obituaries indicate that Albert and Sigridur had earlier children who died.

Alice, Winnie and Blondie

The three children of Albert Jónsson and Sigridur Þorsteinsdóttir, ie Alice, Gudny (Winnie) and Thorstein (Blondie), were raised in Winnipeg by Albert (until 1908) and Ástrós.  The girls had to work as domestic servants.

Alice married Walter Kelly, who worked on the Canadian Pacific Railway.  See the Kelly page. She is buried in Chiliwack, BC.

Winnie gave birth to Albert Johnson (see the Al Bartle page) in 1915, when she was eighteen. She married Jack Bartle and they tried farming in Saskatchewan, but failed. They then moved to Trempleau, Wisconsin.  See the Jack Bartle page.  The date of her marriage to Jack (John) Bartle is not confirmed, but may have been in 1919.  She is buried in Trempleau, Wisconsin.

Blondie (Thorstein Johnson) served overseas with the Canadian army during the First World War. On his attestation paper, 441,798, dated 1915, December, 28, the clerk wrote Thorstem instead of Thorstein, although he signed it as Thorstein. Born 1892, March 13. Unmarried. Occupation mechanical engineer. He was recorded as living at Suite 34, Beverly Block, Winnipeg.  He recorded Winnie Johnson, sister, as his next of kin, living at the home of Mrs. Read Lesley S(??). Apparent age, 23. Lutheran. No previous military experience. Height 5' 7" blue eyes, fair, almost white hair, fair complexion, no distinctive marks.
 

  After World War I, Blondie went to British Columbia to work in the logging camps.  He is buried in Mountain View Cemetery, Fraser Street, Vancouver (ref: BCGS-C-62).

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Ms Edda Langsworth, at Burnaby, BC,  who translated the obituaries of Albert Jonsson and Sigridur þorsteinsdóttir.  (The obituaries were among the few remaining family documents currently held by family members in Canada).   Edda is related to us through Jon Ormsson, born in 1520.

Thanks to Hálfdan Helgason, in Reykjavík, Iceland.  See his web page on the migration from Iceland to North America:  The Emigration from Iceland to North America.  References to "Almanak" above are to the almanac which was published annually from 1895 to 1954, in the Icelandic language, in Winnipeg, which Hálfdan researched.

Thanks to Helga Snorradóttir and Jón Hallfreð Engilbertsson (Halli), in Ísafjörður,Iceland, for providing further information from their research, based upon the translation of the obituaries.  Halli and we are related through our common forefather, Einar Sigurdsson born in 1592, and Helga is related to us through Einar's grandfather, Einar Sigurdsson, born in 1538.

Phil Bartle Updated: 2007 January 21 .