Signe Margrethe Harjo

1897–1912

A childhood at Larsnes

Signe Margrethe was born in Vadsø on 29 August 1897 and baptized there on 3 October. She was the daughter of Johan Ludvig Harjo and Anna Kathrine Børresen. Around 1899, when she was still a small child, the family moved to Masjok in Tana. Larsnes became the center of her childhood.

Her father fished, farmed and ran a country shop. Her grandfather Johan was a carpenter and boatbuilder who had bought the family’s holdings in 1899. The shop’s financial difficulties formed part of those early years; Ludvig died in March 1908, when Signe was ten. Anna married Petter Barski the following year, and the family continued at Larsnes.

At thirteen, Signe helped with household work. Her confirmation on 21 July 1912 records Masjok as her home.

1916

Signe and Albert

The biographical account preserved in Historisk befolkningsregister tells of Signe working in the canteen at the Bjørnevatn mines near Kirkenes. There she met Albert Martin Hansen, a mine worker from Rognså in Salangen. Born on 10 October 1888, Albert was the son of Hans Olai Andersen and Anne Dorthea Johansdatter.

Albert left the mines for work farther south, and Signe followed. They married in Tromsø on 11 December 1916 and began their married life in Harstad. The mine-canteen story comes from the later biography; their marriage and Harstad household are recorded in contemporary registers.

1917–1928

A home and four children in Harstad

Arne arrived in February 1917, followed by Åse in 1919. In 1920 the young family lived on Fjordgata. Albert worked as a plate worker, while Signe cared for the household. Liv was born in March 1923, by which time the family was at Seljestad. Kjell, the youngest, was born in January 1928.

Albert’s biography places his long working life at Kaarbø mekaniske verksted and recalls recognition for thirty years of service in 1946. The photographs bring us closer to the family’s everyday world: a wooden house with a veranda and picket fence, the children gathered outside, and Signe holding little Kjell with the older three beside her.

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1917–1981

Arne: an engineer at sea

Arne, born on 12 February 1917, became a ship’s engineer. He is also known as Arne Heiaker; an annotation in his baptism record records permission to use that surname instead of Hansen. The family’s reason for choosing the name is not yet known.

He was already serving on South Africa in May 1939, before the war began. Over the following years he served aboard eight ships, advancing from fourth to second engineer. His recorded ports stretch from Glasgow and Montreal to New York, Scapa Flow and Port Said. He attended engineers’ school in London from June to December 1944 and returned to Norway aboard Astrea on 11 December 1945.

The Norwegian War Sailor Register records the War Medal, awarded on 13 August 1943, and Haakon VII’s Freedom Medal. Arne died in Oslo on 12 May 1981.

1919–1976

Åse and the Laukli family

Åse Lovise grew up with Arne on Fjordgata and with her younger sister and brother at Seljestad. She married Ole Eberg Laukli. The couple had one child, according to her biography. Åse died in Harstad on 28 July 1976. Her census and death records give her birth as 16 April 1919; a church transcription gives 6 April.

Svein-Arne Laukli, born in Harstad in 1943, is probably their son, although a record naming his parents is still needed. His public life took him far beyond northern Norway: he served as an officer, wrote the novel Tur-retur Libanon, and worked with refugees in Africa and the Middle East. In Sierra Leone he founded the Freetown Vikings football club in 1999 while working for the Norwegian Refugee Council. That well-documented career is presented here with the family connection still qualified.

1923–2003 / 1928–2003

Liv and Kjell

Liv Margrethe was born on 28 March 1923. In the family photographs she stands beside her sister Åse and younger brother Kjell. She died on 2 June 2003 and is listed with Albert and Signe in the Fredly cemetery transcription.

Kjell Andreas, born on 20 January 1928, is the small child in Signe’s arms in the family group. His Trondenes grave entry uses the surname Hanssen and records his death on 5 November 2003. We would love to add memories of Liv’s and Kjell’s work, families and everyday lives.

1926–1983

Connections that endured

Even after she had made her home in Harstad, Signe remained connected to the family’s affairs in Tana. In September 1926 she signed a receipt for 23.70 kroner from her father’s inheritance, referring back to the estate settlement of 13 February 1911. Her uncle Bernt Børresen confirmed that the married Signe Hansen was the same Signe Harjo named in the family papers.

The portrait with her sister-in-law Alfhild preserves another family connection. Albert died at Seljestad on 13 June 1980. Signe lived for another three years, dying in Harstad on 26 August 1983, three days before her eighty-sixth birthday. Her family remembered her as a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.