Amanda Sofie Andersen

A tailor's daughter from Glemmen

Amanda Sofie was born on 30 November 1880 and baptized at Glemmen on 26 December. The baptism names her parents as tailor Ole Peder Andersen and Maja Lisa Andreasdatter, living at Guldbergsiden. In 1891 the family was at Skrokkelid, with Amanda and her sisters Anna Mathilde, Klara Lovise and Emma Josefine.

The census records both parents as born in Sweden. Their exact Swedish parishes and migration dates remain unknown, and Amanda's mother's name and birth year vary between the records. Klara helped in the tailoring workshop, while Anna Mathilde worked in domestic service in Kristiania.

Service in Kristiania, then marriage

In 1900 Amanda was a servant at Bøgata 22 in Kristiania, in the household of planing-mill worker Peter Nilsen and his wife Klara. Klara's age and birthplace fit Amanda's sister, but a marriage or baptism record is still needed to establish that connection directly.

Amanda married Jacob Anstensen at Jakob church on 16 March 1908. She lived at Stolmakergata 12, while Jacob, a dockworker, gave Nordal Bruns gate 3. By 1910 they were together at Stolmakergata 12/14. No child of their marriage has been established. Jacob's death in the wreck of Ocean on 4 November 1911 left Amanda widowed shortly before her thirty-first birthday.

The photograph that survived

An Oslo police album dated 1913–1915 preserves Amanda's profile and full-face portraits. Its handwritten caption supplies her name, birthday and Fredrikstad birthplace. The exact sitting date has not been securely read, so the album's date range is retained.

A separate notice in Polititidende reports a 6 January 1913 conviction for theft with a conditional twenty-four-day sentence. It does not show that Amanda served twenty-four days in prison, explain the circumstances, or tie this particular judgment to the portrait sitting. The photograph is family evidence with an institutional history; it should be understood as an archival police portrait.

Sewing, machinery and a home at Damstrædet

On 19 October 1914 Amanda married Thor Otterdahl Møller at Gamle Aker. She was a seamstress and he a mechanic; both gave Fredensborgveien 34. Her sewing occupation is consistent with her childhood in a tailor's household, although no record establishes who taught her.

The 1920 census places them in the back building at Damstrædet 4. Thor worked as a repairer at Freia, and Amanda was recorded as a homemaker. The same address recurs in their children's records through 1924.

Seven children, including two early losses

Seven children are documented in Amanda's marriage to Thor: Randi and Alf in 1915, Ella in 1917, Yngvar in 1919, another Yngvar in December 1920, Rolf Martin in 1922 and Ruth in 1924. These are Thor's children; they must not be attached to Jacob.

Amanda's 1920 census form records four children in the current marriage, two living. Randi and Alf were present. Ella's death is recorded in 1917; the first Yngvar is strongly inferred to have died by census day, although his individual death record has not been found. The second Yngvar was born sixteen days after the census and is a distinct child. Ella's underlying birth and death records conflict on dates, so her public lifespan is best kept as 1917–1917.

Oslo, April 1956

Amanda died in Oslo in April 1956, aged seventy-five. The official index omits the day. Contemporary notices give her full name and schedule her funeral at Nordre Gravlund on 12 April. A public tree's date of 7 April remains unverified. Thor survived her until 19 May 1975.