Jacob Brester

[Fred Boogerd]

dear reader of this discussion forum,

 

I would like to introduce myself and my first topic to this Forum, but I have to do it in English, as I cannot write (read or speak) Norwegian. However, it is OK if you want to respond in Norwegian, as I can use software to translate it into Dutch.

I am from the Netherlands and I am interested in the life of a Dutchman, Jacob Brester, who lived about 100 years ago. He sailed, probably with his wife and daughter, in his two-master to Kristiania in December 1908. Maybe the family lived in Kristiania on this boat. I have also learned that J. Brester made a name for himself in 1909 by building the fastest boat in Norway for the management of the Notodden nitrogen plant in Thelemarken, 80 km west of Kristiania. And he may have been involved in other Norwegian shipping industry affairs as well. In any case, he returned to the Netherlands in 1910.

I sincerely hope that someone from this Forum can help me further by giving advice on where I can find more information about Jacob Brester's stay in Norway and possibly about the Norwegian people involved. Thank you in advance for your help.

[Kenneth Juel Stavik]

I found him mentioned under more tragic circumstances.

In the summer of 1912 the Dutch engineer Jacob Brester went sailing from Risør with his wife and a seaman.
He came back alone, claiming that his wife and the seaman must had fallen over board while he was sleeping.
There was a life insurance connected to the wife, for 20 000 NOK - which the insurance company refused to pay. Brester went to court - but lost.

Later there was another article, giving more information about his background. It states that this was his second wife - and that he at some point shot a 16 year old girl.

Endret April 21, 2021 av Kenneth Juel Stavik

[Kenneth Juel Stavik]

[Fred Boogerd]

dear Kenneth Juel Staviak,

 

I hope my reply will be visible; I'm not yet familiar with the reply options in this Forum.

 

Thank you so much for your response and the two documents! I need to find a way to get a Dutch translation of both scanned articles.

 

I know about his life history in the Netherlands, and I know a bit about his two periods in Norway, but I wanted to limit my initial Forum request to his first period in Kristiania.

[Richard Johan Natvig]

 

He is mentioned here as having constructed "Aase III", which took part in a boatrace i Sept. 1912, in "Norwegian Sports Journal" (my translation of the journal's title)

''Norsk idrætsblad''. Hanches bog- og nodetrykkeri. Kristiania. 1912.

[Richard Johan Natvig]

Apparently he became a member of the "Royal Norwegian sailor association" in 1909

 

[Fred Boogerd]

Dear Richard Johan Natvig,

 

Thank you very much for your answer and the three documents. They contain information that I would never have found on my own. I appreciate them very much.

However, I need to translate the scanned text to be able to read and understand the entire text.

[Richard Johan Natvig]

The first text from ''Norsk idrætsblad''. simply states that the boat "Aase III" which had been constructed by "ingeniør Brester", and built by "ing[eniør] Alf Nielsen at Soon shipyard (Soon= Son in county Viken, formerly Akershus county), took part in the motorboat regatta from Kristiania(=Oslo) to Soon (=Son). The boat was owned by consul Bjørnstad (several consuls Bjørnstad, I do not know who this was). The boat came in 2. in its class).

 

The second text is simply what I wrote, "Ingeniør J. Brester, Soon", was accepted as member of the association Kongelig (Kgl.) norsk seilforening.

 

So not much about him, I am afraid.

 

A couple of other  volumes of the journal "Seilads" (from where the second text was taken), list another boat he constructed "Johanna", but again, this is after he left Norway (1913 and 1914).

[Richard Johan Natvig]

It seems he also worked as an architect, at least for "Villa Holland" in Son, and he was office manager at the Soon Slip and Boat Yard:

"A characeristic red painted villa in Swiss style (Sveitserstil) south of Son Marina/Kugrava, .... built by the Dutchman Brester, who was office manager at Kugrava/Soon Slip & Boat yard. ..."

(Source: "Son leksikon".  Vestby historielag. 2002. Page 404.)

Endret April 22, 2021 av Richard Johan Natvig

[Richard Johan Natvig]

22 timer siden, Richard Johan Natvig skrev:

The first text from ''Norsk idrætsblad''. simply states that the boat "Aase III" which had been constructed by "ingeniør Brester", and built by "ing[eniør] Alf Nielsen at Soon shipyard (Soon= Son in county Viken, formerly Akershus county), took part in the motorboat regatta from Kristiania(=Oslo) to Soon (=Son). The boat was owned by consul Bjørnstad (several consuls Bjørnstad, I do not know who this was). The boat came in 2. in its class).

 

Consul Bjørnstad was also "Skibsreder" (shipowner). In 1915 he sold "Aase III". It was then characterized as one of the fastest motorboats in the Kristianiafjord.

Source: the newspaper Sarpen July 3, 1915.

[Fred Boogerd]

dear Richard (if I may),

 

thanks again for this new document! I am transcribing the Norwegian text word for word in the documents I receive, because it is impossible to select/copy/paste pieces of text from a scanned document (.jpg or .png files). After transcription in a Word document, I can copy-paste it into Google translate (Norwegian-Dutch) and obtain a sort of translation. It's definitely far from perfect, but at least I have some idea about the content.

 

And thank you for letting me know that Jacob Brester probably lived in Soon in villa Holland and worked as an officer manager at a slip and boat yard; this is completely new to me.

He left Norway earlier than 1913 or 1914: On 10 November 1912, on his way from Kristiania to (probably) Rotterdam, his boat Johanna ran aground near IJmuiden (The Netherlands) during a heavy storm and he and a Norwegian, Chr. Toklie from Asmalö, were rescued. Asmalö is not far from Soon. The Norwegian seaman probably returned to Norway (I failed to find more about him), but he himself remained in IJmuiden.