August Mattsson

Story

August Aldur Mattsson was born in Bjorsby, in the municipality of Jomala on Aland Island. Aland is a small Island of 26,000 people located in the Baltic Sea half way between Sweden and Finland. Although Aland is a province of Finland the people of Aland speak Swedish and have done so as far back as is known.

August came from a family of four children, two girls and two boys, and his grandfather had ten children.

In 1922 just after the First World War there was a severe economic downturn on the Island and August’s family could not support all the children. Thus August Alder was forced to immigrate to Australia while his brother Erik Gunnar and one sister Nema Mathilda went to the United States. The remaining sister Elin Alice remained on the Island.

August chose to immigrate to Australia on the Grace Harwar. She was a full-rigged steel ship built in 1889 in Port Glasgow. She traded timber for wheat between Aland and Australia. August never saw his parents or his homeland again.

August had trained as a carpenter and so he worked as such on the ship as well as a deck hand. The voyage took four months to reach Melbourne where he left the ship.

Although Australia had plenty of work opportunities when August arrived he could not speak English. However he managed to learn sufficient English to gain employment as a carpenter and worked for six years in South Gippsland and at Hamilton in Victoria. He applied for naturalisation in 1928 and in so doing he was obliged to then renounce his Finnish citizenship.

Four years later he met and married Alma Bell who was born in Flemington in Melbourne. She came from Scottish ancestors. They lived the rest of their lives together at 15 Clive Street, Alphington in Melbourne. August worked all his married life as a carpenter at the Fairfield Mill of the Australian Paper Manufacturers.

August took a great interest in his family, gardening, rabbiting and fishing. He would take his boys on hunting trips to Hurstbridge and fishing trips to Blackrock. He would take the family on outings by train (he had no car) to the beach or hills. The favourite beaches were St Kilda or Sandringham. And the favourite hill trip was the Puffing Billy to Belgrave where in season billies full of blackberries were brought home for Alma to produce the most delicious blackberry jam.

He was a good athlete. He was a member of the Paper Mill\’s fire brigade team which competed successfully in training against other mill teams. At the Mill\’s annual picnic he would more often than not win the 100 yard sprint.

Each Christmas the Mill would open up the Carpenters\’ shop so that Christmas toys could be made for the childrens\’ Christmas party. August would spend his weekends over Christmas with others making the most amazing wooden working toys.

August and Alma raised two sons and a daughter each of whom completed tertiary courses. Two became teachers and one an engineer.

August by any standard had a full and successful life in Australia. He died in Melbourne of prostate cancer at the age of 79.

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