Community activist.
Born at Gardar, North Dakota in 1889, daughter of Margret Gudbrandsdottir and Jon Brandsson, who had emigrated from Iceland in 1878, she moved to Winnipeg in 1905 with her brother, Brandur Jonson Brandson, and attended the Winnipeg Central Collegiate and the Winnipeg Normal School. On 1 June 1911, she married Olafur Bjornson and they had three children: Ernest Jon Bjornson (1912-1913), Margaret Ann Bjornson, and Edith Bjornson (?-?). The family lived at 764 Victor Street, Winnipeg. She was active in a number of organizations, most notably in the Ladies Aid of First Lutheran Church on Victor Street. During the First World War, she was involved in the Women’s Auxiliary of the 223rd Battalion and in 1931 was the Lady of the Mountains, or honorary queen, of the 42nd annual Winnipeg Icelandic Festival. She died at the family home, after a brief illness, on 16 March 1932 and was buried in the Brookside Cemetery. In 1972, her collection of 116 photographs was donated to the Archives of Manitoba and are available under the collection name Sigrid Bjornson Photographs.
See also:
Dr. Olafur Bjornson home, 764 Victor Street, TimeLinks.
“Icelanders of Winnipeg Have annual frolic,” Winnipeg Tribune, 10 August 1931.
“Physician’s wife died after one month’s illness,” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 March 1932.
“Mrs. O. Bjornson, prominent in Icelandic circles, dead,” Winnipeg Tribune, 17 March 1932.
Obituary [Margaret Ann Elton], Independent, 7 June 1995.
This page was prepared by Christian Cassidy.
Page revised: 22 August 2019
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