Memorable Manitobans: Bjorn Pétursson (1871-1946)

Building contractor.

Born at Iceland on 30 August 1871, he immigrated to the United States, living at Roseau, Minnesota until 1904, when he along with his wife Gudrun Pétursson (c1869-1922) and their children Louis [Ludvig] Peter Bjorn Pétursson (1899-1943), Maria [Marya] Pétursson (1900-?, wife of Mr. Gilmour), and Arthur Pétursson (1903-?) moved to Winnipeg, initially taking up residence at 706 Simcoe Street.

He opened a hardware store and grocery in an annex to his home, operating as B. Petursson & Company. By 1911, he began working as a building contractor, building his own home at 616 Alverstone Street in 1914, and founding the B. Petursson Hardware Company (established c1925, bankrupt 1942), operating out of his former Simcoe residence.

Limited data suggest he later married Cora Alexandria Fergusson (1891-1988) and had two more children: Albert Pétursson (c1924-?) and Cecil Pétursson (c1925-?). In 1943, he sold his Alverstone residence and retired to British Columbia.

He died at Vancouver, British Columbia on 29 March 1946 and was buried in the Ocean View Burial Park at Burnaby.

Some of his construction works in Manitoba included:

Building	Location	Year	Status
Petursson House	760-764 Wellington Avenue, Winnipeg	1906
Vesta Apartments	578 Agnes Street, Winnipeg	1911	Demolished (2019)
Vinborg Apartments	594 Agnes Street, Winnipeg	1912
Corinne Apartments	602 Agnes Street, Winnipeg	1914
Petursson House	616 Alverstone Street, Winnipeg	1914

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: Hannes Pétursson (1881-1961)

Memorable Manitobans: Olafur Pétursson (1879-1952)

Memorable Manitobans: Rögnvaldur Pétursson (1877-1940)

Sources:

Death registrations, British Columbia Vital Statistics.

Death registrations [Gudrun Peterson, Louis Peter Bjorn Petursson], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1906 & 1911 Canada censuses, Automated Genealogy.

1916, 1921, & 1926 Canada censuses, Library and Archives Canada.

Obituary [A. A. Ferguson], Winnipeg Free Press, 24 March 1942, page 2.

Obituary [Albert Alexander Ferguson], Winnipeg Tribune, 24 March 1942, page 20.

“Notice to creditors of first meeting where receiving order made,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 September 1942, page 16.

Obituary [Louis Petursson], Winnipeg Free Press, 8 September 1943, page 4.

Brookside Cemetery burial transcriptions [Gudrum Peterson, Louis Peter Bjorn Petursson], City of Winnipeg.

“Early Icelandic builders in Winnipeg” by S. Aleck Thorarinson, Logberg Heimskringla, 30 March 1967, page 5.

Bjorn Petursson House (616 Alverstone Street), by Murray Peterson, Peterson Projects, February 2009.

Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 2 June 2022

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