Hylda Marea Sophia Australia Adelskold

Hilda-and-Charles-ODonnell

Hylda was born in 1887 in Melbourne, Victoria.¹   Hylda's father was Claes Anders Adelskold and her mother was Anna Maria Svensson-Linde. She had a brother named Claes.  She was the older of the two children.  She died at the age of 68 on May 7th, 1955.

• Death Notes

  Place of death recorded as "Chat" in Deborah O'Donnnell's notes.  Some of the records indicate she died in 1967 but this is incorrect.   Date of death is recorded on a gravestone in Birchip cemetery, but Birichip cemetery records do not record her as being buried there.  Ann Marie Yee writes (email 7/8/09) "I know that she died in Sydney and I remember Wendy telling me that Gus "arranged to have her brought back to Birchip" (to be with Charlie) though it is possible that she was cremated and they brought her ashes back there." 

• General Notes

  Hylda (this spelling taken from gravestone in Birchip cemetery) was born in 1887, nine months after her mother arrived in Australia.  Hylda met the O’Donnells when she was teaching at Jil Jil near Birchip and she lived at Birdsgrove when she and Charles were first married. They later sold the property and bought another that they named Leksand. It was also subsequently sold and they bought Danbury Park. They bred sheep for wool and meat and grew wheat. Gus managed Danbury Park after Charles died but it was heavily mortgaged and they could not make enough money to keep up the repayments during the Depression so the title was eventually handed back to the bank. Hylda moved to Swan Hill and, being a fabulous cook, opened a Café so she could support herself and the younger children. It is not known when she left Swan Hill; she was still living there during the war years. She appears to have gone to Sydney to live with Annie, her younger sister, for a few years before moving back to Melbourne to live with her daughter, Esta. Source: Ann Marie Yee (nee O'Donnell)

Details of Hylda's family with Charles Joseph O'Donnell