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Lars Andersen
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BiographyLars Andersen was born in Gronholt, Sjallandin Denmark in 1860. His father, Anders Nielsen Andersen, was a builder. Lars was apprenticed in a drawing office and worked as a builder. In 1880, at the age of 20 he immigrated to Brisbane. On arrival in Esk he continued building, erecting shops and houses in the town. His brother, Jason C. Andersen, had worked at Maryborough and Stanthorpe and together with their brother, Hans Peter, they went into partnership in a sawmill in Ipswich Street, Esk, in 1885. Jason was the wheelwright, Hans the blacksmith and Lars the designer and builder. At first they employed seven men. The mill was shifted to Factory Lane in 1900 and Lars built a substantial home on the site of the old mill. At aged twenty eight Lars married Janet Dunlop, second daughter of James and Mrs Dunlop of "Tinton" at Biarra and they had eight children (Evelyn, Lars Roderick, James Alexander, Jean Karen, Adam William and Karen). Lars died aged 80 on 26th September 1941. Lars Andersen's policy was to buy timber land as it became available. Because transport was expensive and slow he started mills where the timber was located. He owned and worked a total of ten sawmills situated at Esk, Redbank Creek, Toogoolawah, Cressbrook Creek, Deongwah, Happy Valley, Beam Creek, Blackbutt, Wengenville and Reedy Creek. The timber for all the mills, except those at Toogoolawah and Reedy Creek, came from Andersen's own land and Crown Lands Reserves. He used bullock wagons to haul the logs to the edges of ridges and used winders, tramlines, and flying foxes to lower logs to the loading areas. He built three tramlines, at Cressbrook and Kipper Creeks, at Wengenville in the Bunya Mountains and at Beam Creek near Somerset Dam, where there was one of the most spectacular flying foxes ever used. Horses or steam traction engines transported logs to the mills. When all the mills were fully operational Lars employed approximately five hundred people. Lars owned thirteen houses in Esk and built single men's quarters which he rented. He opened a butcher shop in Esk to service the mill workers. Lars was well respected due to fair wages, good working conditions and the positive flow on effect within the community of his thriving businesses. He was known locally as a humble, intensley proud man who flew the Australian flag in front of his large house in Ipswich Street. ReferencesConfidence & Tradition: A History of the Esk Shire by Ruth Kerr. Esk: Esk Shire Council, 1988. https://www.somerset.qld.gov.au/exp...../confidence-and-tradition
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SubjectsAgricultureForestryTimberSawmillsCollectionPeople & FamiliesAgriculture Family MembersJason C. AndersonHans Peter AndersonDunlop FamilyRelated PlacesToogoolawahRedbank CreekCressbrook Creek
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Alice Sippel, Lars Andersen . Somerset Stories, accessed 23/08/2026, https://somerset.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/127