One of the early Norwegians in Australia was seaman Thorkel Thorkelson, whose ship was wrecked off the Australian coast and claimed to be a native of the island of Heligoland in order to stay in Victoria. Other notable early Norwegians in Australia were the Archer brothers from Narvik who pioneered the Upper Burnett in Central Queensland. Others came to Australia in search of gold during the mid to late 1800s.
The Victorian Census of 1871 recorded 395 Norwegians. A number of Norwegians also migrated to Queensland in the 1870s as part of a government scheme of assisted migration. In 1901, there were about 300 Norwegians in Queensland and 3000 in Australia.
According to the 2016 census, over 26,000 Australians claim Norwegian ancestry.
TEAM NORWAY
Have you ever wanted to pull on your national jumper and represent your country?
Playing Footy 9s gives you an opportunity to do just that! It’s a fun and exciting new sport, with both full contact (tackling) and non-contact (no tackling) options to choose from.
If you are of Norwegian descent and keen to represent Norway, please join the Team Norway Facebook group.
