Kristjana Rakel Sveinsdóttir Photo: VÍÆ IV
Kristjana Rakel Sveinsdóttir was born on May 18, 1888 in New Iceland. She died in 1971 in Vancouver. She was known as Rakel Bjornson with marriage.
Maki: Björn Björnsson b. September 30, 1885 in Húnavatnssýsla, d. 1969 in Vancouver.
Children: 1. Harold b. 1910 2. Carl b. 1914 3. Anna b. 1915 4. Verne b. 1917 5. Sophie b. 1919 6. Barney b. 1920.
Kristjana was the daughter of Sveinn Kristjánsson and Veroníka Þorkelsdóttir, early settlers in New Iceland in 1883. Björn came west to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1887 with his mother, Anna Sæmundsdóttir. They settled in Selkirk where Björn grew up. He worked at carpentry before moving to the Lakes Settlement (Vatnabyggð) in Saskatchewan in 1905. There he took land, started farming, but also built countless dwellings, homes and barns in the young settlement west of Wynyard. In 1926 he stopped farming and turned to car sales. He moved to Wynyard where he lived until 1937, then moved to Vancouver where he engaged in house building.