Kristján Jónsson was born on September 22, 1881 in S. Þingeyjarsýsla. He took the name Kristjan J. Hjalmarson in the west.
Spouse: July 7, 1909 Finna Margrét Melsted b. in Skagafjarðarsýsla on November 3, 1883.
Children: Jón Kristján b. July 17, 1912.
Kristján came west to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1883 with his parents, Jón Hjálmarsson and Anna Kristjánsdóttir who took land in the Argyle Settlement. Kristján grew up there but farming did not suit him. As a young man, he worked in carpentry but then began trading in Glenboro. He ran a shop there with his cousins, Kristján and Sigurjón Sigmar until 1911, when he moved to Kandahar in the Lakes Settlement (Vatnabyggð) in Saskatchewan. There he built a house and shop with his brother-in-law, Torfi Steinsson. Finna came west with her father, Vigfús Melsted and his family in 1900. They settled in Þingvallabyggð in Saskatchewan, but Finna worked in Winnipeg until she married Kristján.