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Carl Albert Sonneman (1877–1949)

by Chris Cunneen

Carl Albert (known as Albert) Sonneman, also known as Albert Sonnemann (1877-1949) drover and station manager

Birth: 27 May 1877 at Stockwell, South Australia, son of Otto Sonnemann (c1854-1888), engine driver, previously a shoemaker, and Cristiane Karoline Ernestine, née Schmidt or Fichtner (1858-1920). Both parents had been born in Prussia [Germany]. Marriage: 1925 at Norwood, Adelaide, to Mabel Isabel Shearer. They had at least one son, Bert, and a daughter, Jean. Death: 10 April 1949 in hospital at Adelaide, SA. 

  • He spent the early years of his life in Kapunda district, South Australia. Was aged 11 when his father was killed in a work accident at Allandale. Moved to Broken Hill, where his mother remarried in June 1898.
  • In November that year his step-father Charles Lovelace Andrew [known as Charles Lovelace], a miner, was killed in a mining accident at the South mine. Albert, aged 21, identified the body.
  • In 1909-1910 was employed by Crossing Brothers as a drover. Left ‘the hill’ in mid 1914 and was droving sheep when World War I was declared.
  • Worked on or took stock from many Far West stations between the South Australian border and Queensland.
  • In the early days of White Cliffs, he was on Yancannia Station, in the rough days of opal and hold-ups. He managed Lake Everard station, SA, in 1932.
  • Managed several stations. His last station in the Broken Hill district was Cooney Bore.
  • Later went to live in South Australia, where he was licensee of a wine shop at Hindmarsh in 1937 and was a hotelkeeper at Hope Valley in 1941. Later resided at Kilburn.
  • His mother was a prominent Labor supporter.

Citation details

Chris Cunneen, 'Sonneman, Carl Albert (1877–1949)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/sonneman-carl-albert-33752/text42247, accessed 12 November 2024.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Alternative Names
  • Sonnemann, Carl Albert
Birth

27 May, 1877
Stockwell, South Australia, Australia

Death

10 April, 1949 (aged 71)
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

Occupation or Descriptor
Key Places