Louis Peter Christeson
Hairdresser and photographer
Louis was born about 1861 in Denmark. He married Eveline Stephens (born 1866) in 1883 in New Zealand and became a naturalised citizen the same year. At this time of his naturalisation, his profession was recorded as hairdresser. A son Thomas was born in 1885 and daughter Annie in 1889.
He was an active participant in the Wellington Poultry, Pigeon and Canary Association and the Wellington Scandinavian Society. He was also an amateur photographer and his photos give us a glimpse into his domestic life.
In 1901 Louis went to Australia where he was hired as a ladies’ hairdresser during the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York. The following year he travelled to Paris to further his studies in the latest styles of ‘postiche’ and the most up to date fashions in ladies’ hairdressings. He was away for about 10 months and on his return invited ‘ladies who are admirers of pretty hair and who for fashion, convenience or necessity require some additional hair of any kind to call and inspect our Artistic Fringes of Natural Curled Human Hair on invisible foundations’.
‘Wigs on the Green’ court case. In 1906 Louis sued Albert Mould for £3 that he claimed was owing for the price of a ‘scalp’ supplied by him to Albert. ‘A scalp’ was described as ‘something like a wig, only it is rather less than a wig’. It was claimed the ‘scalp’ was a loan until the permanent one was supplied and when it was returned by Albert, it was useless. Louis won the case.
From at least 1893 until his death, Louis and his wife Eveline shared their home with a woman named Priscilla Page (born 1870). On the Electoral Rolls, Priscilla is described as a spinster, so we have no clue as to their relationship.
At his death, Louis left half of his estate to his wife, and half ‘to my friend Priscilla’. His total estate was worth £54,000 which has the buying power of £1.3million today. All three died the same year and all three are interred in the same unmarked grave. Priscilla died in June, aged 86; Louis in July, age 92 and Eveline in October aged 87. The are buried at Karori Cemetery in Plot: Public 3/H/541.
Group in front of the hairdresser and tobacconist shop L P Christeson on Willis Street, Wellington. Harkness, W E : Photographs of a barber in Willis Street, Wellington. Ref: 1/2-075776-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23147759
Girl at the residence of Louis P Christeson at 213 Willis Street, Wellington. Harkness, W E :Photographs. Ref: 1/2-062475-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22752169
Man in the back garden at the residence of Louis P Christeson at 213 Willis Street, Wellington. Harkness, W E :Photographs. Ref: 1/2-062476-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23039535