The forty-seven persons who took part in the Debora expedition were:-

Captain Tobiassen and wife, mate Berentsen and wife, mate Oftedal, A Olsen and wife, I Iversen and wife, O Høidalsvig (Hiedalewig) and wife, J Finsen and wife, K Bang and wife with three children (Amanda, Severin and Knut), F Larsen and wife with six children (Angel, Emil, Sigvart, the three sons of the late Sivert Andersen Hordnes, and Petra, Ludvig and Karl), H Johnsen and wife with three children (Sina, Josefine and Karl), A Andreassen and wife with three children (I don't remember their names), R Andersen, R Rasmussen, K Jensen, Hesselberg, Grang, O Fosdal, E Eriksen, P Bang, E Ellingsen, widow Egelandsdal and Miss Serene Larsen.

Two children were born on the voyage: a son to Mr and Mrs F Larsen and a son to Mr and Mrs Andreassen.

Sivert Olsen Nygaardsvig's daughter Marie Elisabeth Olsen married Sivert Andersen Hordnes the son of Anders Tollevsen Salbu. Marie lived in Nygaardsvig, she was 21 and Sivert was 29 when they married. (see Askøy Church records - original register in Bergen State Archives). Sivert Andersen, age 32, and his father-in-law Sivert Olsen Nygaardsvig, age 62, were lost at sea on the 27th of February, 1869 in a "Strong Storm". Their bodies were never found. see Askøy parish register number A 9 (1863-1877).

After the untimely death of her first husband, Marie married Fredrik Johan Larsen Lervig. Fredrik, son of Lars Findsen Lervig and Petrikke Marie Johannesdtr, was born March 24, 1845, and was baptized in the Askøy church on April 6, 1845. Fredrik was the oldest of eight children and was a second cousin to Marie. Fredrik and Marie's common great-grandparents were John and Marthe Sjursen (Siursen) (married Askøy January 1776 - see insert below).

Fredrik married Marie in the church at Askøy on the 10th of September 1871 and he became the foster father to the three children of Marie and her late husband Sivert Andersen Hordnes - the children's names were 'Angele Edvard'Angel Sivertsen (born 1866) and the twins Sigvart Sivertsen and Emil Sivertsen (born 1868).

The December 1875 "Folketaelling for Kongeriget Norge" show that Fredrik Johan Larsen Lervig (Lervik) - together with his wife Marie Elisabeth Olsdtr and the children 'Angele Edvard' Angel Sivertsen, Sigvart Sivertsen and Emil Sivertsen, Petra Bendikte Larsdtr (born 1872) and Ludvig Larsen (born 1875) - lived in Krohnviken, Aarstad where Fredrik worked as a carpenter. Krohnviken is now a part of Bergen, a little south of the centre of the town. In the 1870's a number of mechanical workshops and shipbuilders were located in this area.

The Larsen Family left Bergen on the 19th of July 1879 on the schooner Debora to establish a Norwegian colony on the Island of Aldabra. After spending some weeks in Madagascar the expedition was aborted. The Debora left for Natal and arrived in Durban on the 12th of November 1879.

Some years later Fredrik Johan Larsen purchased a 1030 acre farm in Oribi Flats, on the southern coast of Natal - the Larsen farm was close to the Norwegian settlement of Marburg.

Marburg was the "New Homeland" of the small group of Norwegian Settlers who arrived in the British Crown Colony of Natal in 1882. Marburg was comprised of 50 farm "Lots" of 100 acres each, together with 2000 acres of "commonage".

The Larsen family lived on the Oribi Flats farm for many years . Fredrik and his wife Marie are buried in a small graveyard on the farm.

Emil Larsen married Gusta Dahle of Lot 30 Marburg and Nancy Larsen married Peter Lind of Lot 3 Marburg. Ref: "Norwegian Settlers Marburg, Natal 1882" and "Centenary Supplement 1882 - 1982"