Marie Sophie was born on 23 April 1752 at Staarupgaard manor, and her parents were Pierre la Cour and Margrethe Susanne la Cour. At the time of her father’s death, Marie Sophie was working as a domestic in the household of Madame Bjerring in Holstebro.
Her first marriage was in 1782, to Severin Thørche, who was born on 7 May 1750 in Viborg to Christen Mortensen Thørche and Mette Marie Helsted. After his graduation from upper secondary school in 1771, Severin was a private tutor at Strandet manor from 1771 to 1773 and in the town of Strandby from 1773 to 1775. He received a master’s degree in theology in 1776 and subsequently worked for one year as a private tutor at Søholt, a manor near Maribo, and then for three years in Kalundborg. He became the parish pastor for Holeby and Bursø in 1782 and remained in that position until his death on 16 August 1788 in Holeby. The 1787 census recorded Marie Sophie as living in Søndre Holeby with her husband, their two children Peder Christian (no. 100) and Cathrine (no. 102), her sister Apollone (no. 07), Appolone’s daughter Birgithe Worm (no. 47), eight servants, and a seven-year-old destitute orphan named Anne Timsdatter.
Marie Sophie’s second husband was Christen Andersen Lund, and they were married on 5 June 1789 in Holeby. Born on 28 December 1763, Christen was a son of Anders Christensen Lund and Johanne Lund. He finished upper secondary school at Det Klinckskse Institut in 1780 and then studied modern languages and English poetry. He was greatly interested in poetry and surrounded himself with well known literary figures of the day such as Knud Lyne Rahbek*, Gregers Wad and Jens Baggesen. In 1785 he was hired as a tutor at Gisselfeldt manor by Count Danneskjold-Samsøe. After receiving a master’s degree in theology in 1788, Christen served as the parish pastor for Holeby and Bursø. He suffered from poor health, and could often fall into melancholy. In 1790 his health took him to Keldby, a town on the island of Møn, and the parsonage there became a hangout for many of Christen’s old friends, among them the above-mentioned Rahbek, whom Christen had
supplied with poetry in his younger days. Rahbek’s wife Kamma had tried to persuade Christen to publish his poems,
but in vain: she had transcribed them and collected them in a beautiful binding, but he refused to publish them.
In 1829 Christen was appointed to a university council. Not until three years after his death in 1833 was his Efterladte Digte (” Poems Left Behind” ) published. Among his original poems, the following are especially noteworthy: Aftenen (“The Evening”), I en stjerneklar Nat (“In a Starry Night”) and Landsbykirkegaarden (“The Village Cemetery”). At the time of her death on 9 August 1801 in Kældby, a village on the island of Møn, Marie Sophie was living with her husband Christen, the three children from her first marriage, and seven servants. Christen died on 10 August 1833 and was buried in the cemetery in Keldby, where his grave can still be found. (Five children: nos. 100–104 below. )
