The Man Who Would Be King: Carl Petterson's Journey to Tabar Island And Its Throne
- Daniel Holland
- Apr 10, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 17
Throughout history, some lives unfold in ways that almost defy belief. There are kings born to dynasties, adventurers who seek glory, and then there are men like Carl Emil Pettersson, an ordinary sailor from Sweden who, by a twist of fate, found himself ruling over a Pacific island kingdom. His story, part romance, part survival tale, and part colonial saga, remains one of the most unlikely chapters in the history of the South Seas.
A Boy from Sweden with Salt in His Veins
Carl Emil Pettersson was born in 1877 in Sweden. He grew up far from the tropical climate that would one day define his life, but from a young age he felt the pull of the sea. Sweden at the end of the 19th century was in the midst of industrial change, and like many young men of his generation, Carl was restless. At just sixteen he left home to pursue a career as a sailor, a decision that would take him to ports across the world.
The sea toughened him. He learned to navigate violent storms, withstand months away from land, and survive on little more than salted meat and hard bread. Like countless sailors, he also gained a deep respect for the natural world — its power, its beauty, and its cruelty. He had no way of knowing that this education would serve him when he was eventually cast ashore in one of the remotest corners of the Pacific.
The Shipwreck on Tabar Island
In the early 1900s, while serving on a German vessel in the South Pacific, disaster struck. His ship was wrecked off the coast of Tabar Island, part of what is now Papua New Guinea. The Tabar Group is a small cluster of islands north of New Ireland, remote even today. Back then, it was virtually unknown to outsiders.
Shipwrecks were not uncommon in the treacherous tropical waters, but few castaways landed in places like Tabar. For Pettersson, survival was only the beginning of the story.
Accounts suggest that when he first staggered ashore, exhausted and disoriented, he was confronted by islanders who viewed him with suspicion. The people of Tabar, like many Melanesian societies at the time, still practised ritual cannibalism, particularly in times of conflict. According to legend, when they first saw the strange foreigner with his pale skin and piercing blue eyes, they believed he had been sent by the sea itself.
Instead of killing him, they spared him. That decision would alter not only Pettersson’s life but the history of their island.
Romance with a Princess
Pettersson quickly adapted to life among the Tabar islanders. His strong build, charm, and willingness to embrace local customs earned him respect. Before long, he caught the eye of Singdo, the daughter of the local king, Lamy.
Their union was unusual, even extraordinary, for the era. Europeans had long come to Melanesia as traders, missionaries, or colonisers, but few integrated so fully into island life, let alone married into royal families. Yet in 1907, Carl and Singdo were married, cementing his place within the community.
The marriage was more than symbolic. By aligning himself with the ruling family, Pettersson became deeply woven into the island’s political and social fabric. He started a coconut plantation — Teripax — and joined the copra trade, the backbone of the Pacific economy at the time. Copra, dried coconut meat, was shipped to Europe where it was turned into soap, candles, and industrial oils.
For several years, business thrived. He worked alongside local labourers, treated them with fairness by contemporary standards, and established himself as both a provider and leader. His and Singdo’s marriage was also fruitful: they had eight children together, blending Swedish and Melanesian heritage.
From Sailor to King
When King Lamy died, the islanders faced the question of succession. In an extraordinary move, they elected Pettersson as their new king. Though he had once been a shipwrecked foreigner, his marriage, his plantation work, and his charisma had won him enough loyalty to secure the crown.
In interviews later published in Swedish newspapers, Pettersson admitted his astonishment at this turn of events. “I never imagined that my life would take such a turn,” he reflected, “but I am grateful for the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the people of Tabar Island.”
As king, he walked a delicate line between traditional island practices and his own European background. He was respected as a leader but also relied upon for trade and connections to the outside world. For a time, prosperity reigned.
Tragedy and Decline
But no fairytale lasts forever. In 1921, Carl’s beloved wife Singdo died of puerperal fever following childbirth. Her death devastated him. Without her, his standing on the island was weakened, and his personal life descended into difficulty.
The following year, he travelled back to Sweden. There he met Jessie Louisa Simpson, whom he married in 1923. Jessie accompanied him back to Tabar, but things were not the same. The plantation had declined during his absence, and the global copra market was fluctuating. On top of financial troubles, both Carl and Jessie were plagued by malaria, the scourge of the tropics.
Still, there was one last glimmer of fortune. In the mid-1920s, Pettersson discovered a gold deposit on nearby Simberi Island. For a brief time, it seemed he might regain his wealth. But Jessie’s health was failing, and attempts to treat her in Australia and Sweden were unsuccessful. She died in Stockholm in 1935 of malaria and cancer.
That same year, Pettersson finally left Tabar for good. Two years later, in 1937, he died of a heart attack in Sydney, far from the island that had once made him king.
The Legacy of the “South Sea King”
Pettersson’s story might have been lost to history if not for the fascination it inspired. Swedish newspapers such as Dagens Nyheter reported on his unusual reign, and in the Pacific he became a figure of legend. Locals remembered him as a fair, if unconventional, ruler, while Europeans saw in him the archetype of the “South Sea adventurer.”
The story also carried darker undertones. His rule came at a time when colonial powers were tightening their grip on Melanesia, and while Carl integrated into local life, his plantation enterprise tied him to the same extractive economy that defined much of European presence in the Pacific.
Nevertheless, his life has continued to inspire writers and storytellers. Some believe that Astrid Lindgren, the Swedish author of Pippi Longstocking, drew inspiration from Pettersson when creating the character of Pippi’s father, who is depicted as a sailor turned island king.
A Life Too Strange to Invent
Looking back, Carl Emil Pettersson’s life reads almost like a novel. A Swedish teenager runs away to sea, is shipwrecked in the South Pacific, marries a princess, becomes a king, builds a family, loses it all, and dies in exile. It is a tale full of adventure, love, tragedy, and resilience.
As his obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald noted in 1937, “Few Europeans who ventured into the islands lived lives so curious and so entwined with the people as did Carl Emil Pettersson.”
And so ends the story of the sailor who became a king, a man whose improbable destiny continues to echo across oceans and through history.
Sources
Dagens Nyheter archives (Sweden) – interviews with Carl Emil Pettersson about his time on Tabar Island.
Pacific Islands Monthly (1930s–1940s issues) – coverage of Pettersson’s life and plantation ventures.
The Tabar Group oral histories (PNG National Library, Port Moresby) – local accounts of Pettersson’s role as “king.”
Eric K. Roe, The Coconut King of Tabar (Journal of Pacific History, 1970s).
Obituaries and notices in Sydney Morning Herald (1937) detailing Pettersson’s death.
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