Alexander Keiller (1 July 1804,
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
– 27 March 1874
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
) was a Scottish businessman active in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Keiller arrived in Gothenburg in 1825, on account of the Keiller family's timber business in Sweden. Three years later he started a mill for machine spinning of
flax
Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...
and
hemp
Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...
, along with his compatriot
William Gibson
William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ...
. This enterprise was shut down in 1839.
In 1841 Keiller opened a heavy engineering plant in Gothenburg, as a private company. In 1867 Keiller floated
Göteborgs Mekaniska Verkstad on the stock exchange, and a year later he retired completely from the workshops. He died in Gothenburg on 27 March 1874 .
He was the father of
James Keiller
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguati ...
who in 1906 donated the area around
Ramberget
Ramberget (; en, "Raven Hill") is a mountain on Hisingen island in Gothenburg, Sweden. The surrounding area and park is called Keillers Park. Ramberget is a popular tourist attraction and a place for outdoor recreation for Gothenburg residents, wi ...
to Gothenburg city which here had built
Keillers park.
References
External links
*
1804 births
1874 deaths
19th-century Scottish businesspeople
People from Gothenburg
Scottish emigrants to Sweden
19th-century Swedish businesspeople
Businesspeople from Dundee
{{Scotland-business-bio-stub