Carl Roth was a Swedish

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, farrier, and ironmaster who lived during the mid-18th century. He is best known for his work renovating Charles XII's Stair at Katarina Church in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden; and as ironmaster of both Duvnäs (Duvenäs), and Nedre Fösked (Föske)

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloomeri ...

Early life

Carl Roth was born in 1712, most likely at one of the residences owned by his father,

Benjamin Danielsson Roth Benjamin Danielsson Roth (German: Roht) was a Saxon blacksmith and farrier who emigrated to Sweden near the beginning of the 18th century. He is best known for his work on Charles XII's Stair at Katarina Church in Stockholm, Sweden. Emigration to ...

, and was christened on 29 July in St. Gertrude's parish in

. On 24 January 1729, at the age of 17, he enrolled as an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

farrier at the workshop where his father was the master. On 17 October 1734, at the age of 22, he was certified as a Journeyman and began traveling Europe for his gesällvandring (Journeyman's Wandering/Years) to improve his craft and work towards his Master-ship. In 1744, at the age of 32, he returned to Stockholm and was certified as a Master Farrier of the Farriers

Guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

Later life

Sometime in the 1750s he married Agatha Romanians, the daughter of bank clerk Olof Romanians and Elsa Flinck. They acquired a home in Packartorget, now called Norrmalmstorg, in Stockholm, where their sons Benjamin and Carl were born. Like his father, Carl was a master in the farrier's guild in Stockholm; but he also worked as a farrier at the

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stables. Sometime between the 1750s and the 1780s Carl purchased the ironworks of Duvnäs and, through a bid at a bank auction, the ironworks and estate of Nedre (Lower) Fösked; both in Nyeds district, Värmland. In 1775 Carl, at the age of 63, returned to Stockholm to renovate Karl XII's stair. The stair had been built by his father in 1715 at Katarina Church in Stockholm. It is not known if he was hired for this work or chose to do so of his own accord. Sometime in the 1780s he and the family moved to Lower Fösked where he lived until his death. It was said that Carl was a man of great strength and endurance and he could, for example, ride all the way between Stockholm and Lower Fösked without stopping to rest (about 375 kilometers). He died in 1788 at Nedre Fösked.

References

* Kristoffer Huldt, Översikt av Släkten Roth (Overview of House Roth) * Handlingar Rörande Släkten Roth (Documents Relating to House Roth
National Library of Sweden SE S-HS Acc2008/80

Svenskt Biografiskt Lexicon
(Swedish Biographical Lexicon) {{DEFAULTSORT:Carl Roth of Nedre Fosked 1712 births 1788 deaths Swedish blacksmiths People from Stockholm