Christian Møinichen Havig (April 4, 1825 – April 10, 1912) was a Norwegian bailiff (''

lensmann in modern Norwegian or in Danish and older Norwegian spelling (; ) is a term with several distinct meanings in Nordic history. The Icelandic equivalent was a . Fief-holder The term traditionally referred to a holder of a royal fief in Denmark ...

'') and

Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

representative for

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

from 1871 to 1888.

Family

Havig was born at the Havika farm in Overhalla in the Namdalen district, now in the municipality of Namsos. When he was still a child, his family moved to Vikna. In 1854 he married Dorthea Karstine Nergaard (1831–1915), from Seierstad on the island of

Jøa Jøa is an island in the municipality of Namsos in Trøndelag county, Norway. The island lies on the south side of the Foldafjord, between the mainland and the islands of Otterøya and Elvalandet. The island is partially forested, with the sou ...

. He was the father of the Liberal Party Storting representative Christian Fredrik Nergaard Havig (1855–1927) and the bailiff in Vefsn Thorleiv Nergaard Havig (1867–1938).

Life

Apart from the instruction in the

ambulatory school An ambulatory school ( no, omgangsskole) was a Norwegian educational institution that was established after the first Norwegian school law was passed in 1739. In places where it was not possible to gather students in a schoolroom, the teachers trave ...

(''omgangsskole'') taught by a traveling schoolmaster, Havig received little formal education. Nonetheless, he managed to learn enough on his own that he was accepted for office work for the bailiff in Nærøy and Vikna. Later he was employed by his cousin, the bailiff Jørgen Johannes Havig in Namsos, who was a member of the Storting. Here he served for a period as the town's mayor and settlement commissioner (''forlikskommissær''). In 1848, he was appointed as an assistant to the district judge in Namdalen, where he remained until 1858, when he was appointed bailiff in Vefsn in Nordland. This position lasted until 1904, when he was succeeded by his son, Thorleiv Nergaard Havig. In 1871, Havig was elected Storting representative for Nordland County, and he was reelected for the following parliamentary sessions until 1888. From 1871 to 1874, he was a member of the

Standing Committee on Justice The Standing Committee on Justice ( no, Justiskomiteen) is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for policies relating to judicial system, the probation service, the police, persons performing civilian national service ...

. In 1875 he became a member of the Railway Committee, where he became chairman in 1880. From 1874 to 1876 he was a secretary in the Storting's lower house (the '' Odelsting''), and later a secretary in the Storting. He was a member of the Constitutional Court of the Realm from 1883 to 1884, where he also served as its interim president. In 1884 he was elected a member of the parliamentary jury committee, and he was president of the Storting's upper house (the ''

Lagting Lagting, literally "Law Ting", can refer to: *Lagting, the Parliament of Åland *Lagting (Norway), the quasi-upper house of the Parliament of Norway from 1814 to 2009 *Løgting The Løgting (pronounced ; da, Lagtinget) is the unicameral parl ...

'') from 1885 to 1888 as a member of the Liberal Party. After the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905, Havig was a supporter of the republican faction. In 1905 he also served as the mayor of the municipality of Vefsn.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Havig, Christian Moinichen 1825 births 1912 deaths Members of the Storting People from Namsos People from Vefsn People from Overhalla Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Mayors of places in Nord-Trøndelag