Frederik Wilhelm Treschow (15 September 1786 – 2 April 1869). also known as Willum Frederik Treschow (his name at birth), or simply as Frederik Treschow, was a Danish supreme court attorney, politician, landowner and philanthropist. He founded Treschows Stiftelse in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. He was the younger brother of Herman Gerhardt Treschow.

Early life and education

Frederik Treschow was born in

to Supreme Court justice Michael Treschow (1741–1816) and Christina E. Wasserfall (1753–1823). He graduated from

Roskilde Cathedral School Roskilde Cathedral School () is a historic high school in Roskilde, Denmark. It was established around 1020 with close connections to Roskilde Cathedral. The school has since 1969 been located on Holbækvej in the western part of the city while its ...

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

in 1803 after initially attending the Metropolitan School in Copenhagen. He studied law at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

under the guidance of

Anders Sandøe Ørsted Anders Sandøe Ørsted (21 December 1778 – 1 May 1860) was a Danish lawyer, politician and jurist. He served as the Prime Minister of Denmark in 1853–1854. Biography He studied philosophy and law at the University of Copenhagen and was ...

and graduated in 1806.

Career

In 1809, he started working for the Den kongelige Landsoverret samt Hof- og Stadsret. In 1911, and became a supreme court attorney . Treschow was considered one of the best barristers of his generation. He had many clients in the business world and represented the Danish Asiatic Company in a number of cases about the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies () or Danish Virgin Islands () or Danish Antilles were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with , Saint John () with , Saint Croix with , and Water Island. The islands of St ...

. In 1820–1821, he defended Jacob Jacobsen Dampe and in 1825–1826 he represented Grundtvigs against H. N. Clausen in a case about

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

and paid his fine of 100

Danish rigsdaler The rigsdaler was the name of several currencies used in Denmark until 1875. The similarly named Reichsthaler, riksdaler and rijksdaalder were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. These currencies were of ...

. In 1828, he was appointed

procurator fiscal A procurator fiscal (pl. ''procurators fiscal''), sometimes called PF or fiscal (), is a public prosecutor in Scotland, who has the power to impose fiscal fines. They investigate all sudden and suspicious deaths in Scotland (similar to a corone ...

. He prosecuted C. N. Davids in 1836 and Orla Lehmann in 1842 before resigning in 1846 when the government, against his advice, insisted on continuing the trial against the speakers at the Student Meeting of 1845 (Orla Lehmann, H. F. Poulsen and Frederik Helweg) who were all found not guilty. From 1828 to 1833 and again from 1840 to 1845, 1849–1854 and 1858–1863, he represented the Bank of Denmark (from 1832 as chairman) and became a member of the commission in the so-called Twelve Million Case in 1838.

Landowner

In 1828, he acquired

Brahesborg Brahesborg is a manor house situated northeast of Assens, Denmark, Assens on the island of Funen, Denmark. The main building was constructed for in the middle of the 17th century but owes its current appearance to a renovation undertaken by Chri ...

on the island of

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

. In 1835, he also acquired the former countship of

Laurvig Larvik () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Larvik (town) ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

with Fritzøe Ironworks. He modernized the management of the estate and founded the Vilhelmsborg estate in 1846–1847. He was also the owner of the

Barchmann Mansion Barchmann Mansion () is a Baroque style town mansion overlooking Frederiksholm Canal in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Built in the early 1740s to designs by Philip de Lange, it is also known as the Wedell Mansion (Danish: ''Wedells Palæ'') after t ...

in Copenhagen from 1837. In 1854, he ceded the two estates to his two sons. His adopted step-son Frederik Wilhelm Treschow received Brahesborg while his son Michael Treschow received Frizøe, where he already acted as manager.

Politician

Treschow participated in the work leading to the adoption of the

Constitution of Denmark The Constitutional Act of the Realm of Denmark (), also known as the Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply the Constitution (, , ), is the constitution of the Kingdom of Denmark, applying equally in the Realm of Denmark: Denma ...

as a representative appointed by the king. He was a member of

Landstinget The Landsting () was the upper house of the Rigsdag, from 1849 until 1953, when the bicameral system was abolished in favour of unicameralism. The Landsting had powers equal to the Folketing, which made the two houses of parliament hard to dis ...

from 1849 until 1863.

Philanthropy

Treschow was the administrator of numerous trusts, including Admiral Winterfeldts Stiftelse "Trøstens Bolig" which provided affordable housing for needy women. This may have inspired him to build similar facilities at his own expense. The first was built in the courtyard behind the Admiral building in 1847. The next was built in Christianshavn and consisted of two buildings completed in 1853 and 1857 to designs by Christian Tybjerg. In 1859, Treschow founded (The Treschow Foundation).

Honorary titles and awards

He was appointed in 1824, in 1829, in 1846 and in 1854. He became a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1838 and received the Cross of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1840. He became a Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1848 and was awarded the Grand Cross of the Dannebrog in 1850.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Treschow, Frederik 1869 deaths 19th-century Danish lawyers 19th-century Danish landowners 19th-century Danish politicians Members of the Landsting (Denmark) Danish philanthropists University of Copenhagen alumni Politicians from Copenhagen Lawyers from Copenhagen Treschow family 1786 births 19th-century philanthropists