James Dickson (3 February 1784 – 17 November 1855) was a Scottish-Swedish merchant, industrialist, banker and philanthropist active in Gothenburg, Sweden. He served as a ''kommerseråd'' (member of the Swedish National Board of Trade).

Life

James Dickson was the son of the merchant James Dickson and Christina Murray, the brother of Robert Dickson, and the father of

James Jameson Dickson James Jameson Dickson (17 September 1815 – 14 November 1885) was a Scottish Swedish logging industrialist and philanthropist. Life Dickson was born in 1815 in Gothenburg. He was the son of James Dickson Sr. James Dickson Sr and his brother had ...

and

Oscar Dickson Baron Oscar Dickson, or Oskar Dickson (2 December 1823 – 6 June 1897) was a Swedish magnate, bulk merchant, industrialist and philanthropist from a family of Scottish origin. In his time he was considered the most affluent of all Swedes. Court ...

. James Dickson was first employed in the Dickson family office in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 1798, but emigrated to Sweden in 1809, seven years after his older brother Robert, and settled in Gothenburg, where he was granted

Swedish citizenship Swedish nationality law determines entitlement to Swedish citizenship. Citizenship of Sweden is based primarily on the principle of ''jus sanguinis''. In other words, citizenship is conferred primarily by birth to a Swedish parent, irrespective ...

on 1 March 1810. He was an ambitious businessman, who in 1816 founded the firm James Dickson & Co, one of the wealthiest of the many Gothenburg trading companies. Dickson served as principal of the Gothenburg Savings Bank (1829-1833) and in 1831 he became a member of the Health Committee of Gothenburg, created to deal with the expected arrival of

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

(which indeed came to Gothenburg in 1834, the first cases in Sweden). He was one of the founders of the Trädgårdsföreningen (Garden Society) of Gothenburg. In 1814 he married Margaret Eleanor Bagge (1795-1857), and the family lived at Södra Hamngatan 5. The house was built around 1805 for the Councillor Carl Bagge (1754-1818) and was subsequently transferred to his son in law James Dickson Sr. It was used as the office and residence of the family until the early 1860s.

References

1784 births 1855 deaths 19th-century Scottish businesspeople 19th-century Swedish businesspeople People from Montrose, Angus People from Gothenburg Scottish bankers Scottish emigrants to Sweden Scottish industrialists Scottish merchants Scottish philanthropists Swedish bankers Swedish industrialists Swedish merchants Swedish philanthropists 19th-century British philanthropists {{Sweden-business-bio-stub