John Gunderson Neergaard (11 November 1795 – 15 June 1885) was a Norwegian farmer,

bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...

, and politician.

Early life and family

Neergaard was born in the village of Romundstad in the municipality of

Rindal Rindal is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Orkdalen region. The administrative centre is the village of Rindal. Other villages in the municipality include Tiset and Romundstad. The municipality centres on agricult ...

,Helgetunmarka grunneierlag: Minnestein John Neergaard.
/ref> the son of the farmer Gunder Jonson Neergaard (1737–1806) and Helga Johnsdotter Sande (1764–1850). He married Kirsten Iversdotter Dønheim (née Røste) in 1845.

Career

In addition to being a farmer, Neergaard served as 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 ...

'') in

Gjemnes Gjemnes is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway on the Romsdal peninsula. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Batnfjordsøra, which lies along the Batnfjorden and it is a former steamship ...

from 1836 to 1854. He was elected to the

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 ...

for nine periods, from 1827 to 1828, from 1833 to 1841, and from 1843 to 1854. He is particularly known for his agitation for farmers' interests. His publication from 1830, popularly called ''Ola-boka'', was instrumental in doubling the number of farmers (from 21 to 45) elected at 1833 Parliamentary election. He is regarded as Father of '' Formannskapslovene'' from 1837, based on his draft from 1833. A monument to Neergaard stands next to County Road 341 near his birthplace.

References

1795 births 1885 deaths People from Møre og Romsdal Norwegian farmers Norwegian activists Members of the Storting Møre og Romsdal politicians {{norway-politician-1790s-stub