Sir John Rice Crowe (November 20, 1795 – January 10, 1877) was an English businessman and diplomat who spent much of his life in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. He was the British consul-general in Norway, residing in Christiania, from 1843. Together with

Henry Dick Woodfall Henry Dick Woodfall (1796 – April 13, 1869) was an English businessman. Together with John Rice Crowe, he founded Alten Copper Works in Kåfjord, Norway, later renamed the Kåfjord Copper Works. Henry Woodfall was born in Scotland in 1796, the ...

, John Rice Crowe started the company Alten Copper Works in

Alta Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Associatio ...

around 1826. This company was later renamed the Kåfjord Copper Works.

Diplomat

After serving for six years as a British diplomat in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, Crowe became the deputy vice-consul in

Hammerfest Hammerfest (; sme, Hámmerfeasta ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Hammerfest is the northernmost town in the world with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hammerfe ...

in 1824. Thirteen years later, in 1837, he was appointed British consul in

Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouri ...

, with the requirement to live in Hammerfest. In 1843 he became the general consul for Norway; as such he was the highest British representative in Norway.

Family

Crowe's uncle was an admiral in the English navy. Crowe was married to a Norwegian, Malene Marie Waad (1802–1843). His daughter Anna Cecilie Crowe (1829–1914) was married to major Norwegian industrialist

Halvor Schou Halvor Arntzen Schou (11 May 1823 – 5 February 1879) was a Norwegian industrialist. He was the founder of the Hjula Væveri weaving mill in Oslo. Biography Halvor Schou was born in Christiania (now Oslo, Norway). He was a son of Chri ...

. His son

Henry Woodfall Crowe Henry Woodfall Crowe (April 29, 1832 – November 7, 1865) was a British-Norwegian interpreter, translator, and author. Biography Crowe was born in Kåfjord, Norway, the son of John Rice Crowe (1795–1877) and Malene Marie Waad (1802–1843). ...

was British consul in Helsingfors. His son Septimus Crowe (1842–1903) was British Vice Consul and acting Consul-General in Christiania, but emigrated to Mexico in the 1880s.

Honours

He became a Companion of the British

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in 1859 for outstanding service as a diplomat for his homeland. In Norway he became a Commander of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

. Crowe was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

on 7 July 1874.Bulletins and Other State Intelligence, part 2, p. 774, 1874 ("Windsor Castle, July 7, 1874. The Queen was this day pleased to confer the honour of Knighthood on John Rice Crowe, Esq., C.B., Her Majesty's Consul-General at Christiania")

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowe, John Rice 1795 births 1877 deaths 19th-century English businesspeople Gáivuotna–Kåfjord British emigrants to Norway Knights Bachelor Companions of the Order of the Bath Order of Saint Olav People from Hammerfest