Tørres Christensen (10 May 1664 – 15 February 1721) was a Norwegian timber merchant, sawmill owner, landowner and ship owner. He was born at the village of

Nedenes Nedenes is a village in Arendal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located in the southern part of Arendal, just north of the municipal border with Grimstad. The Norwegian County Road 420 runs through the village heading north ...

Øyestad Øyestad is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1992 when it was merged into the present-day municipality of Arendal which is now located in Agder county. At the time of its di ...

(now

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

) in

Aust-Agder Aust-Agder (, en, "East Agder") was a county (''fylke'') in Norway until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Vest-Agder to form Agder county. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which was 2.2% of Norway's population. Its area was . The ...

, Norway. He attended the

Bergen Cathedral School Bergen Cathedral School (Norwegian: ''Bergen Katedralskole'', Latin: ''Schola Cathedralis Bergensis'', formerly known as Bergens lærdeskole and Bergen latinskole and colloquially known as Katten) is an upper secondary school in Bergen, Norway. Loc ...

. By 1682, he was enrolled as skipper in the service of the Danish King. He settled in

Mandal A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

in Vest-Agder during 1687, where he married Karen Mortensdatter Als (1666-1743), daughter of Morten Mortensen Als(d. 1691), the leading merchant of the town. After the death of his father-in-law in 1691, Christensen took over the business and became the dominant merchant in Mandal. He greatly expanded by establishing himself as a merchant and shipowner in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

. During the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...

(1700-1721), he controlled large parts of the

timber trade There are multiple market layers for wood products. Each country has its own domestic market that may be connected to a regional or global market. Timber supply to domestic markets in many tropical forest countries is largely provided by informal lo ...

from the valley of

Mandalen Mandalen is a river valley in Agder county, Norway. The long valley runs from the lake Øre in Åseral municipality south through the municipality of Lindesnes and it ends at the sea at the town of Mandal in the south. The river Mandalselva ...

. He also continued in a few more years to sail as skipper on his own ships. As the dominant employer, merchant, creditor and landowner in Mandal, he ran the small town almost like a business. Christensen owned property both in Mandal and

. He held several farms, several with salmon fishing rights, including Halshaug gård in

Vest-Agder Vest-Agder (; "West Agder") was one of 18 counties (''fylker'') in Norway up until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Aust-Agder to form Agder county. In 2016, there were 182,701 inhabitants, around 3.5% of the total population of Norway. I ...

which was located at the mouth of river

Mandalselva Mandalselva or Mandalsåni or Marna (English: Mandal River, non, Mǫrn) is a river in Agder county in Norway. The river has its origins in the mountains between Ose in Setesdal and the Upper Sirdal valley. The river flows south to its mouth at ...

References

Other sources

*Syrdahl, Arvid (1998) ''Kongen av Mandal'' (MediaFoto A.S., Mandal) 1664 births 1721 deaths People from Arendal People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School Norwegian businesspeople in shipping Norwegian businesspeople in timber Norwegian landowners Norwegian merchants Norwegian sailors Norwegian fishers 17th-century Norwegian businesspeople 18th-century Norwegian businesspeople {{Norway-business-bio-stub