William Chalmers Svenska industriens män

William Chalmers (, ; 13November 17483July 1811) was a Swedish merchant and

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. He was born in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

in 1748 to the Scottish merchant William Chalmers Sr. and his Swedish wife, Inga Orre. William Chalmers Jr. was eldest amongst his brothers James, George Andreas and Charles Chalmers. He became a director of the Swedish East India Company and in 1783 he was appointed as their resident representative in

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

. He would stay there and in

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

for ten years before returning home. He died in Gothenburg in 1811, leaving half his fortune to the Sahlgrenska hospital, Gothenburg. After some other donations, the remainder was donated to create a crafting school for poor children, which in 1829 became a college that today is named the

Chalmers University of Technology Chalmers University of Technology ( sv, Chalmers tekniska högskola, often shortened to Chalmers) is a Swedish university located in Gothenburg that conducts research and education in technology and natural sciences at a high international le ...

Career

William Chalmers studied

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

in Gothenburg and United Kingdom, before continuing his studies in a travelling manner to France and Holland. At the age of 35, he was nominated to become the purchaser of the Swedish East India Company in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, which became his most enriching investment.

Swedish East India Company

In 1793, when Chalmers was 45 years old, he had been living in Canton for ten years. Afterwards, he returned to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

as the manager of the Swedish East India Company as well as the manager of Trollhätte Kanalverk (a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...

that runs through

Trollhättan Trollhättan () is the 23rd-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Trollhättan Municipality, Västra Götaland County. It is situated by Göta älv, near the lake Vänern, and has a population of approximately 50,000 in the city proper. It is loc ...

). He faithfully contributed to the finalization of the canal and was able to leave the company seven years later (1800). Six years post the finalization of the canal, the last Swedish East India Company-ship arrived into Sweden. On it was merchandise from

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. The imports from Spain and China allowed Sweden to widen its

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such ...

, thus the

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

from China and the silver from Spain was exported to other countries, as well as Sweden's own products: wood, iron and artillery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chalmers, William 1748 births 1811 deaths People from Gothenburg Chalmers University of Technology Swedish people of Scottish descent Swedish philanthropists Swedish merchants Swedish East India Company people 18th-century Swedish businesspeople 19th-century Swedish businesspeople Swedish Freemasons