Jørgen Aall (22 February 1771
by Inga Friis. Hosted by Porsgrunn public library. – 7 April 1833) was a Norwegian ship-owner and politician.Storgaden 123
by in ''Eidanger–Porsgrund'', by Finn C. Knudsen (1932). Hosted by Porsgrunn public library.

Personal life

Jørgen Aall was born in 1771 as the second son of Nicolai Benjamin Aall (1739–1798) and Amborg Jørgensdatter (1741–1815), née Wesseltoft. In total he had three brothers and three sisters. His brothers

Niels Niels is a male given name, equivalent to Nicholas, which is common in Denmark, Belgium, Norway (formerly) and the Netherlands. The Norwegian and Swedish variant is Nils. The name is a developed short form of Nicholas or Greek Nicolaos after Saint ...

and

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam ...

held high positions in politics, whereas his sister Benedicte Henricka married Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen of the influential Cappelen family, and another sister Inger married

Hans Eleonardus Møller, Sr Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

. As such his group of nephews would include later parliament member Hans Eleonardus Møller, political figures Ulrik Frederik Cappelen and Nicolai Benjamin Cappelen and publishing house founder Jørgen Wright Cappelen. He married Birgitte Gurine Weyer (1770–1819) from Strømsø, daughter of counsellor of war Hans Thomas Weyer, in December 1793. They had six children, five daughters and one son. Of the daughters, Hanna Thomine and Constance respectively married the brothers

Jørgen Jørgen is a Danish, Norwegian, and Faroese masculine given name cognate to George People with the given name Jørgen * Jørgen Aall (1771–1833), Norwegian ship-owner and politician * Jørgen Andersen (1886–1973), Norwegian gymnast * Jø ...

and Paulus Flood, both of whom served as mayors in the city.

Career

Jørgen Aall was elected to the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly, that drafted the

Constitution of Norway nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction = Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , ...

in 1814. He later sat in the

Norwegian Parliament 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 base ...

from 1815 to 1816, representing the constituency of Skien og Porsgrund. This was noteworthy as the city

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the ...

, compared to Aall's native

Porsgrund Porsgrund Porcelain Factory (''Porsgrunds Porselænsfabrik'', abbreviated PP) is a porcelain flatware company located at Porsgrunn in Telemark county, Norway. History The company's production plant is a popular tourist attraction. The company wa ...

, had twice as many electors. For his political role, his headstone on Østsiden cemetery was, together with that of fellow Constitutional father

Jens Schow Fabricius Jens Schou Fabricius (3 March 1758 – 6 April 1841) was the Norwegian appointed Minister of the Navy 1817–1818. He served as a representative for ''Søe-Deffensionen'' at the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. During his na ...

, regularly garlanded on

Norwegian Constitution Day Constitution Day is the national day of Norway and is an official public holiday observed on 17 May each year. Among Norwegians, the day is referred to as ''Syttende Mai'' ("Seventeenth of May"), ''Nasjonaldagen'' ("National Day"), or ''Grunnlo ...

. As a businessman, Jørgen Aall combined grain and timber merchantry with shipbuilding; in addition he was a ship-owner. In 1805 he owned eight ships. He was also

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states th ...

for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. Jørgen Aall started in his father's company, but set up an independent business in 1796. Much of his wealth was actually inherited from his father, who died two years later. However, the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

and their aftermath had a negative impact on the business. He was also troubled by fires. Aall was eventually forced to file for bankruptcy in 1818.Litt om Porsgrunns oppkomst og økonomiske utvikling. Chapter C: Kriseårene fram til ca. 1850
in volume two of ''Porsgrunns historie'', by Chr. Abrahamsen. Hosted by Porsgrunn public library.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aall, Joergen Fathers of the Constitution of Norway Members of the Storting Norwegian businesspeople in shipping Politicians from Porsgrunn Joergen 1771 births 1833 deaths