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 Nikolaos, after Saint ...

and

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

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. As such his group of nephews would include later parliament member

Hans Eleonardus Møller Hans Eleonardus Møller (8 November 1804 – 12 September 1867) was a Norwegian politician and businessperson.Ulrik Frederik Cappelen Ulrik Frederik Cappelen (13 May 1797 – 24 November 1864) was a Norway, Norwegian jurist and politician. Personal life Ulrik Frederik Cappelen was born in 1795 as the second child of ship-owner Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen (1770–1820) ...

and Nicolai Benjamin Cappelen and publishing house founder

Jørgen Wright Cappelen Jørgen Wright Cappelen (10 August 1805 – 6 October 1878) was a Norwegian bookseller and publisher. He was one of the founders of the publishing house Cappelen Damm. Personal life Jørgen Wright Cappelen was born at Porsgrund, Norway as the ni ...

. He married Birgitte Gurine Weyer (1770–1819) from

Strømsø Strømsø is a borough of Drammen, Buskerud, Norway. Strømsø is located at the southern side of the river Drammenselva. Until about 1600, Strømsø was an island surrounded by the Drammenselva, but was later made landfast. In 1728 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 A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and different ...

and

Paulus Flood Paulus Mathias Frederikus Flood (11 March 1804 – 26 December 1847) was a Norwegian merchant and politician.

, both of whom served as mayors in the city.

Career

Jørgen Aall was elected to the

Norwegian Constitutional Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly ( or ) is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark. The meetings took place at the Eidsvoll Manor in th ...

, that drafted the

Constitution of Norway The 'Constitution of Norway'' (complete name: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway; Danish language, Danish: ; Norwegian language, Norwegian Bokmål: ; Nynorsk, Norwegian Nynorsk: ) was adopted on 16 May and signed on 17 May 1814 by the N ...

in 1814. He later sat in the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( ; ) 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 based on party-list proportional represe ...

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

Skien Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...

, compared to Aall's native Porsgrund, 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 Vice-Admiral Jens Schou Fabricius (3 March 1758 – 6 April 1841) was a Norwegian naval officer who served as Minister of the Navy from 1817 to 1818. He served as a representative for ''Søe-Deffensionen'' at the Norwegian Constitutional Assembl ...

, 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 ''Grunnl ...

. 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 thro ...

for

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. 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 {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

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 Norwegian businesspeople in shipping Politicians from Porsgrunn Joergen 1771 births 1833 deaths Members of the Storting 1815–1817 Members of the Storting 1814