Jørgen Thomsen Bech (21 October 1731 – 11 April 1816) was a Danish businessman.

Early life and education

Bech was born in, Flade,

Vendsyssel Vendsyssel () is the northernmost traditional district of Denmark and of Jutland. Being divided from mainland Jutland by the Limfjord, it is technically a part of the North Jutlandic Island which also comprises the areas Hanherred and Thy. Vendsy ...

, the son of copyholder Thomas Jensen (c. 1699 – 1737) and Maren Heylesdatter (c. 1698–1735). He lost both his parents in an early age and was subsequently raised by others. At the age of 12, he was articled to wholesale merchant (''grosserer'')

Jacob Severin Jacob Sørensen Severin (27 October 1691 – 21 March 1753) was a Danish merchant who held a trade monopoly on Greenland from 1733 to 1749. Biography He was born in Sæby, Denmark, to Søren Nielsen ( 1655–1730) and his wife Birgitte O ...

in Copenhagen.

Career

In 1751–54, as the assistant of a

supercargo A supercargo (from Italian or from Spanish ) is a person employed on board a vessel by the owner of cargo carried on a ship. The duties of a supercargo are defined by admiralty law and include managing the cargo owner's trade, selling the mer ...

, Bech completed an expedition to Canton in one of the

Danish Asiatic Company Danish Asiatic Company (Danish language, Danish: Asiatisk Kompagni) was a Denmark-Norway, Danish trading company established in 1730 to revive Danish-Norwegian trade on the Danish East Indies and China following the closure of the Danish East Ind ...

's ships. After returning to Copenhagen, he started a business as a buyer of human hair for hairdressers and wig makers. He later started his own business, dealing in tea, porcelain and other oriental products. His shop was initially located in rented premises at Nyhavn 41 (then St, Ann's East Quarter, No. 18). He later bought the property for 3,000

Danish rigsdaler The rigsdaler was the name of several currencies used in Denmark until 1875. The similarly named Reichsthaler, riksdaler and rijksdaalder were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. These currencies were of ...

.In 1760 he took citizenship as a tea and porcelain merchant. In 1764, he took citizenship as a wholesale merchant (''grosserer'') and timber merchant. He took D. H. Bärentz as a partner in his business and from then on traded as Jørgen Bech & Co. In the great trading period at the end of the 18th century, he won a considerable fortune. His main business was in the Baltic countries and Norway, and from Copenhagen he mainly exported colonial goods and Nordic products to the Baltic countries and received timber in return. In the early 1800s, however, the business grew a bit too much for him, and as a result of losses on various connections, he had to suspend his payments, in October 1805 and obtained moratorium; at the end of 1806, however, it could be lifted again after the last creditors had agreed to 75% compensation. Bech owned the property at Toldbodgade 15 and leased one of the 16 timber yards at Kalvebod Beach. During the Battle of Copenhagen, his timber yard caught fire, and as no insurance covered the burned stocks (30,000

), his already greatly reduced fortune took another serious hit. Alongside his own business ventures, Bech held a number of positions in business. Thus he was, among other things, an accountant in various of the large trading companies. He was also involved in

Kjøbenhavns Brandforsikring Kjøbenhavns Brandforsikring, founded in 1731, was the first Danish provider of fire insurance in Denmark. It existed as an independent enterprise until 1976 and is now part of Tryg. The company's last headquarters was the Gustmeyer House at Ve ...

(Copenhagen Fire Insurance). first as an accountant (''dicisor'') and from 1844 to 1791 as director. In 1774, he became a member of Copenhagen's Maritime Court with business knowledge, and in 1775 he was elected as one of the city's

32 Men The Assembly of 32 Men ( Danish: De 32 Mænds Forsamling), also known as the City's 32 Men () or simply as the 32 Men (Danish:De 32 Mænd), was an assembly of respected citizens of Copenhagen, who had the right to demand an audience before the k ...

(vice chairman in 1807, chairman in 1810). He took a strong interest in this participation in public life. In 1719, he was created a Knight in the Order of the Dannebrog.

Personal life

On 13 December 1756, Bech married to Anna Elisabeth Hansen (Fielstrup, 1729-1767), daughter of peasant Hans Hansen Bodel Hansdatter. On 28 June 1782, he married to Berthe Emerence Restorff (1755- 1831), daughter of senior clerk and later postmaster Rasmus Restorff (1710–87) and Mariane Giørding (ca. 1732–89). Bech died on 11 April 1816. He was buried at

Assistens Cemetery An Assistens Cemetery () is a cemetery that functions as an expansion of another, older cemetery often in relation to a city church. Already by the end of the 17th century, Danish authorities deemed that the conditions for inner-city cemeteries we ...

. He was survived by three children. His business was continued by his son Marcus Christian Bech (1787-1857). He was married to Sophie Birgitte Mathiesen (1791-1867), daughter of Mathias Jørgen Marcussen Mathiesen and Ellen Pohlman. Marchus Bech's sister Mariane Elisabeth Beck (1785-1822) was married to the naval officer Lorenz Lorck (1781-1820). Their elder half sister Anna Marie Jørgensdatter Bech (c, 1767 - ) married to merchant in Øster Risø Tore Torstensen. An elder daughter, Ane Marie (1868-1850, was married to merchant (''grosserer'') Jens Holbech (died 1811).

References

External links

{{Commons category, Jørgen Thomsen Bech
Jørgen Thomsen Bech
at geni.com * Bech, March Christian:
En kjøbenhavnsk grosserers ungdomserindringer
1787-1816]''
En københavnsk grosserers ungdomserindringer, 1787-1816
18th-century Danish businesspeople 19th-century Danish businesspeople Danish businesspeople in timber Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Burials at Assistens Cemetery (Copenhagen) 1731 births 1816 deaths Merchants from Denmark–Norway