Name Nicolai Aall Died 1798 | Children Jorgen Aall | |
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Nicolai Benjamin Aall (1739–1798) was a Norwegian businessman, ship-owner, property owner and timber merchant.
Contents
Personal life
Nicolai Benjamin Aall was born in 1739 as the first son of Niels Jacobsen Aall (1702–1784) and Benedicte Henrikke Bergh (1714–1748) from Moss. Niels Jacobsen Aall had been born in London, but moved to Porsgrund in 1712. Benedicte Henrikke was the second of three wives. Nicolai Benjamin's younger half-brother Jacob Aall, Sr. became a noted wholesaler, whereas his youngest half-sister Benedicte Henrica Aall married Severin Løvenskiold (1743–1818). Their son, Severin Løvenskiold, was his nephew.
He married Amborg Jørgensdatter Wesseltoft (1741–1815) from Skien, inheritor of the wealthy merchant Jørgen Simonsen Wesseltoft, in 1769. They had four sons; Niels Aall, Jacob Aall, Jørgen Aall and Nicolai Benjamin, Jr., and three daughters Benedicte Henricka, Inger and Constance. Benedicte Henricka married Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen of the influential Cappelen family, and Inger married Hans Eleonardus Møller, Sr. Through these marriages Nicolai Benjamin Aall was the grandfather of later parliament member Hans Eleonardus Møller, political figures Ulrik Frederik Cappelen and Nicolai Benjamin Cappelen and publishing house founder Jørgen Wright Cappelen.
Career
Aall graduated from the University of Copenhagen and took examination as a theologian in 1759, but later turned to work in his father's business. He acquired burghership as a merchant in 1772. He bought the sawmill at Ulefoss from the Anker family in 1782, having been a co-owner (one eighth part) since 1775. He also bought various real estate. In 1777 he took over two sawmills in Skien and forested property near the border of Telemark.
In 1796 he and Diderik von Cappelen, brother of his son-in-law Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen, established a rope factory (Reperbane) at Vestre Porsgrunn to meet the needs of the shipbuilding industry. In the same year he was registered as the owner of eleven ships, having coped through the American Revolutionary War which had a negative impact on business. He was described as hard-working and self-sacrificing, and handled his business with "superior proficiency", according to one historian.