Peter Applebye (5 October 1709 - 13 August 1774) was a British-Danish industrialist. Applebys Plads in Copenhagen, the former site of his shipyard and ropewalk, is named after him.
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Career
Appleby was born in Gosport, Hampshire, the son of John Applebye and his wife Susanne Applebye. Ahed 16, he was articled to a rope maker in royal service and worked there until 1733. In 1737, he was charged with modernizing the ropewalk at the Royal Navel Dockyards at Nyholm in Copenhagen. In 1739, he was granted permission to establish his own rope walk.
In 1742, he acquired the right to reclaim an area at the southern end of Christianshavn. It was later expanded by royal gifts in 1745, 1748 and 1757. He established a dockyards on the land in 1869 and was also the owner of a sugar refinery and sails and canvas factory in Odense.
Applebye was also active in trade on the colonies with his own fleet of merchant ships.
Personal life
Applebye married Anna Pattridge on 9 August 1735. The son Peter Applebye Jr. and son-in-law John Brown squandered away his fortune soon after his death.