Mads Christian Holm
Mads Christian Holm | |
|---|---|
 M. C. Holm painted by Bertha Wegmann | |
| Born | 19 October 1827 |
| Died | 23 September 1892 (aged 64) Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Nationality | Danish |
| Occupation(s) | Shipbuilder and ship-owner |
Mads Christian Holm (19 October 1827 - 23 September 1892) was a Danish shipbuilder and ship-owner. He founded the shipping company D/S Norden in Copenhagen in 1861 and Helsingør Dockyard in Helsingør in 1882. He is also remembered for his charitable donations to the church, a children's asulum and a school in his home town Nykøbing Mors..
Early life and education
Holm was born in Nykøbing Mors, the illegitimate son of Maren Nielsdatter (1794–1854). His father is in the church records listed as servant Esper (Esben) Nielsen (1795–1880) but may have been a district bailiff (by- og hjerredsfoged) and justice councilor named Rummelhoff.[1] Either way. Esper Nielsen ended up marrying a well-to-do widow of a farmer, leaving Maren Nielsdatter and her son in very poor circumstances. Mads Christian frequently had to go out begging to get food on the table. He assumed the surname Holm after is mother married ship carpenter Lars Christensen Holm (1812–53) in 1838. After completing an apprentiveship as a ship carpenter, following in his step father's footstep, he worked on shipwarfs in Aalborg and Helsingør.[2]
Years abroad
Holm enrolled on a barque bound for Boston. He then continued to San Francisco before founding a shipyard in Oakland, California in 1854. He left it in the trust of his partner to return to Eirope about one year later. His original intention was to return to America after visiting the xposition Universelle in Paris and his home country.[3]
Career in Denmark
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Back in Denmark, Holm initially visited his home town Nykøbing Mors. After a while he ended up renting a shipvard in Åbenrå in a business partnership with sea captain Bot Bendixen.
In 1862 he moved to Copenhagen to study business at the Business College. In January 1871, he, he successfully invited interested investors to participate in a share subscription for a steam ship for tramp service and D/S Norden was formally on 11 February 1871. Norden, an ironbuilt screw steamer with a load capacity of one thousand tons deadweight, was built by Aitken & Mansel at Glasgow in February 1872.[4] Holm headed the company until his death in 1892 and its fleet had by then grown to five ships.[5]
He established Helsingør Jernskibs- og Maskinbyggeri in Helsingør in 1882.
Personal life and legacy
Golm had a relationship to a girl named Arlette Lund during his years in Aalborg. In 1851 it resulted in a son, Ferdinand Jorgen Peter Holm, but Arlette Lund's parents, who were wealthy restaurateurs, would not let their daughter marry him. Holm later wrote her many letters but she ended up marrying another man. After his return from America, in 1861, Holm married Emilie Bendixen (30 May 183 - 27 August 1914), a daughter of sea captain Boy Bendixen, his collaborator in Åbenrå.
He made several large donations to the church, a children's asullum and a new school in Nykøving Mors. The school is still named M. C. Holms Skole ("M. C. Holm's School") after him. The local Free Masons Lodge is also named Lodge No. 67 "M. C. Holm" after him.
Holm died on 23 September 1892 and is buried in Nykøbing Mors Cemetery. Peter de Nelly Brown took over the management of the company after Holm's death. The campany's next new ship was named M.C. Holm after him in 1894.
References
- ^ "M.C. Holm" (in Danish). hjorthlarsen.blogspot.dk. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "M.C. Holm" (in Danish). Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "LOGE NR. 67 "M. C. HOLM". m-c-holm.oddfellow.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "History" (in Danish). D/S Norden. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "Dampskibsselskabet Norden A/S". jmarcussen.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 20 March 2018.
Further reading
- Fog, Henrik: Grosserer M. C. H., 1902 (new edition 1967).
External links
- Mads Christian Holm at Helsingør Leksikon