Carl Dalager

Carl Christopher Dalager (born April 8, 1726 in Dragsminde near Rødby ; † January 1, 1799 in Alluttoq ) was a Danish merchant and Greenland pioneer .

Life

Carl Dalager was the son of the customs officer Jens Laursen Dalager (around 1670–1742) and his wife Anna Goe (1688–1769). His older sister Maren (1719–1753) became the third wife of Jacob Severin (1691–1753) in 1742 . He was also the cousin of Carl Dalager's mother. Jacob Severin was one of the first Greenland pioneers and has just founded numerous colonies in Greenland. In 1745 Carl Dalager was employed as an assistant in Jakobshavn ( Ilulissat ). He was efficient and popular and so only a year later, at the age of 20, he was appointed colonial administrator of Christianshåb ( Qasigiannguit ). In 1750 Jacob Severin resigned and Carl Dalager, who had previously been employed by him, went under the management of Det almindelige Handelskompagni . In 1752 he replaced his brother Lars (1722–1772) as colonial administrator of Frederikshåb ( Paamiut ). From 1754 to 1755 he was in Denmark. In 1755 he founded the Ritenbenk colony on the site of today's Saqqaq , which was later moved to Appat . Until then, this colony was the northernmost in the country. After his return from Denmark, he wanted to marry his fiancée Birgitte (around 1732–1775), but she had to spend the winter in Christianshåb and in 1758 married the colonial administrator of Christianshåb, Jonas Lillienskiold de Svanenhielm (1726–1801). Instead, Carl Dalager married Juliane Marie (1734-1817) from Greenland on May 24, 1759, who may have been a sister of Birgitte. During his time as colonial administrator in Ritenbenk, he undertook trade trips to even more northern regions and so he initiated the founding of Uummannaq in 1758 , which was still on the site of the later Nuussuaq until 1763 . From 1768 he moved even further north, where he co-founded the Upernavik colony in 1771 . In the same year he moved to Jakobshavn as colonial administrator, where he set up a whaling station. In 1783 he founded the Klokkerhuk ( Alluttoq ) colony , which he administered until his death.

Carl Dalager had a large book collection, Inspector Børge Johan Schultz like a library for the Disko Bay would have done, but what came across Carl Dalagers resistance. He was also seen in his later years as an opponent of the state administration under Den Kongelige Grønlandske Handel and the operation of whaling in Greenland. His colleagues often complained that Carl Dalager was leaving his colonial district and trading in their districts, which he justified by saying that Inspector Schultz had allowed him to do so, but it was far more likely that the latter failed to prevent Carl Dalager's trade trips. Carl Dalager died in his youngest colony at the age of 72 after living in Greenland for 54 years. The following children emerged from his marriage to Juliane Marie:

• Andreas Peter Dalager (1760–1820), married to Agathe (1762–1840)
• Anna Christine Dalager (1761–1832), married to Niels Rasmussen Ravnholdt (1768–1841)
• Jens Jacob Dalager (1763–1825), first married to a daughter († 1788) of commercial assistant Carl Dorf; second marriage to her sister Marie Dorf (1767–1812); in third marriage with Mette Christiansen (1790–1837)
• one son (* 1765), died young
• Christopher Carl Dalager (1766–1842), first married to Pouline (1771–1838); in second marriage with Karen Gertrud Kathrine (1816–1870)
• Mathias Ferslew Dalager (1769–1843), first married to Martha Antonette Reinert (1776–1839); second marriage to Anna Catharina Svartz (1787–?); became an artist in Trondheim
• Jacob Dalager (1772–1805), married to Cathrine Thorning (1776–1848); Jacob Dalager was insane and forced his mother to shoot him. Otherwise, he would murder his family and eat his children. His mother obeyed her son's orders but was not prosecuted because of the circumstances.

Carl Dalager was the progenitor of a great Greenland family. In addition to his brother-in-law Jacob Severin, he had other early trade employees in his family. His sister Anne Kirstine (1718–1790) was married to the colonial administrator and later mayor of Helsingør , Mathias Andreas Fersleff (1701–1763). His granddaughter Cecilie Dalager (1784–1866) is the (illegitimate) wife of Peter Hanning Motzfeldt (1774–1835) and the ancestor of the Motzfeldt family.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} biography in Dansk Biografisk Leksikon
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Niels H. Frandsen: Nogle grønlandske slægter . Forlaget Atuagkat, Nuuk 2011, ISBN 978-87-92554-22-2 , pp. 39 .
3. ^ Hother Ostermann : Beskrivelse af Distrikterne i Nordgrønland: Ritenbenk District. History . In: Georg Carl Amdrup , Louis Bobé , Adolf Severin Jensen , Hans Peder Steensby (eds.): Grønland i tohundredeaaret for Hans Egedes landing (=  Meddelelser om Grønland . Volume 60-61 ). tape 1 . C. A. Reitzel Boghandel, Copenhagen 1921, p. 249 ( digitized version in the Internet Archive ).
4. ↑ Biography in Biografisk Leksikon for Grønland