Difference between revisions of "Coninck, Frédéric de"

Latest revision as of 14:16, 20 December 2020

Frédéric de Coninck, 1799. Painted by Daniel Orme, Maritime Museum of Denmark.

Born 1740-12-5 in Den Haag, died 1811-9-4 on Dronninggaard in North Zealand.

Family
Father: Coninck, Jean (BioLek I)

Mother: Rapin, Susanne Esther de (BioLek I)

Brother: Coninck, Jean de 2 (BioLek II)

Marriage: 7 January 1770 in Haag to Joncourt, Marie de (22 July 1747 - 8 May 1821, died in Copenhagen). Marie de Joncourt was the daughter of the Royal Librarian and Councillor to the Prince of Oranje, Gertrude Louis de J. and Marie Madeleine Rachel (nee d'Amberbos) (Henningsen, 78)

Daughters: de Coninck, Marie Anne who married Pingel, William; Coninck, Henriette de who married Duntzfelt, Christian Wilhelm; Coninck, Louise de (FT-1787)

Sons: Coninck, Jean de 3; Coninck, Henry de; Coninck, Bellej? de (FT-1787)

Son-in law: Pingel, William (FT-1787)

Cousin: Cazenove, Charles de (PHT 1936:3)

Friend and neighbour with Fabritius de Tengnagel, Conrad Alexander (Søllerødårbogen 2007:14)

Frédéric de Coninck, painted in 1808 by Christian Horneman. Photo: Maritime Museum of Denmark

Timeline
1757 - Employed at a British trading house in Amsterdam. (BioLek II)

1763 - Came to Copenhagen (BioLek I). According to Hennings (1901), he met Conrad Alexander Fabritius, the later Fabritius de Tengnagel, Conrad Alexander with whom he struck up a friendship, and allegedly once the ship landed in Copenhagen, de Coninck was offered a place in Fabritius' company. This was not met positively by the mother of Fabritius, and thus de Coninck was not permitted to enter into the company. Luckily for de Coninck, his father's letters held introductions to both Moltke, A. G. & the Count Bernstorff, through which he was enabled to settle as a merchant in Copenhagen and establish his own company (Hennings 1901, 6 - 8)

1763 - Became employed as supercargo at the Danish Asiatic Company in Canton, but decided otherwise just before departing (see also above with reference to Hennings 1901). (BioLek II)

1765 - Citizenship as whole-sale merchant (BioLek I)

1768 - Royal Agent (BioLek II) (Hennings, 77 argues that with the appointment as agent, de Coninck was also made Justitsraad) & Director of Generalmagasinet (Hennings, 1900, 77 Royal Library). This is confirmed by a public announcement in a newspaper on 9 May 1768 (Kiøbenhavns Kongelig alene priviligerede Adresse-Contoirs Efterretninger)

1770 - Married Joncourt, Marie de in the Haag

1772 - Sided with Ryberg, Niels in the debate about disbanding the Asiatic Company monopoly of the India trade. The men argued that the monopoly should indeed be lifted (Bruun, Kjøbenhavn III, 445)

1772 - Listed as subscribent, i.e. contributor, to a reprint of Ludvig Holberg’s comic epos Peder Paars. De Coninck is listed as "agent" (Holberg, Peder Paars, 1772)

1773-1776 - Director of Asiatisk Kompagni (Hof&Stat)

1775 - Founded the trading House of de Coninck & Reiersen with Reiersen, Niels Lunde, which lasted until 1790. They owned 64 ships (Henningsen, 77)

1775 - A notice in the newspaper De til Forsendelse med Posten allene privilegerede Kiøbenhavnske Tidender claiming that a court case between Agent de Coninck and General-Krigs Commisær Holter had taken place in the supreme court (link to newspaper notice)

1776 - Director of the Asiatic Company (Hennings, 77)

1777 - Accountant/bookkeeper for the Asiatic Company (Hennings, 77)

1778 - Appointed director of the office of Generalmagasinet (Hennings, 77). This appointment was allegedly due to the orchestrations of Schimmelmann, who at first had been opposed to de Coninck, but at this stage recognised his talents and their uses in (especially) creating flows of foreign capital into the country (Hennings, 1901, 9)

1780 - Revisor at DAC. (Holck: Stats= og Handels=Spejl, 1780)

1783 - Appointed Etatsraad

1787 - Co-owner of the Østersøisk-Guineiske Handelsselskab (Hennings, 77)

1788 - Made "ældste" of the French Reformist Church (Hennings, 77)

1790 - Founded his own company House of de Coninck & Co. (BioLek II)

1790 - Co-founded Groshandlernes nærmere Forening, which later evolved into Grosserer-Societetet

1790 - Listed as a member of the Naturhistorie=Selskabet. (Skrivter af Naturhistorie=Selskabet, 1790)

1795 (28 January) - Letter from de Coninck to Anker (re. the English Club and the Coalition Club, 1792-1797) (KB, Håndskrifts, Ny Kgl. Samling, 4, 692 (gl.)) (link)

1796-98 Sent 14 ships with contraband Dutch goods from Batavia to Europe - 10 ships were taken by the British. This was one of several incidents that led to the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. (Beck 1981:276)

1807 - Accused of treason (november) but freed of all charged by the high court on 19 October 1809) (Henningsen, 77). In the original, slightly later publication by the jusrisdiction, through the kammeradvokat etc. by the name of Johan Martin Schønhender published in 1809, it becomes clear that the accusation of treason had to do with de Coninck allegedly having agreed to be appointed "feltkommisær", i.e. to accept a military position in the English army. This of course sat on the backdrop of the English bombardement of Copenhagen in 1807 (original source at the Royal Library: Proceduren for Commissionen samt Dommene og nogle Bilage i Sagen anlagt paa Justitiens Vegne imod de Herrer Grev Schulin, Etatsraad de Coninck, og Sognepræsten Rønne" by Schønheyder, Johan Martin (1809, Copenhagen). Hennings in his 15-page biography of de Coninck details that the three men had gone to the English army on their own initiative, offering the English to supply them with provisions (food) in order to "spare the local population of being plundered" (Hennings, 1901, p. 15). Despite being found not guilty of all charges, the accusations of treason meant that de Coninck became a shadow of his former self and never fully recovered (Hennings, 1901, p. 15).

1809 - Refused to accept the Order of Dannebrog (storkors) (Henningsen, 77)

1811 - Upon his death, de Coninck left 625.000 Rigsdaler, even if this was later reduced to 125.000 Rigsbandaler upon depts etc. having been paid (Werner, Duntzfelt). He also left the sum of 96,000 Rigsdaler to the French Reformist Church to be used in a scholarship (Hennings, 1901, p. 14)

1821 (approx.) - what was left of the merchant house [de Coninck & Co.] was bankrupted (BioLek II)

Property
1781 - Bought Dronninggaard in Northern Zealand, a former manor of Queen Sophie Amalie from 1661. De Coninck erected a new and large main building and in the five years transformed the surrounding area into a landscape garden, complete with a small island with a Chinese tea house. Near the main builing a column was erected carrying the inscription: "Til ære for handelen og søfarten som under en vis og mild regerings indflydelse og beskyttelse gav mig evne at forskønne dette sted og forbedre dets agerdyrkning". (Erichsen & Skak-Nielsen 2012, p.161). The Dronninggaard estate was bought for 18,500 daler courant (Henningsen, 77). In 1809 (20 December) he passed on ownership of Dronninggaard and the Kaningaard estate to his son (which one? - Jean?) (Henningsen, 77).

1783 - Purchased the estate on Nybrogade 12 (Henningsen, 77, Royal Library). This is the so-called Ziegler Gård (link)

1785 - Bought Gyldenløves Small Mansion on the corner of Dronnings Tværgade and Bredgade in Copenhagen with Reiersen, Niels Lunde. (indenforvoldene.dk). Allegedly this he sold immidiately to the Queen dowager at a very low price, following the fire of the Christiansborg Castle to which he even contributed 10,000 Rigsdaler for the rebuilding of the castle (Hennings, 1901, p. 13)

1788 - Became sole owner of Gyldenløves Small Mansion on the corner of Dronnings Tværgade and Bredgade in Copenhagen. Decorated the interior with wall paintings of his country manor, Dronninggaard, also called Næsslottet. Sold to the dowager Queen Juliane Marie in 1794 after the fire of Christiansborg Castle, who sold it to Brun, Constantin in 1798. (indenforvoldene.dk)

1798 - Owner of Kaningaard near Virum in northern Zeland (Henningsen, 77). He allegedly rebuild the estate originally erected on behalf of Queen Sophie Amalie, and did various work on the small island on which the estate sits (www.kaningaarden.dk). He renamed the rebuild estate Næsseslottet. Frederic de Coninicks son, Jean, lived on the estate for a number of years.