FORBUS, SOPHIA JULIANA [SSNE 6318]

Surname

FORBUS, FORBES, DE LA GARDIE

First name

SOPHIA JULIANA

Nationality

SWEDISH and SCOT

Text source

Sophia Juliana Forbus was a daughter of Arvid (Alexander) Forbes till Forbus [SSNE 2227] and Margaretha Boij of Gennas. She was born on 1 July 1649. She married Axel de la Gardie in Stockholm, either in 1662 or in 15 December 1664, depending on which biography you consult. Sophia conducted her own business and was, for instance, a shareholder in her own right in the Västevik Ship Company in 1666. Along with Jacob Momma-Reenstierna and Daniel Young-Leijonancker [SSNE 4206] she withdrew from the company in 1666, taking with them six ships. Her investment had been 4,200 rdl, the same amount as Leijonancker. Sophia's trading continued throughout her life. For instance she traded some four boatloads of roofing beams from Arnö in July 1688 as sole merchant. She was clearly an independent woman and has been described as "en synnerligen energisk kvinna". Sophia later became involved in a personal court case against Baltazar Schmeer (1697) over outstanding business dealings. In 1688, she and her husband donated a pulpit to Fittja church, a common act of the affluent. She was apparently buried in Klara Kyrka on 04 October 1701

Sources:

Swedish Riksarkiv, Landshövdingarnas Skrivelser till Kung. Maj:t. Uplands Län - Sohia Juliana Forbus, 03/07/1688; Swedish Krigsarkiv KRA/0765, Theodor Jacobssons Autographsamling, vol II, 1871-1935, 60 d. Sophia Juliana Forbus i mal mot Baltazar Schmeer. Memorial till Svea Hovratt efter 1697; Stockholm Stadsarkiv, Klara församlings register över döda, 1680 - 1710, p.95.

Steve Murdoch, Network North: Scottish Kin, Commercial and Covert Associations in Northern Europe, 1603-1746 (Brill, Leiden, 2006), p.211.

She gets a sentence in her father's biography in G. Elgenstierna, Svenska Adelns Ättartavlor, vol. 2, p.793. She is mentioned in her husband's biography (briefly) in H. Hofberg, Svenskt Biographiskt Handlexikon (2 vols., Stockholm, 1906), I, p.232;  

Leos Müller, The Merchant Houses of Stockholm, c.1640-1800 (Uppsala, 1988), p.181 mentions the shipping company she was involved with, but not her.

Correspondence mentioning her is found in: Riksarkivets ämnessamlingar. Personhistoria. 7 February 1690. https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/A0069635_00428#?c=&m=&s=&cv=427&xywh=2970%2C593%2C3228%2C1769

 

Female.

Service record

SWEDEN, STOCKHOLM

Arrived 1649-07-01

Departed 1701-10-04

Capacity CAPITALIST, MERCHANT, SHIP OWNER, purpose MERCANTILE, TRADE, COMMERCE