COOPER, JOHN [SSNE 7760]

Surname

COOPER, COUPER, COWPER

First name

JOHN

Nationality

ENGLISH OR SCOT

Text source

John Couper was a merchant resident in Stockholm and could have been of English or Scottish origin (more probably the former). 

On 24 August 1661, a group of English merchants in Stockholm signed a document in Dutch regarding a business transaction. The signatories were Samuel Lee [SSNE 8329], William Blackett [SSNE 7759], James Allen [SSNE 8328], William Horsfull [SSNE 8327] and William Carter [SSNE 8326]. It pertained also to John Cooper (this man), Samuel Richardson [SSNE 8331] and Joseph Scott [SSNE 8330] and Peter Watson (perhaps the Lithuanian-based merchant [SSNE 5551] along with some non-British merchants.

Along with 22 English and Scottish merchants he was summoned to the Swedish Department of Commerce (Handelskollegiet) in Stockholm on 20 March 1674 with other German, Dutch and French merchants. The Swedish Diet of 1672 had realigned the status, rights and residency period of foreign merchants in Sweden to be made more stringent. Cooper was likely to be of some status among the English and Scottish merchant community in the town as he spoke of behalf of them on the 20 December that same year. He reiterated to the Council that the King of Sweden had extended the period of residence to foreign merchants the previous year. Despite these proceedings the Stockholm Magistrates ordered foreigners’ warehouses in the city to be cut down regardless and their supervision was tightened. 

Sources: Correspondence from and about here: Riksarkivets ämnessamlingar. Personhistoria https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/A0069540_00200#?c=&m=&s=&cv=199&xywh=3464%2C2116%2C2789%2C1376

More of Couper's correspondence, including his associations with George Shuttleworth [SSNE 1438]  are found here: https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/A0069553_00206#?c=&m=&s=&cv=205&xywh=2678%2C1590%2C3979%2C2295

Stockholm Stadsarkiv, Proceedings of the City of Stockholm Magistrates, Department of Commerce (Handelskollegiet), 20.03.1674, 07.11.1674, 03.06.1675, and 19.06.1679. 

See also: Åström, Sven-Erik, From Stockholm to St Petersburg: Commercial Factors in the Political Relations between England and Sweden, 1675-1700 (Finnish Historical Society, Helsinki, 1962), p. 61.

This record was created by Adam Grimshaw.

Service record

SWEDEN, STOCKHOLM

Arrived 1661-01-01

Departed 1679-12-31

Capacity MERCHANT, purpose MERCANTILE, TRADE, COMMERCE