De Coninck, Frederick
De Coninck, Frederick (born December 5, 1740, in Haag, Holland; died September 4, 1811, in Copenhagen, Denmark) was an extraordinarily wealthy and influential Dutch-born Danish wholesale merchant, shipowner, and director of the Asiatic Company, whose daring international trade network, particularly his massive Batavia speculation, and his opulent estate Dronninggaard made him one of the most prominent and controversial figures of Denmark's florissante period.
1740-12-05: De Coninck, Frederick was born in Haag (The Hague) in Holland to de Coninck, Jean, a former merchant in the Dutch East Indies, and de Rapin Thoyras, Susanne Esther, who came from a noble French Huguenot family. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf, BioLek I - 4.pdf]
1757: De Coninck, Frederick, at the age of 16 or 17, was placed in an English merchant house in Amsterdam where he worked for six years and received a thorough mercantile education. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf, Asmussen - Networks and faces - 2018.pdf]
1763-08: Driven by an unrequited love, De Coninck, Frederick traveled to Copenhagen with letters of recommendation from his father and a top civil servant in Den Haag addressed to Bernstorff, J. H. E. and Moltke, A. G., intending to seek a position in the Danish Asiatic Company to go to Canton. During the journey from Amsterdam, he traveled with a young member of the prominent Fabritius merchant family. [Schovelin - Handels Empire I - 1900.pdf, Asmussen - Networks and faces - 2018.pdf, Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf]
1763-10-22: De Coninck, Frederick was offered a position as supercargo on the Asiatic Company ship Prins Frederik bound for Canton, but he resigned just before departure to accept an offer to join the large Copenhagen merchant house of Fabritius & Wever. [Schovelin - Handels Empire I - 1900.pdf, Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf, Asmussen - Networks and faces - 2018.pdf]
1764: When the partnership offer at Fabritius & Wever fell through due to opposition from the firm's head, Koster, Anna Marie, De Coninck, Frederick established himself as an independent merchant (Grosserer) in Copenhagen. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf, Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf]
1765-05: De Coninck, Frederick officially acquired his burghership (Borgerskab) as a Grosserer in Copenhagen. [BioLek I - 4.pdf, Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1765: Armed with royal powers of attorney from Moltke, A. G., De Coninck, Frederick traveled to Antwerp and Amsterdam to negotiate a major state loan, successfully collaborating with the house of George Clifford en Zoonen to place Danish loan certificates at favorable rates, greatly raising his prestige with the Danish government. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf, Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf]
1766: De Coninck, Frederick became a shareholder in the Asiatic Company and successfully recommended his cousin, de Cazenove, Charles, for the position of chief supercargo for the company. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1767-03-04: De Coninck, Frederick participated in his first general meeting of the Asiatic Company, where the abolition of the company's monopoly on the East India trade was discussed. [Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf]
1768-01: De Coninck, Frederick purchased a beautiful and prominent property on the corner of Nybrogade and Knabrostræde in Copenhagen. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1768-05-03: By royal resolution, De Coninck, Frederick was appointed as Director of the General-Magasins-Kontor, an institution designed to support Danish manufacturing, and was simultaneously given the title of Agent. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf, Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf]
1768-05-10: De Coninck, Frederick received his official instructions for his role as Director of the General-Magasins-Kontor, moving the institution into his newly renovated property in Nybrogade. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1770-01-02: A marriage pact was drawn up in Haag between De Coninck, Frederick and de Joncourt, Marie, the daughter of de Joncourt, Louis, librarian to the Prince of Orange. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1770-01-07: De Coninck, Frederick formally married de Joncourt, Marie, with whom he would lead a rich, French-oriented cultural and family life. [BioLek I - 4.pdf, Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1771-04: The General-Magasins-Kontor was abruptly abolished under Struensee's administration, and De Coninck, Frederick was tasked with the difficult job of liquidating its assets and collecting its debts. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1772: Following the opening of the private East India trade, De Coninck, Frederick was elected as one of the directors of the Asiatic Company, a position he used to advocate for private trading rights while simultaneously profiting from the company's expeditions. [BioLek I - 4.pdf, Asmussen - Networks and faces - 2018.pdf, Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf]
1774-04: De Coninck, Frederick, along with Reiersen, Niels Lunde, Brown, John, and Thalbitzer, C. H., formed a consortium and bought the ship Baron Schimmelmann to fetch a massive cargo of sugar from St. Croix, circumventing the usual trade structures. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1774-09-15: At a tumultuous general meeting of the Asiatic Company, De Coninck, Frederick and his fellow director Brown, John faced severe criticism for equipping the foreign-built ship Grev Bernstorff for a private expedition to India, which many shareholders viewed as a conflict of interest. [Bruun - Kjøbenhavn III.pdf, Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf]
1774: De Coninck, Frederick was instrumental in the re-establishment of the General-Magasin and was appointed to its new direction alongside Reiersen, Niels Lunde, while also receiving the rank of Kammerraad. [Schovelin - Handels Empire - 1900.pdf, Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1775-06-28: De Coninck, Frederick and Reiersen, Niels Lunde purchased the Royal Silk Factory at public auction. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1775-08: De Coninck, Frederick, along with Elphinston, G. and Haaber, O. C., guaranteed a massive loan of 40,000 Rdl. in the Bank for Reiersen, Niels Lunde's silk factory operations. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1776: De Coninck, Frederick received the Order of Dannebrog (the White Ribbon) and chose to resign from his position as director of the Asiatic Company to focus entirely on his highly lucrative private trading ventures. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf, Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf]
1777: De Coninck, Frederick stepped down from the General-Magasin after Hennings, August was appointed to oversee it and insisted on separating private and public commercial interests; concurrently, the formal and highly successful partnership "de Coninck & Reiersen" was established. [Schovelin - Handels Empire - 1900.pdf, Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf, Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf]
1778-12: The firm de Coninck & Reiersen managed the private East India expedition of the ship Enigheden, which was tragically captured by French privateers and brought to Isle de France. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1781: De Coninck, Frederick used his vast wealth amassed during the American War of Independence to purchase the Dronninggaard estate (Næsseslottet) near Furesøen, which he developed into a magnificent patrician residence and park. [Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf, Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1782: De Coninck, Frederick built a new three-story main building at Dronninggaard and increasingly assumed the lifestyle of a merchant prince, hosting an enormous family and international guests. [Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf, Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]
1783-05-01: De Coninck, Frederick was elevated to the rank of Etatsraad. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1783: The firm de Coninck & Reiersen equipped the ship Prinsesse Frederica for an expedition to the East Indies, partnering heavily with the supercargo Metzendorf, Joh. Chr. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1783: De Coninck, Frederick purchased the grand "Moltke palæ" on the corner of Bredgade and Dronningens Tværgade in Copenhagen for his winter residence. [Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf]
1784: De Coninck, Frederick's brother, de Coninck, Jean, relocated from Holland to Denmark to join the family's growing mercantile empire. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1786: De Coninck, Frederick and his wife signed a testamentary provision designating the Dronninggaard estate as a fideicommis to be inherited by their eldest son, ensuring the preservation of the family's prestige. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1789: De Coninck, Frederick's son-in-law, Pingel, William Werner (married to his daughter de Coninck, Marie Anne), died. [Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]
1790-01-02: The highly successful firm of de Coninck & Reiersen was formally dissolved; De Coninck, Frederick took over the trading business and reformed it as "de Coninck & Co." with his brother de Coninck, Jean as his new associate. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf, Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]
1790: De Coninck, Frederick was sued for libel by four directors of the Asiatic Company, a testament to the intense friction between his aggressive private enterprises and the established monopoly. [Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf]
1791: De Coninck, Frederick's daughter de Coninck, Marie Henriette married the prominent merchant Duntzfeldt, Christian Wilhelm, who subsequently became a crucial business ally and manager of de Coninck's Baltic-Guinean enterprises and Indian shipping logistics. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf, Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]
1793 (Summer): De Coninck, Marie visited the wife of Asiatic Company supercargo Mourier, ... and critically noted her appearance in her diary, demonstrating the de Coninck family's tight social integration with the highest echelons of the Copenhagen merchant and company elite. [Asmussen - Networks and faces - 2018.pdf]
1795-12: De Coninck, Frederick hosted the Duke of Orléans (the future King Louis Philippe of France) at his Copenhagen home, a sign of his immense international status. [Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]
1796-08: Recognizing the geopolitical opportunities of the Revolutionary Wars, De Coninck, Frederick initiated correspondence with the Amsterdam house of Voute & Co. to take over the stranded Dutch colonial products in Batavia using the neutral Danish flag. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf]
1797-02-24: Following intense negotiations over payment terms, a preliminary contract was signed for de Coninck to "purchase" 8,190 tons of Batavian merchandise from the Dutch East India Committee. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf]
1797-04-01: De Coninck, Frederick formally signed the first monumental Batavia contract, initiating an elaborate camouflage operation to transport over 9.8 million florins worth of Dutch goods under Danish neutrality. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf]
1797-04-18: De Coninck, Frederick signed a contract with his son-in-law Duntzfeldt, Christian Wilhelm to utilize Duntzfeldt's Anglo-Indian networks to buy or charter 10,000 tons of shipping in Calcutta to transport the Batavian goods. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf]
1797-04-29: To substantiate his bona fide ownership of the goods to the British, De Coninck, Frederick dispatched his own agents, Fugl, Michael Alrøe and Swibilius, Andreas Gabriel, to Batavia to accept and load the cargoes. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf, Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]
1797-07-05: Confident in the scheme, De Coninck, Frederick concluded Contract No. 2 with the Dutch for additional Batavian merchandise. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf]
1797-09 to 1801-12: Unable to secure enough shipping in India, De Coninck, Frederick and his associates dispatched 18 ships directly from Europe (including Næsset, America, Brødrene, Gregers Juel, Washington, Maria Elisabeth, Lille Cathrine, Fox of Charleston, Tre Søstre, and Marianne) to fulfill the Batavian contracts. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf, Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]
1798-04: The first ship chartered in Batavia for the enterprise, Rendsborg, was dispatched for Copenhagen. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf]
1798-06-28: De Coninck, Frederick concluded Contract No. 3 with the Dutch, bringing the total nominal value of the Batavian goods "purchased" to nearly 19 million florins. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf]
1798-07-09: The ship Rendsborg was intercepted and seized by the British at St. Helena on suspicion of carrying enemy (Dutch) property under a false flag. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf]
1798-09-25: Upon learning of the seizure, De Coninck, Frederick immediately informed the Danish Foreign Minister, demanding strong official protests to protect his massive investments. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf]
1798-11-04: Backed by Dutch credit, De Coninck, Frederick left Copenhagen for London to personally instruct lawyers and fight the capture of Rendsborg and other incoming ships like Odin, Nancy, and Danmark in the British High Court of Admiralty. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf]
1799-02: Utilizing his immense influence, De Coninck, Frederick presented himself to the British court with letters of credence from the Danish government as "Commissaire Général du Roi pour le Commerce et la Navigation Danoise". [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf]
1799-04: British Foreign Secretary Lord Grenville, aware of de Coninck's true role as a speculator moving enemy property, demanded the Danish government withdraw his diplomatic nomination. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf]
1799-07-09: Having established the legal strategy for his captured ships, De Coninck, Frederick left London to return to Copenhagen. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf]
1799 to 1800: The British continued to seize de Coninck's Batavia ships, including Tvillingriget, Fædrelandet, Speculation, København, and Holger Danske, forcing him to execute massive simulated bill of exchange operations to "prove" his ownership. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf, Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]
1801-02-01: Demonstrating confidence in his firm's survival, De Coninck, Frederick officially made his eldest son, de Coninck, Louis Charles Frederik (Fritz), a partner in de Coninck & Co. [Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]
1801: Acting as a progressive patriarch, De Coninck, Frederick pioneered the introduction of the smallpox vaccination in Denmark by having his grandchildren vaccinated at Dronninggaard. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1802-02-26: Following the preliminary peace between Britain and France, De Coninck, Frederick and the Dutch agreed to a compact dissolving the Batavian contracts, securing an indemnity of 105,900 florins for the firm. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf]
1803 (Summer): De Coninck, Frederick traveled to the Netherlands to finalize the indemnity and establish the repayment schedule for the massive amounts of Dutch capital still in his possession from the sold cargoes of ships like Dronninggaard and Næsset. [Feldbæk - Dutch Batavia trade via Copenhagen 1795–1807 - 1973.pdf]
1803-02-01: De Coninck, Frederick inducted his second eldest son, de Coninck, Jean, as a partner into his firm. [Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]
1804: De Coninck, Frederick drafted a testament wherein he estimated his personal interest-bearing fortune to be over 700,000 Rigsbankdaler, an astronomical sum for the period. [Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]
1807-07-21: In his old age, De Coninck, Frederick penned a short autobiography reflecting on his life, his family, and his business, explicitly stating he bore no grudges against those who had opposed him. [Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf, Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf, Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]
1807-08: During the British invasion and bombardment of Copenhagen, De Coninck, Frederick remained at Dronninggaard and negotiated with the British generals to prevent the plundering of the surrounding area, an act that drew immense suspicion. [Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf, Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf]
1807-11: As public sentiment turned violently against him for his perceived collaboration with the enemy, a formal investigation for high treason was initiated against De Coninck, Frederick; the immense stress is believed to have caused a severe apoplectic stroke that permanently debilitated him. [Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf, Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf, Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]
1808-05-15: Completely broken in health, De Coninck, Frederick wrote a poignant letter to his friend Reverdil, ... expressing his readiness for death and gratitude for his life. [Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]
1808-05-21: De Coninck, Frederick added a codicil to his will, removing his former son-in-law Duntzfeldt, Christian Wilhelm as an executor due to the latter's marital separation from de Coninck's daughter. [Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]
1811-09-04: De Coninck, Frederick died in Copenhagen at the age of 70. Though ultimately acquitted of treason, he died a broken man physically, leaving behind a complex legacy as both an unparalleled merchant genius and a ruthless profiteer who strained Danish neutrality to its limits. [BioLek I - 4.pdf, Nyrop - Reisersen - 1896.pdf, Erhvervshistorisk årbog 1988.pdf, Werner - Duntzfelt - 1927.txt]