Thomas Potter (industrialist) facts for kids
Thomas Potter (born May 24, 1745 – died October 12, 1811) was a clever businessman from Scotland who moved to Denmark. He started something very important: the first factory in Denmark that made things out of iron. This factory, called an iron foundry, opened in 1785 in a part of Copenhagen called Christianshavn. His old home, known as the Potter House, is a special building. It sits right by the Christianshavn Canal in Christianshavn. Today, this house is protected as a historic building in Denmark.
Thomas Potter's Business Journey
Thomas Potter was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. We don't know much about his parents. He came to Copenhagen when he was quite young. In 1769, he got a special permission from the king. This allowed him to open an iron foundry. An iron foundry is a place where metal is melted and poured into molds to make different objects. His first foundry was on land he rented at a place called Appelbys Plads.
Just two years later, in 1771, his permission was made bigger. He could now make all kinds of things from brass and iron. This included items that were forged (shaped with heat and hammering) and cast (poured into molds).
In 1779, Potter bought a piece of land right by the Christianshavn Canal. He built the Potter House there in 1785. This building was very useful. The ground floor had offices for his business. The cellar was used for packing the products. Thomas Potter himself lived on the first floor. The actual iron factory was located behind the house.
His factory made many different iron products. They made "iron pots in all shapes." They also produced everything from small nails and bullets to large ship anchors. Some of these products were even sent to faraway places. They were exported to the East and West Indies. Over time, he built a large business sending pots, nails, and anchors to these distant lands.
Thomas Potter's Family Life
On March 20, 1782, Thomas Potter got married in the German Reformed Church in Copenhagen. His first wife was Marie Spengler. Sadly, she passed away just three years later, in 1785.
Then, on March 2, 1789, he married again. This time, he married Inger Marie Wismer in St. Nicolas' Church. Tragically, she also passed away very soon after their wedding. She died just 17 days later, when she was only 20 years old.
After losing two wives so quickly in his house, Thomas Potter decided to sell the Potter House in 1790. He never went back to the building after that.
On May 3, 1794, he married for a third time. His wife was Inger Dorothea Hertz. They lived in the Cort Adeler House in Strandgade in Christianshavn for ten years, from 1797 to 1807.
