Axel Mowat (1592 – 27 January 1661) was a Norwegian naval officer and land owner. Mowat was born in

Sunnhordland Sunnhordland is a traditional district in the western region of Norway. The district consists of the southern coastal regions of the old Hordaland county (now part of Vestland county). It includes the areas that surround the mouth of the Harda ...

, probably on the Hovland farm at

Tysnes Tysnes () is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sunnhordland. The administrative centre is the village of Uggdal. Other popul ...

which his father had acquired ca. 1590. Mowat was the son of Anders Mowat til Hovland (–1606) and Else Christoffersdatter til Seim (–1622), daughter of Danish-Norwegian Navy officer Kristoffer Throndsen. His father was engaged in trade between Norway and

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

. Besides Hovland, his father acquired several other farms within the vicinity of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

. Axel Mowat was a naval officer in the

Royal Danish-Norwegian Navy The history of the Danish navy began with the founding of a joint Dano-Norwegian navy on 10 August 1510, when King John appointed his vassal Henrik Krummedige to become "chief captain and head of all our captains, men and servants whom we now ha ...

and from 1631 he was in command of various naval units in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. He had acquired property both through inheritance and marriage. After he retired from the admiralty in the 1640s, he started acquiring additional properties, mainly within Sunnhordland. He became the largest landowner in

Western Norway Western Norway (; ) is the Regions of Norway, region along the Atlantic coast of southern Norway. It consists of the Counties of Norway, counties Rogaland, Vestland, and Møre og Romsdal. The region has no official or political-administrative fu ...

at the time. Axel Mowat married Karen Bildt (d. 1662), daughter of Knud Danielssøn Bildt til Morland og Lungegården. He was the father of Karen Mowat (d. 1675) and father-in-law of Baron

Ludvig Rosenkrantz Ludvig Rosenkrantz (18 April 1628 – 23 August 1685) was a Danish-born noble, military officer, civil servant, and land owner who settled in Norway. He was a member of the noble Rosenkrantz (noble family), Rosenkrantz family and the first Ba ...

(1628–85). In time, his properties would form the basis for the estate,

Barony Rosendal Barony Rosendal (Norwegian: ''Baroniet Rosendal'') is a historic estate and manor house situated in Kvinnherad in Hordaland county, Norway. The barony was built in the 17th century by Danish noblemen on the old estate of the Norwegian noble Galt ...

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