Carsten Tank Anker (17 November 1747 – 13 March 1824) was a Norwegian businessman, civil servant, politician and one of the Fathers of the Constitution of Norway. He was the owner of the manor house in Akershus at which the original National Assembly ('' Riksforsamlingen'') of Norway was held. The manor house has since then been given the name '' Eidsvollsbygningen''.

Early years

Born in Frederikshald, he was the son of the trader Erik Ancher (1709–1785) and cousin of Bernt Anker. In 1759 Carsten left on a journey abroad that was to last for several years, together with his brother Peter and four cousins from Christiania. From 1771 to 1772 he was an envoy from several of the major Norwegian trading companies in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

to negotiate better conditions for the timber trade on the river Klarälven, without much success. While in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, however, there arose suspicion that he was also working with a secret, political agenda, and when Gustav III conducted his coup d'état, Anker was asked by the government in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

to return.

Civil service career

He then started his career as a civil servant. On 10 May 1774 he was appointed secretary in the (College of General Rural Economy and Commerce), in 1776 he was made , in 1781 third deputy of the (Mining Directory) and in 1784 second deputy. He was given the (mostly honorary) titles of and in 1779 and 1784 respectively, and on 14 January 1779 he was also made a member of the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

. When ' was dissolved by royal resolution on 28 January 1791, Anker was given a pension, but kept a position as first director of the so-called (Realisation Committee). This position entailed among other things special responsibility for the government's Norwegian glassmaking companies. In 1792 he was made first director of the Danish Asia Company, a position he held until 1811. He also acquired considerable property in Norway by buying the historic Eidsvoll Ironworks (). He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1804.

Time abroad

As an envoy of the Danish Asia Company, he stayed in London from January 1805 to take care of the company's business affairs vis-à-vis the English

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

. This task he seems to have performed in an excellent manner. In 1807 he carried out a large transaction of money for the government in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, and finalised a deal in ship timber for the

navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. In 1811 he took up permanent residence at Eidsvoll Ironworks.

Friendship with Christian Frederik of Denmark

During his stay in Copenhagen, he had become an intimate acquaintance of the

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

to the throne, Christian Frederik. When the prince arrived in Norway as in 1813, Anker was immediately made one of the prince's closest advisors. After the

Treaty of Kiel The Treaty of Kiel () or Peace of Kiel ( Swedish and or ') was concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Sweden on one side and the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway on the other side on 14 January 1814 ...

the prince held a meeting at Eidsvoll during his journey to

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

, and on the way back he convened the Meeting of Notables of Eidsvoll on 16 February 1814, where it was decided that Norway should declare its independence, and that a National Assembly should be convened, also to be held at Eidsvoll.

National Assembly of 1814

Before the National Assembly gathered, Anker had left Norway, and could therefore not take up his position in the new Norwegian government, where he was appointed councillor of government for the 5th Ministry (economy) on 2 March, and councillor of state on 19 May. In March 1814 he crossed 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 ...

to promote Norway's interests in England; he worked to put the interests of Sweden and the great powers up against each other, but achieved little. In 1815 he was dismissed as councillor of state, and returned to Norway, where he developed a close relationship to the crown prince Karl Johan.

Last years

In the last years of his life Anker's finances were not good; the ironworks was virtually closed down. Yet he continued to administer the government's glassmaking companies, and died during a visit to the glassworks at Biri. He had literary interests, acted as a patron, and had a large collection of manuscripts and books. In 1784 he married Hedvig Caroline Ernestine Christine Wegener (1763–1846).

References

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External links

Eidsvollsbygningen website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anker, Carsten Tank 1747 births 1824 deaths Government ministers of Norway 18th-century Norwegian civil servants 19th-century Norwegian politicians Directors of the Danish Asiatic Company Fellows of the Royal Society 18th-century Norwegian businesspeople 19th-century Norwegian businesspeople