Christina Charlotta Richardy (1751–1831) was a Swedish industrialist.

Life

She was born to the judge Albrecht Friedrich Richardson, mayor of

Halmstad Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational urban areas of Sweden, city at the mouth of the Nissan (river), Nissan river, in the provinces of Sweden, province of Halland on the Sweden, Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat ...

. Richardy never married and remained a ''

mamsell (from the French ) was a historical Swedish honorific used for unmarried middle class women from about the mid 18th-century until 1866. The title was primarily used for women in the burgher and the clergy classes. The word was replaced after the ...

''. While unmarried women, in accordance with the

Civil Code of 1734 The Civil Code of 1734 ( Swedish: ''1734 års lag''), was a code of law passed by the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates in 1734, and put in effect after it had been ratified by Frederick I of Sweden 23 January 1736. It became the foundation of the lat ...

, were legal minors under the guardianship of their closest male relative for life, they had the right to petition for legal majority to the monarch, which was a common procedure for unmarried businesswomen. Richardy had herself declared of legal majority by a petition to

Gustav III of Sweden Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what he s ...

in 1786 and, being now free to manage her own affairs, engaged in business.

Fish trade

Halmstad was at the time a major

Staple right The staple right, also translated stacking right or storage right, both from the Dutch , was a medieval right accorded to certain ports, the staple ports. It required merchant barges or ships to unload their goods at the port and to display them f ...

city. Richardy engaged in the fish trade and had fresh

Salmonidae Salmonidae (, ) is a family (biology), family of ray-finned fish, the only extant member of the suborder Salmonoidei, consisting of 11 extant genera and over 200 species collectively known as "salmonids" or "salmonoids". The family includes salmo ...

bought, smoked and sold, a lucrative trade which put her in conflict with the Halmstad city

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

. Because of her verbal defense in court, the guild were unable to have her business closed down. Instead, she applied to be a member of the guild in accordance with the law of 1720 års skråordning. After the guild refused to admit her as a member, she protested by petition to the monarch. The King refused to meddle in the affair, but Richardy eventually won the conflict and managed to win membership in the Halmstad city guild. As she often traveled alone around the Halland country side in business, she carried a

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

with her for self-protection, which was well known.

Textile industry

In 1800, Charlotta Richardy became the first female member of the Royal Patriotic Society, where she participated actively in the effort of the society to promote agriculture and industry. She was elected in part because of her effort as a provider of boots and stockings to the army. Richardy took over the old contract of the Vallen Castle manufacture to provide

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

en stockings and boots for the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

, which had belonged to the family of

Birgitta Durell Brechtgien "Birgitta" Durell, née ''von Crakow'' or ''von Cracauw'' (1619 in Hoorn, the Netherlands – 1683 in Sweden) was a Swedish (originally Dutch) industrialist. She was the daughter of Carel van Cracauw, the Dutch envoy to Copenhagen, ...

for over a century prior. From 1805 until 1822, she managed her own factory on her farm Tolarp in Snöstorp just outside the city of Halmstad. To fulfill her contract, she was given permission to import and sell wool from Copenhagen. Outside of those employed in her factory, she distributed wool for the manufacture of socks at home among the peasantry of the area, and she sidestepped the shoemaker guild in Halmstad by engaging the shoemakers in the surrounding country side to make her boots. She also bought the cloth produced by at home by the surrounding peasantry and sold to the army. Richardy and her factory enjoyed great success as the provider of foot wear for the army during the wars of the time, such as the

Finnish war The Finnish War (; ; ) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established a ...

. In 1810, she was granted funds from the manufacture state fund to expand in recognition of her great contribution to the employment of the workforce in the region. She is regarded a pioneer in the region, were following textile factory owners continued to hire peasantry to work from home after her example. Carl Christoffer Gjörwell Sr. described her as a: :"... manly lady of imposing height and strong powers and the attitude of a man. She is a woman of about fifty, lives in Halmstad, manage trade and commerce and often travels up o the capitalto control her business with His Majesty and the Crown. I have never seen her equal, will not forget our first conversation, the brave look, the straight arm, the famed Pistol..."Ingegärd Larsén, Christina Charlotta Richardy – en föregångskvinna för 200 år sedan. GHÅ 1990. S-82-89.

References

Sources

* Du Rietz, Anita, Kvinnors entreprenörskap: under 400 år, 1. uppl., Dialogos, Stockholm, 2013 * Halmstads historia s. 236f, s 372ff. * Ingegärd Larsén, Christina Charlotta Richardy – en föregångskvinna för 200 år sedan. GHÅ 1990. S-82-89. * Hedberg, Magnus & Cedermark Hedberg, Gunilla, Idoga kvinnor, trofasta pigor: hedersbelöningar av silver och guld, Science and Art AB, Lidingö, 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardy, Charlotta 1751 births 1831 deaths 18th-century Swedish businesswomen 18th-century Swedish businesspeople 19th-century Swedish businesswomen 19th-century Swedish businesspeople Gustavian era people Swedish industrialists Swedish women business executives People of the Industrial Revolution 18th-century industrialists 19th-century industrialists People from Halmstad

Life

Fish trade

Textile industry

See also

References

Sources