Christopher MacEvoy Sr. (c. 1719 - 1792) was an Irish-born planter, landowner and merchant on St. Croix in the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies () or Danish Virgin Islands () or Danish Antilles were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with , Saint John () with , Saint Croix with , and Water Island. The islands of St ...

. One of the largest landowners on the island, he moved to Europe in 1776, sharing his time between Denmark and England. He owned the country house

Christiansholm Christiansholm is a municipality in the district of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North ...

Klampenborg Klampenborg is a northern suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in Gentofte Municipality, Gentofte municipality, directly on Øresund, between Taarbæk and Skovshoved. Like other neighbourhoods along the Øresund coast, Klampenborg is an ...

north of

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 ...

from c. 1777 to 1783. He was the father of Christopher MacEvoy Jr.

Biography

Older sources state that MacEvoy was originally from Scotland. More recent research indicates that he was of Irish origin. His wife was Mary Markoe (c. 1737-1776). One source states that MacEvoy settled on St. Croix in 1751 but his name is more frequently mentioned in contemporary documents from 1756 onwards. His holdings on the islands included the Whim Sugar Plantation on

Saint Croix Saint Croix ( ; ; ; ; Danish language, Danish and ; ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent Districts and sub-districts of the United States Virgin Islands, district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an Unin ...

. He left St. Croix for

and was granted Danish

citizenship Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...

in 1776. His wife died on 7 December that same year and was buried from

Trinitatis Church The Trinitatis Church (''Trinitatis Kirke'') is located in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is part of the 17th century Trinitatis Complex, which includes the Rundetårn astronomical observatory tower and the Copenhagen University Library, in ad ...

. MacEvoy purchased the country house

north of Copenhagen circa 1777. Back on St. Croix, in 1778, he married Jenny Marie Low (-1812 ). She was a daughter of William and Margaretha Low of St. Christophe (now Saint Kitts) where her father was a physician. In 1783, MacEvoy sold Christiansholm to count

Ernst Heinrich von Schimmelmann Ernst Heinrich von Schimmelmann (4 December 1747 – 9 February 1831) was a German-born Danish politician, businessman, nobleman and philanthropist. Early life and career Ernst von Schimmelmann was born in Dresden to Baron Heinrich Carl von Sch ...

. He moved to England where he spent the rest of his life on Wealside Farm, Northumberland. He died in July 1792.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacEvoy, Christopher Sr. 1710s births 1792 deaths 18th-century Danish businesspeople 18th-century Danish landowners Danish merchants Danish people of Irish descent Danish planters Danish sugar industry businesspeople Danish slave owners People from the Danish West Indies 18th-century Danish farmers 18th-century Irish farmers Sugar plantation owners