Peter Applebye (5 October 1709 – 13 August 1774) was a Danish industrialist. Applebys Plads 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 ...

, the former site of his shipyard and ropewalk, is named after him.

Early life and education

There has been some debate about the parentage of Applebye. Whilst a baptism record dated 25 September 1710 exists for a Peter Appleby, son of John and Susanna, baptised in Holy Trinity,

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, this record appears to refer to a different Peter Appleby, most likely a cousin. Of more import is the known record of his apprenticeship, which cites one Francis Apleby as his father.

Career

Christian Gedde - Christianshavns Kvarter No

Appleby was born in

, Hampshire, the son of Francis Appleby. Aged 16, he was articled to Thomas Linze, a rope maker in royal service, and worked there until 1733. In 1737, he was charged with modernizing the ropewalk at the

Royal Naval Dockyards Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial c ...

at Nyholm in Copenhagen. In 1739, he was granted permission to establish his own ropewalk.Gyldendal - Peter Applebye In 1742, he acquired the right to reclaim an area at the southern end of Christianshavn. It was later expanded by royal gifts in 1745, 1748 and 1757. He established a dockyards on the land in 1769 and was also the owner of a sugar refinery and sails and canvas factory in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

. Applebye was also active in trade on the colonies with his own fleet of merchant ships.

Personal life

Applebye married Anna Pattridge (more likely a mistranscription of "Partridge") on 9 August 1735 in Fleet, Hampshire. His son Peter Applebye Jr. and son-in-law

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

squandered away his fortune soon after his death.

References

Sources

* Albert Fabritius
Peter Applebye
in Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, 3 edition, Gyldendal 1979-84. Retrieved 3 September 2019

{{DEFAULTSORT:Applebye, Peter 1709 births 1774 deaths Ropemakers 18th-century Danish businesspeople Danish industrialists 18th-century Danish shipbuilders Danish businesspeople in shipping Merchants from Denmark–Norway Immigrants to Denmark–Norway British emigrants