Sara Hammond (1672 – May 1716) was a Norwegian landowner and businesswoman. She and her husband,

Albert Angell Albert Angell (4 November 1660 – 13 September 1705) was a Norwegian civil servant, landowner and businessman. He served as Mayor of Trondheim, Norway. Biography Angell was born in Trondheim, Norway. He was the son of merchant and landowne ...

, were prominent traders in

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 ...

during its economic boom during the 17th-century.

Life

Sara Thomasdatter Hammond was born in 1672 in

to Elisabeth Sommerschild (died 1682) and Thomas Hammond (1630–1681), a merchant who emigrated from England. Hammond's maternal grandfather had also emigrated from England. Her father died when she was 9, followed by her mother one year and she inherited a significant fortune and business properties. As a result, a guardian was appointed to care for her inherited assets, while Hammond was placed in her older sister Elisabeth's household, who was married to Morten Lorentzen Angell. In 1689, at the age of 17, she married

, a civil servant, landowner, and mine owner, who was her brother-in-law's younger brother. Together they had 9 children, however, only four survived infancy, including

Thomas Angell Thomas Angell (c.1616–1694) was one of the four men who wintered with Roger Williams at Seekonk, Plymouth Colony in early 1636, and then joined him in founding the settlement of Providence Plantation in what became the Colony of Rhode Island ...

. Hammond's inheritance from her parents, including a sawmill and other agricultural and forestry properties, was used as a foundation of the couple's business ventures. Her husband also later became the Mayor of Trondheim. Albert Angell died in 1705 from gangrene in his feet, leaving Hammond widowed with five young children. She took over the administration of the family business, which included ownership of 29 out of 172 shares of the

Røros Copper Works The Røros Copper Works () was a copper mining company based in the town (bergstad) of Røros in what is now Røros Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The mines operated from 1644 until 1977. The Crown designated the area as a bergstad in ...

, forests, sawmills, and land properties in

Selbu Selbu may refer to: Places *Selbu Municipality, a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway *Selbu Church, a church in Selbu Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway *Mebonden (sometimes ''Selbu''), a village within Selbu Municipality in Trøndela ...

, Strinda and

Høylandet Høylandet (a Norwegian word meaning ''the highlands'') may refer to: Places * Høylandet Municipality, a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway * Høylandet (village), a village in Høylandet Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway * Høyland ...

. However, during her husband's probate, a dispute with Hammond and her siblings arose, as they were unhappy that Angell had been responsible for collecting debts in her parents' estates. Hammond addressed her brother's claims point by point and counter-claimed against them, arguing that they "should rather have helped me and my fatherless to justice, than by such dishonourable and inexplicable pretensions to weigh down my dignity and grief". In 1709, she married for the second time to merchant and city manager Søren Bygball, who was also involved with the Røros Copper Works, and had two more children with him. Hammond died seven years later in May 1716 in Trondheim.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, Sara 1672 births 1716 deaths People from Trondheim 17th-century Norwegian businesswomen 17th-century Norwegian businesspeople Norwegian landowners Norwegian businesspeople in mining Norwegian people of English descent 18th-century Norwegian businesswomen 18th-century Norwegian businesspeople 18th-century women landowners