Jeppe Prætorius


Jeppe Prætorius was a Danish merchant and shipowner.

Biography

Prætorius was born in Skærbæk near Tønder in Jutland. He moved to Copenhagen where he became bookkeeper for the Danish West India Company in 1796 before establishing his own trading house. He mainly traded on the Danish colonies and was involved in the liquidisation of Østersøiske-Guineiske Selskab in 1787. His fleet had a total ship tonnage of more than 200 kommercelæster in 1797. The war with England in 1807 hit his business hard but he managed to jeep it afloat. In 1802 he was elected to a leading post in Grosserersocietetet.

Property

He purchased the property at Overgaden neden Vandet 39 in 1792.

Aftermath

Præstotius' two sons, Henrik Frederik Prætorius Jacob Christian Prætorius, took over the company after his death. Henrik Frederik Prætorius was later elected to the board of representatives of Bank of Denmark and served as its bank manager under L. N. Hvidt. He was also a member of Stænderforsamlingen in Roskilde in 1838, 1842 and 1844.