Tøger Christian (Nicolajsen) von Abo (1745 - 1806)

Born 16 Feb 1745 in Stord, Hordaland, Norway

Ancestors

Husband of Maria (Van der Spúij) von Abo — married 18 Feb 1781 in Cape Town, Cape Colony, South Africa

Descendants

Died 22 Nov 1806 at age 61 in At sea en route from Batavia

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Tøger (Nicolajsen) von Abo was part of the settlement of the Dutch Cape Colony. Join: Cape of Good Hope - Kaap de Goede Hoop (1652-1806) Project Discuss: dutch_cape_colony

Biography

Name

Töger /von Abo/ SV/PROG ^[1]

Given Name: Töger ^[1]

Surname: von Abo ^[1]

Name Suffix: SV/PROG ^[1]

A Given name was found in addition to a first name in the NAME tag. ^[1]

A suffix was found both in the NAME and in an NSFX tag. ^[1]

Birth

Date: 16 FEB 1745 ^[1]

Place: Stord, Norway ^[1]

Baptism

Date: 19 FEB 1747 ^[1][2]

Place: Stord, Norway ^[1]

Death

Date: 22 NOV 1806 ^[1]

Place: At sea en route from Batavia ^[1]

Events

{geni:occupation} Captain of the Ship 't Hof ter Linden ^[1]

He was born 16th February 1747 on the island of Stord (just south of Bergen, near 60º lat.) in Norway and was baptised on 19th February 1747. There is no way of knowing how he subsequently came to be in Copenhagen (København), Denmark where he became involved in the political and court upheavals of the time and which would have a life long impact on his future and his career. ^[1]

In 1760 he enlisted as a volunteer cadet with the Danish Navy at the age of 13 and in 1763 he became a full cadet. ^[1]

In 1771 at the age of 23 Toger Abo was made "General Adjudant" under the patronage of Strunsee. ^[1]

In 1772 Strunsee and his followers including Toger Abo were arrested and imprisoned. Toger Abo spent 10 weeks in the "Kastellet" at Copenhagen. At the end of the 10-week imprisonment he was brought before the commission of inquiry and questioned closely about his association with Count Brandt and with Strunsee. The commission was particularly interested to know why on some occasions when he went to see Brandt the servant of Count Brandt had been sent from the room when normally this servant was completely trusted with confidential information. Obviously the commission was of the view that Abo and Brandt were using these periods in what they considered to be a plot against the Royal Court. Abo explained to the commission that he had sent the servant from the room because he was embarrassed to discuss his poor financial state in front of a servant. He pointed out that the commission was aware that his father was employed in the Navy at a low salary and that as one of 8 children they were not finan­cially well off. The subsequent evidence of Count Brandt confirmed this evidence and Brandt went on to say that the young Toger Abo was not someone to whom he (Brandt) would have entrusted confidential information. He said also that his meetings with Abo were mainly about Abo's financial situation and the benefit that could be gained by his association with Brandt. ^[1]

The commission were obviously satisfied with their enquiries and on the 27th May 1772 the King signed the following order ^[1]:

Second Lieutenant Abo is hereby acquitted of further charges with respect to his careless, thoughtless, culpable, behaviour and it is recommended and allowed that he go abroad for three years to take foreign serviceto qualify himself to Our service and to endeavour to acquire the right and proper ambition. He must within 4 weeks leave the capital. For the time he has been arrested he shall have his wage due to him, as before, that is 300 rdls. per annum. ChristianBorg Castle 25th May 1772 Signed by King Christian VII

It was this turn of events in fact which eventually lead to the "South African connection" as he entered Dutch naval service and during one of his calls at the Cape met Maria van der Spuy and this was of course the start of the South African Von Abo family. ^[1]

In 1773 he joined the Dutch naval service and in 1774 a letter from the Danish Admiralty expressed its pleasure at a report that it had received from Abo describing his successful activities in the war against England in the defence of the Dutch colonies in the Far East. The Admiralty said that he was doing well in his endeavours to win the grace of the King. ^[1]

In 1777 he was back in Amsterdam from Bengal on board the ship the "Tempel". In this letter to Denmark he described how the ship was nearly lost in the Bay of Biscay when it was struck by a terrible storm and as the captain was unwell, Abo assumed command. The crew and other officers apparently had no other interest than in saving themselves and it was only through offering to pay extra wages that the crew was persuaded to work to save the ship. The Dutch shareholders had expressed their appreciation with Abo's actions in this case. ^[1]

In 1779, aged by now 32 and 7 years after leaving Denmark Toger Abo wrote again to apply for an extension to his leave to make another trip to the East Indies as a Command­ing Officer and to "bring order to his affairs". Permission was granted. ^[1]

On 28th October 1780 he wrote that he was sailing past Texel, an island off the northwestern coast of Holland as commanding officer of the frigate "Het Hof ter Linde" with a crew of 330 men. He wrote that he intended on his arrival in Cape Town to marry Maria van der Spuy, the daughter of a wealthy town councillor Johannes Cornelius van der Spuy and his wife Magdaleen de Waal. The Danish Navy granted permission for the marriage and on the 5th March 1781 he wrote from Cape Town that he had married Maria on the 18th February 1781 and that he had ordered his representative in Copenhagen to pay a deposit of 1000 rdls. into the Enkekassen, which was in fact a widows pension fund and was a requirement of the time. ^[1]

In 1781 he was in Batavia where he wrote that he had been promoted to "Captain of the Indian Sea" and Commanding Officer of a man-of-war of 54 canon and a crew of 450 and that he hoped that this promotion would prepare the way for his promo­tion in Denmark. In 1785, by now aged 38, he was still in the Far East where there was an unfortunate incident when his ship the "Dolphin" exploded and burnt to the wat­erlin­e at the Straits of Malacca. ^[1]

In 1786 he had returned to Amsterdam from the Far East and re-entered Danish naval service as a Captain Lieutenant the same year. In 1787 his son Christian Johannes was baptised at the Holmens church in Copenhagen. ^[1]

In 1788 at the age of 41 he was Second in Command of the man-of-war "Princess Louise Augusta" and he had various commissions over the following years. ^[1]

In 1793 he requested permission to go to Norway for 2 or 3 months to sort out his financial affairs and this presumably related to the death of his father Nicolai in 1789. ^[1]

In 1794 he owned his own frigate, the "Friderichsdal" which was carrying grain and hemp between Norway and Denmark. ^[1]

In 1797 aged 50 he applied to be relieved of his naval commission and requested 2/3 of his salary as pension as he had developed consumption during his last command. The Navy agreed to this request and he was dismissed without salary to re-establish his health. This was subsequently changed to a 2/3 pension until his health had improved when he could re-enter the service. ^[1]

In 1798 at age 51 there is a record of charges being brought against him and his partner regarding the irregular delivery of timber from Holmen and these charges are withdrawn subsequently on payment of 5000 rdls. in compensation.Given the fact that his pension as recorded is being 600 rdls. a year this is a substantial amount of money and it seems that after this time his finances never recovered. ^[1]

In 1801 he applied for permission to go to La Rochelle where his ship "Haabet" had been taken as a prize and is being dealt with in the prize court. Permission was granted but it seems that one problem was mounting on another overthis period. ^[1]

In January 1804 by now aged 57 he was officially put on pension of 600 rdls. a year as the Admiralty felt that he had been out of service for sea and land duties for too long. It confirmed that he had paid his debts but nevertheless he could not be accepted back in service. ^[1]

In 1806 by now aged 59 he went to sea again in merchant service presumably to try and regain his fortune and he died on the 22nd November 1806 as captain of a merchant ship on a return trip from Batavia. His place of burial is unknown. ^[1]

Sources

• WikiTree profile Von Abo-5 was createdthrough the import of HGM 2014.ged on Sep 16, 2014 by Gordon Mac Rae. Record File Number: geni:6000000002898078331 : Submitter: @S6000000000232888875@ Prior to import, this record was last changed 10:35:35 21 MAY 2014.
• Source: Flemmerfamily.co.za > Abo History ^[3]
• Object included:

File: http://www.geni.com/photo/view?photo_id=6000000019929264003

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32} Sep 16, 2014 by Gordon Mac Rae.
2. ↑ "Norway Baptisms, 1634-1927," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NWWB-2LM : accessed 20 April 2016), Christian Nicolaj Aboe in entry for Tøger Christian Nicolajsen, ; citing ; FHL microfilm 124,696. Seen and added by Gordon Mac Rae. Apr, 2016.
3. ↑ Also seen and entered by Philip van der Walt Dec 6, 2014.