BUCHAN, ALEXANDER [SSNE 815]
Text source
Alexander Buchan, originally from Arbroath, was a Scottish burgess who must have been in Sweden from about 1640 at least. Buchan's surname is consistently mistranscribed as Buchau/Buchow/Buckow.
Alexander Buchan first appears in the records of the Tyska forsamling (the German congregation) in Gamla Stan on 27 November 1642 as married to Catriana Greggers (or Catharina Greij) from Nyköping - she too may have been Scottish - and together they had a son, William Alexander Buchan who was baptized in Stockholm on 5 July 1643 [SSNE 833]. A daughter, Christina, was baptised on 9 March 1645, and may be the same daughter who was buried on 16 February 1656 as per the German congregation records. Alexander married for a second time, to Catharina Cedritz on 3 September 1656 in the Nicholas church. Alexander became a burgess of the town in 1650. In 1655 he received a "fastbref" for a stonehouse in 'Europa 1' Trädgårdsgatan - Skeppar Olofs Gränd in Stockholm. The corruption of his name means that the house is still known as "Buchowska Huset". Alexander Buchan apparently acquired the property in 1651/2. The plot had originally been a donation from Queen Kristina in 1648, which had then been sold to Jonas Persson, who immediately sold it onto Buchan. Most of the building was subsequently incorporated into one of Nicodemus Tessin the elder's residences.
Alexander Buchan appears to have had connections with other Scots in Scandinavia including Hans Kinnemond [SSNE 1630]; William Strang [SSNE 807] whom Alexander appears to have had quarrels with in 1652, 1656 and 1659 according to the Stockholm consistory records; William Smith [SSNE 7165]; and David Melvin [SSNE 1159]. In 1656 a Mans Nilsson claimed against Alexander for 100 riksdaler which Nilsson's wife had given to one "Joran" (George) Ross. In 1659 Alexander had a claim against a David Lemken. During the 1650-60 period Buchan was amongst the top 15 heavy-duty iron exporters from Stockholm, responsible for 17,531 shippounds worth of exported iron during a 10 year period. By 1664 he was registered as one of a growing group of British (ie both English and Scottish) iron exporters based in Sweden. Stockholm's church records are revealing. He baptised children in Nicolai Kyrka including Johan (6 June 1646), Alexander (2 February 1647), Katarina (21 August 1662) and Johan (18 March 1664). Of these, Alexander was buried in a Södermalm church on 30 April 1647 and 12 daler paid for his "soul-ringing" (this from the Nicolas Kyrka records); Further burials included his father-in-law in October 1654, his first wife in August 1655 along with children in Maria Kyrka (1656, 1660 and 1663); and two further children in December 1660 and August 1674 (Nicolas). A son, Jacob/James [SSSNE 7443] was baptised on 30 March 1675. He buried his mother-in-law's sister in 1674 and his sister in law in 1676, both in Maria Kyrka. His own "soul-ringing" was noted in St Nikolai church in April 1676 (Nicolas). Alexander was buried in Maria Kyrka on 13 April that year.
There was a Lorens Buchow (Laurence Buchan?) who was a burgess of Stockholm in the early 1600s: he took his burgess oath in 1604, the same year he is listed as an innkeeper in Gamla Stan (see SSTB, 1604, p.211) and Wrangel, Stockholmiana I-IV, p.226. It has not yet been proven whether there was a direct relationship between these two men.
Sources:
Swedish Riksarkiv, Biographica Microcard, E01278 4/6, E01540 2/11 AND 3/11 [in connection with the affairs of Hans Kinnemond]. See particularly letters from 2 November 1653 and another from 1671 in Biographica "atested as a correct translation (from English to Swedish) by William Smith and David Melvin"; T. Fischer, The Scots in Sweden (Edinburgh, 1907), pp.31-2, p.216; Leos Müller, The Merchant Houses of Stockholm, c.1640-1800 (Uppsala, 1988), pp.86-87; Stockholm Stadsarkiv, St Nikolai Församling Döda 1627-1680, p.38; Stockholms Stadsarkivet, Maria Församling: Register över döda, 1634-1655, p.44; Stockholms Stadsarkivet, Maria Församling, Register över döda, 1656-1680, p.67; Stockholm Stadsarkiv, (Storkyrkan) Nikolai församling dopböker, 1623-1717, I, p.9; Steve Murdoch, Network North: Scottish Kin, Commercial and Covert Associations in Northern Europe, 1603-1746 (Brill, Leiden, 2006), pp.166, 181, 192; Ragnar Josephson, Borgarhus i Gamla Stockholm (Stockholm, 1916), pp. 150-151.
See also Europa 1, Gamla Stan, Stockholm RAÄ 103, Arkeologisk undersökning 1999, SR 1337, Magnus Källström & John Wändesjö, Arkeologisk Rapport 2007:13, (Stockholm, 2008) and Europa 1, Gamla Stan, Stockholm RAÄ 103, Arkeologisk undersökning 2002, SR 596 John Wändesjö, Arkeologisk rapport 2007:7 (Stockholm, 2008). Further, see Tord O:sson Nordberg’s appendix ‘Kvarteren Pygmalion och Europa, den Kungl. Trädgården och trakten däromkring’, in the 1959 annual publication of the ‘museinämndens sammanträde’ (Stockholm, 1960), pp. 44-45.
See also Curt Haij, 'Skottar i Stockholm under 1600-talet', unpublished list of names, Hintze biblioteket, Genealogiska Föreningen, Sundbyberg, Stockholm. Thanks to Ardis Dreisbach for this information.
HouseinStockholm
Service record
- SWEDEN, STOCKHOLM
- Departed 1676-04-13
- Capacity MERCHANT BURGESS, IRON EXPORTER, purpose CIVIC, MERCANTILE, TRADE