Pierre Paul Ferdinand Mourier

Pierre Paul Mourier (5 August 1746 30 December 1836) was a Danish Asiatic Company trader who spent 15 years in Canton. He created a Danish-Chinese dictionary of more than 10,000 words. He owned Aagaard from 1787 to 1896.

Early life and education Mourier was born in Copenhagen as the youngest of 11 children of Jean Ferdinand Mourier (1792-) and Anna Henriette Mazar. His father served as minister of the French Reformed Church in Copenhagen. Mourrier spent the next five years at the Royal Danish Army Academy. He then joined an infantry regiment. He was the following year promoted to junior lieutenant. He was later sent abroad for a scientific education. In 1766, he enrolled at the University of Göttingen. In 1768–70, he was part of the large group of people that accompanied the young King Christian VII on his journey to England and France. He then returned to Göttingen to complete his studies. He also spent a year in Geneva.

DAC service In 1770, Mourier married Elisabeth Cornelia (1744-1783). She was the eldest daughter of Jaques Salomon Courtonne, a Dutch merchant in the service of the Danish Asiatic Company. In November 1770, Mourier left the army with the rank of captain to join his father-in-law on an expedition to Canton with the DAC ship Dronning Sophia Magdalena. The ship departed Copenhagen in December 1770. Morten Engelbrecht Mauritzen served as 1st supercargo on the expedition. The ship reached Canton approximately seven months later. Some time after their arrival, Mourier obtained employment as a junior company trader. The family settled in an apartment at Købmagergade No. 11. In 1801, Mourier purchased the farm Bjerregaarden in Valby and some adjoining land for 12,800 rigsdaler. Bjerregaard covered 16 hectares of land. The buildings included a small mill. A neighboring farm belonged to the former DAC captain Tønnes Langøe. Om 19+0. Mourier hired a young B. S. Ingemann as tutor for two of his youngest children.

Mourier was a member of Dreyer's Club. He had republican sympathies. He actively assisted Malte Conrad Bruun during the trials against him, before he fled to Paris. During the British Siege of Copenhagen in 1807, Scottish soldiers suspected Mourier of being a spy due to his excellent command of the English language. He was therefore placed in house arrest at Bjerregård.