Meet Birgitte

Meet Birgitte
Birgitte Nyrup Petersen von Fyren Kielland (1737-1799) was a merchant widow in 18th century Stavanger. At Broen 56, she ran two general stores in the merchant house she owned on Holmen. Today, this area lies between Hotel Victoria, De røde sjøhus, and Nedre Holmegate. Her estate comprised a large three-storey house, two general stores, a tall warehouse, a bakehouse, an outhouse, a stable, a boat shed, a cowshed, and three fruit and herb gardens. Several servants were employed to help with the operations both indoors and outdoors.

Birgitte came from an established merchant family that owned several properties in the town. She married quite young to shipowner and merchant Gabriel Kirsebom Kielland, who was a widower and father of four. Together, they formed an economically very wealthy couple. They had ten children, of whom four died of smallpox, a common disease at the time.

When Gabriel died in 1780, Birgitte took over the management of the merchant house, two general stores, and the properties the family owned. At the same time, she was a single mother to six children aged 2-14, and stepmother to four grown daughters aged 20-26. Daily life would hardly have been manageable if she had not had the means to keep a number of servants.

The merchant house was bustling with activity, and there was noise and commotion outside the warehouses at Jorenholmen and Store- and Lille Plenting (Natvigs Minde), from ships unloading goods from all over the world. Amidst this, one might occasionally hear sailors boasting in Dutch, Italian, Spanish, or English.

In town, Birgitte was known for dressing in colourful clothes, which might explain why her general store offered such a large selection of expensive and fine fabrics. One can imagine that Birgitte loved to serve customers in the store when new goods were brought in, and perhaps most of all, she delighted in unpacking fine fabrics, lace, and trimmings that had been eagerly awaited. Other imported goods were more ordinary. Here, one could also buy bread, flour, cheese, candles, fishing hooks, chocolate, snuff, aniseed, tobacco pipes, clay pipes, barley, sewing needles, syrup, hemp and twine, mirrors, colourful plates, building materials, and exotic spices in bulk.

During the time the family lived on Holmen, we know there were many large fires in the area. Perhaps that is why Birgitte built the summer house Holmeegenes in 1785, to get away from the town?

Birgitte's business eventually declined, and towards the end of her life, she mortgaged large assets. In 1798, she went bankrupt. The following year, she died.