Johan Mattsinpoika Nylander

In the business world of Finland during the last decades of Swedish rule in the 18th century, Johan Nylander was an entrepreneur with an exceptionally strong will, keen intelligence and innovative flair. His greatest tour de force was the foundation of an industrial community at Olhava on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. This community, which included a glass factory, a mill, a sawmill and a shipyard, was also known for its social innovations.

As an entrepreneur, Johan Nylander was a pioneer among the bourgeoisie in Oulu and other towns on the Gulf of Bothnia; when the ban on direct trade between northern ports on the gulf and foreign countries was brought to an end in 1765, Nylander boldly set about taking advantage of the new freedoms - as a merchant and shipowner. As soon as Oulu received rights to trade with foreign states, he went abroad to acquaint himself with the business world and make trading contacts. Together with some other citizens, he fitted out the staple town of Oulu's first ocean-going ship.

Nylander skilfully exploited the boom in trade - especially the tar trade - set off by the War of Independence in North America. He fitted out three ships on his own and possessed a share in 17; these were used to export northern products to foreign countries. He had ships built at his own yards, both for his own use and for sale. Nylander's entrepreneurial character is also illustrated by the fact that he attempted to by-pass the supervision of the tar storage and grading building erected in Oulu in 1782 and tried to set up his own such facility for the lands that he owned, even being granted permission to do so by the king. It was only after lengthy disputes - which went as far as the Diet - that he abandoned this project, the probable goal of which was to achieve a strong position - even a monopoly - as a dealer in tar from the North. It was as a merchant and shipowner that Nylander created the basis for his considerable wealth.

But the greatest tour de force among Nylander's activities as an entrepreneur and businessman was the foundation of an industrial community at the Nyby estate at Olhava to the north of Oulu on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. In 1781, Nylander was given the right to establish a new estate named Säynäjäoja on the coast at the mouth of the River Olhavanjoki, and the following year the estate was granted the privileges required for the founding of a glass factory. The factory was built swiftly, and glass production had already begun by the latter half of 1784. The factory was technologically up to date; the workshop foremen and glass-blowers were brought in from abroad. The factory and its production were continually expanded up to 1794, when illness forced Nylander to hand over the management of the plant to his son-in-law Anders Falander. The factory then had 91 workers, including 15 glass-blowers. It was the country's most important glass factory. It produced both window glass and a large range of other items, especially various kinds of bottles. There was a great demand for window glass, since increasing prosperity was at the time resulting in a surge in construction work, both in the countryside and the towns. All of the glass was sent to Stockholm, since it fetched the best prices there; the people of Oulu, and even those of northern Ostrobothnia, were forced to buy Nyby glass via Stockholm.

In addition to the glass factory, Nylander set up a mill, sawmill and shipyard at his works. He had the shipping channel between Ii and Oulu restored to good condition, had a lighthouse built and produced a plan for the improvement of the pilot system. In 1806, Nylander applied for permission to found a textile factory at Olhava; he gave as one of his reasons - along with the lack of textile factories - job opportunities for the region's inhabitants. Besides providing employment for the local populace, the works had a significant multiplier effect, since the glass factory required such items as ash, firewood, logs and tar. Although the glass factory prospered, Nylander was forced into a tough struggle with the Crown creditors; tired of the wrangling, he closed down the factory in 1807. It soon reopened under new ownership, and it did not finally cease producing glass until 1885.

Around the works, Nylander developed an independent community, which acquired its own municipal administrative court in 1790. At the same time the community formed an independent works parish, which had its own pastor from 1786 to 1803. For a long time, Nylander's son-in-law Abraham Keckman was the pastor. Nylander had given his daughter Johanna Maria in marriage to the young Keckman - who had initially worked as the factory's bookkeeper - only on condition that he study for the ministry. In 1788 Nyby acquired its own church and school.

From a sociopolitical viewpoint, Nylander was a man of remarkable ideas, which he attempted to put into practice in his works community and the Parish of Ii. He regarded the lack of population as the most important obstacle to prosperity in his own province and in the kingdom as a whole. Population growth must thus, he thought, be promoted; and one way of achieving this was to curb infant and child mortality. He considered it important to obtain professionally skilled midwives for rural areas, and engaged some for the confinement room at his works; this was perhaps Finland's first maternity hospital. Nylander also gave assistance to indigent young people intending to marry. On his lands, he cultivated such crops as flax and hemp, and he tried to interest the peasants in this as well by distributing free seed.

Johan Nylander's acquaintances included no less a personage than King Gustav III, who relied on his powers of judgment in many matters. In recognition of his courageous and exemplary entrepreneurship and his services as an advisor, Gustav III granted Nylander the rare title of Court Counsellor (Swedish: hovråd) in 1788. Thereafter, the predominantly Finnish-speaking population of the area often referred to him as 'Olhavan hovrooti'. It should perhaps also be mentioned here that a daughter of Nylander's was married to Eric Tulindberg, one of the most important Finnish musical figures of the era.

At the beginning of the 19th century, after running into difficulties in his business activities, Nylander moved to Stockholm, where he began to study in particular mechanical and other technical problems associated with shipbuilding; he is mentioned in documents as being, amongst other things, a 'mechanician-general'. In 1804, he published a small book entitled Skeppsredaren och köparen uti Norrbotniska viken ('Shipowner and Merchant on the Northern Gulf of Bothnia'), and in 1805 an article of his on shipbuilding appeared in the Turku newspaper Åbo Tidningar.

The author Sara Wacklin has given us a vivid portrayal of Nylander in her book Hundrade minnen från Österbotten ('A Hundred Memoirs from Ostrobothnia'). She grants recognition to Nylander as proficient in business - even as a genius. But most of her narrative is devoted to describing Nylander's capriciousness, harshness and even cruelty - especially towards his wife and children. She writes, for example:

"The Court Counsellor had been married for twenty-five years when he happened to acknowledged to his wife that he had not regretted his choice. Delighted, she ventured to remind him that he had long ago promised to take her to her birthplace, Oulu, for their silver wedding anniversary; the town was only a stone's throw away, and she had not visited it since she left her childhood home on her wedding day."

The Court Counsellor promised to do so, drove his sleigh up to the steps and set off at a breakneck pace towards Oulu. Despite the fact that the sleigh tipped over several times and his wife broke her arm, she repeatedly tittered in delight at the thought that she would soon be seeing Oulu and her beloved home. The Court Counsellor stopped the horses at the edge of town and asked if she could now see Oulu and whether the house where she was born was visible. His wife joyfully confirmed this, believing that she would soon be embracing her dear mother; whereupon the Court Counsellor turned the horses and drove headlong back to Ii.