Thomas Angell

Thomas Angell was a Norwegian merchant, estate owner, mine owner and philanthropist. He was born in Trondheim; the son of merchant Albert Lorenzen Angell. Angell inherited a large fortune from his parents, and donated this fortune to a charity trust fund through his will. The trust fund is administered by the Angell Foundations. A marble bust of Angell was made by Hans Michelsen in 1845.

His fortune derived from his grandfather Lorentz Mortensen Angell (1626-97) who arrived in Trondheim from Angeln in Slesvik in the 1650s. he was well established in trading and shipping business, and owned almost a third of the Røros copper works, the Tjøtta estate with 400 farms in Nordland and Lofoten and the royal tithes of Vesterålen and Andenes. Thomas’s father died in 1705 and his mother in 1717. After his mother’s death Thomas and his brother Lorentz took over the business. They ran a shipping operation, exported copper and lumber, imported all sorts of goods and had large banking interests. In addition they were involved in many enterprises both in Trondheim and Copenhagen. They were major shareholders in Røros Copper Works where Thomas held a leading position in its management.

Lorentz died in 1751 and Thomas continued the business. As early as 1753, Thomas Angell had obtained royal permission to dispose of his fortune as he saw fit. And in 1762 he had made up his will leaving everything to Trondheim's needy. The annual income was to be divided, 1/6 to the orphanage, 1/6 to the poor house's occupants, 2/6 to the city's homeless and needy citizens and the remaining 2/6 to be reinvested. There were later codicils that made some changes but it remained essentially the same. Thomas Angell died on 19 September 1767.