MOWATT, AXEL [SSNE 1829]

Surname

MOWATT

First name

AXEL

Nationality

NORWEGIAN-SCOT

Region

BERGEN

Social status

NOBILITY

Text source

Axel Mowatt jnr can at best be described as a Norwegian-Scot. His grandfather was Andrew Mowatt [SSNE 3837], a Shetland born admiral in the Danish-Norwegian navy. Some sources say he was the son of Bertil Mowatt from Balqually in Banffshire and Barbara Sinclair from Orkney. F.J. Grant says that he was the son of a Mowatt of Caithness. Andrew Mowatt had a son, Axel who became the admiral over the entire Norwegian fleet. His son, Axel Mowatt jnr, joined the navy as an officer on his father’s ship in 1640. In 1643, young Axel Mowatt was killed in a duel by a fellow officer, Lauritz Galtung. He had to flee Denmark-Norway, but later returned to become an admiral himself.

F.J. Grant, The County Families of the Shetland Islands (Lerwick, 1893), pp.179-181; A.M. Wiesener, ‘Axel Movat og hans slegt’ in Bergens Historiske Forenings Skrifter, no. 36 (Bergen, 1930), pp.95-98 and 105.

Service record

DENMARK-NORWAY, NAVY

Arrived 1640-01-01, as ENSIGN

Departed 1640-12-31, as ENSIGN

Capacity OFFICER, purpose NAVAL