Svanur
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 8:24 pm
Due to her position at the entrance of the Breidafjorour on the Sneafellsnes peninsula Ólafsvik was the first town in Iceland to receive a license in 1678 from the Danish King to do commerce, and to open a trading post in the town.
First there was not much increase in trade in and around the town, which served as main centre for the local farmers and fishermen, but when the population increased in the coastal towns on the peninsula, the trade increased..
Most of the inhabitants on the peninsula earned their living with fishing or farming.
In 1700 Ólafsvik had 77 residents but, after a smallpox epidemic, it decreased dramatically, and at the end of the 19th century its residents were about the same in number.
There was an active trader living in Ólafsvik under the name of Jakop Plum and he was the first to found an independent trading house in Iceland. He was succeeded by Holgar Clausen who was succeeded by his son Hans A. Clausen.
The Clausen company expanded and bought their own trading vessels for their transport to and from Ólafsvik.
Every spring a ship arrived from Denmark loaded with salt and trading merchandise, and one of these ships was the SVANUR (Swan). She sailed for 116 years between Copenhagen and Ólafsvik, and each spring the people of Ólafsvik were waiting eagerly for the arrival of the ship.
At that time there were not any port facilities at Ólafsvik so all cargo had to be discharged onto barges. After arrival the discharging took around six days.
During the summer months the SVANUR was used as a fishing vessel, and she sailed back to Copenhagen during the autumn with a full cargo.
On 6th October 1893 she was lost when, just outside the road of Ólafsvik, she grounded fully loaded when bound for Denmark.
The stamp depicts the vessel under full sails near the road of Ólafsvik. The stamp was issued for the 300th Anniversary of the trading post in Olafsvik.
Information provided by Auke Palmhof following translation from Dutch.
Iceland SG692.
First there was not much increase in trade in and around the town, which served as main centre for the local farmers and fishermen, but when the population increased in the coastal towns on the peninsula, the trade increased..
Most of the inhabitants on the peninsula earned their living with fishing or farming.
In 1700 Ólafsvik had 77 residents but, after a smallpox epidemic, it decreased dramatically, and at the end of the 19th century its residents were about the same in number.
There was an active trader living in Ólafsvik under the name of Jakop Plum and he was the first to found an independent trading house in Iceland. He was succeeded by Holgar Clausen who was succeeded by his son Hans A. Clausen.
The Clausen company expanded and bought their own trading vessels for their transport to and from Ólafsvik.
Every spring a ship arrived from Denmark loaded with salt and trading merchandise, and one of these ships was the SVANUR (Swan). She sailed for 116 years between Copenhagen and Ólafsvik, and each spring the people of Ólafsvik were waiting eagerly for the arrival of the ship.
At that time there were not any port facilities at Ólafsvik so all cargo had to be discharged onto barges. After arrival the discharging took around six days.
During the summer months the SVANUR was used as a fishing vessel, and she sailed back to Copenhagen during the autumn with a full cargo.
On 6th October 1893 she was lost when, just outside the road of Ólafsvik, she grounded fully loaded when bound for Denmark.
The stamp depicts the vessel under full sails near the road of Ólafsvik. The stamp was issued for the 300th Anniversary of the trading post in Olafsvik.
Information provided by Auke Palmhof following translation from Dutch.
Iceland SG692.