Pierre Paul Ferdinand Mourier
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Pierre Paul Mourier (5 August 1746– 30 December 1836) was a Danish Asiatic Company trader who spent 15 years in Canton. He created a Danish-Chinese dictionary of more than 10,000 words. He owned Aagaard from 1787 to 1896.
Mourier was born in Copenhagen as the youngest of 11 children of Jean Ferdinand Mourier (1792-) and Anna Henriette Mazar. His father served as minister of the French Reformed Church in Copenhagen. Mourrier spent the next five years at the Royal Danish Army Academy. He then joined an infantry regiment. He was the following year promoted to junior lieutenant. He was later sent abroad for a scientific education. In 1766, he enrolled at the University of Göttingen. In 1768–70, he was part of the large group of people that accompanied the young King Christian VII on his journey to England and France. He then returned to Göttingen to complete his studies. He also spent a year in Geneva.[1]
DAC service
In 1770, Mourier married Elisabeth Cornelia (1744-1783). She was the eldest daughter of Jaques Salomon Courtonne, a Dutch merchant in the service of the Danish Asiatic Company. In November 1770, Mourier left the army with the rank of captain to join his father-in-law on an expedition to Canton with the DAC ship Dronning Sophia Magdalena. The ship departed Copenhagen in December 1770. Morten Engelbrecht Mauritzen served as 1st supercargo on the expedition. The ship reached Canton approximately seven months later. Some time after their arrival, Mourier obtained employment as a junior company trader.[1]
Mourier was later joined by his wife. During their years together in Macao (where the families of European traders were installed), she gave birth to six children. After three of their children had died from smallpox, Elisabeth returned to Copenhagen with the remaining children to be inoculated. Another child died on the way back to Denmark on board the DAC ship Juliane Marie. Not long after their arrival in Copenhagen, Elisabeth Mourier fell ill and died from oedema.[1]
During his years in China, Mourier visited Batavia, Manilla and India (including Tranquebar). As one of relatively few European company traders, he learned the Cantonese language. He created a Danish-Chinese dictionary with more than 10,000 words. He formed a close friendship with the Hong merchant Geowqua (Qiaoguan, 伍乔官: 1734–1802), (the first member of the Qu family to participate in the Canton system), whose warehouse was located next to the DAC factory. Allegedly, Prince Lee Boo visited Mourier's home more than once when the Morse called at Macao on the way back to London.[1]
In 1784, Mourier struggled with increasingly poor health and decided to return to Denmark. In December 1784, he departed from Canton on board the DAC ship Disko. He visited London, Paris and the Netherlands on the way back to Denmark.[1]
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