Christen Brun-Lundegaard
Christen Brun-Lundegaard was a Danish colonial official and governor of Tranquebar from 20 October 1716 to 21 January 1720.
Brun-Lundegaard started as an assistant of the Danish East India Company in the Danish colony of Tranquebar. In 1707, after having served for many years, he came to Bengal as an accountant at about the age of 60 years, but returned to Tranquebar the following year. Upon returning, Brun-Lundegaard advanced as treasurer and subaccountant in 1708 and became chief accountant in 1711.
Continuing in 1714, he became second-in-command of the colony and was appointed governor of Tranquebar on 20 October 1716, following the dismissal of Governor Johan Sigismund Hassius. During his tenure, the previous Danish lodge in Bengal, Dannemarksnagore, was reestablished, while the relationship with the Danish-Halle Mission improved. Despite this, Brun-Lundegaard resigned as governor on 21 January 1720 in favor of the younger Ulrik Christian Nissen.
Brun-Lundegaard died on 24 January 1724 in Tranquebar after a long illness.
Early career
Christen Brun-Lundegaard began his career in the Danish East India Company as an assistant in the Danish colony of Tranquebar. In 1703, he undertook a voyage to Malacca as a ship’s assistant aboard the vessel, Printz Christian. By order of the company management, he was appointed secretary to the privy council on 1 July 1704. In the same year, he was accused of irregularities during the previous voyage to Malacca, but was acquitted by the court.On 20 July 1707, he was sent with the yachts Gyldenløve and Fortuna to the Danish lodge, Dannemarksnagore, in Bengal, as an accountant for the current officials and as a commissioner. When he arrived at the lodge, he began his work, confiscating and distributing the money accordingly. When he departed again in February 1708, he had left behind money sufficient for one year to the governor, Jacob Panck, while simultaneously bringing saltpeter, silk, and textiles with him back to Tranquebar, which he returned to on 14 March 1708. Upon returning, he was installed as lower merchant and became both treasurer and subaccountant on 8 October and 27 October 1708, respectively.
Brun-Lundegaard is referred to as having been a diligent, capable, and trusted man, but also known to be jealous. In a mention from 1708, he is also deemed unfit to serve as opperhoved, as he was about 60 years old and afflicted with a hernia. Though he requested permission to repatriate several times, he was rejected as the colony needed his capabilities as subaccountant. When his request for an increased salary was also rejected, he applied on 9 October 1710 in a more determined manner for permission to return home, but was persuaded to stay as he was promised career advancement. Subsequently, he became chief accountant and third-in-command of the privy council on 12 May 1711, and as he had served the company for 15 years, he received an increase in his salary. Furthermore, he advanced to sekonde of the privy council at the end of 1714, likely due to the governor of Tranquebar, Johan Sigismund Hassius's favor.
Governor of Tranquebar
After Johan Sigismund Hassius's dismissal as governor, he installed Brun-Lundegaard as Interim Governor of Tranquebar on 20 October 1716 with large ceremonies. In a letter dated 19 October, Brun-Lundegaard thanked the for the appointment but described himself as a weak and meek man and instead applied for a replacement. Again in 1718, he applied for a replacement, but had to wait another two years. Meanwhile, there was a severe shortage of money in the colony, and it had to borrow 6,000 pagodas from the English at Madras and another 5,000 Danish rigsdaler from a local magnate. In 1720, a Danish ship, the Jomfru Susanne, finally reached Tranquebar, along with the Hofjunker and new Opperhoved, Ulrik Christian Nissen. Subsequently, Brun-Lundegaard resigned on 2 January 1720 and instead became the Vice Governor and chief merchant.Reestablishment of Dannemarksnagore
During Brun-Lundegaard's brief tenure, Tranquebar was visited by a Bengali envoy who offered to return Dannemarksnagore, which had been conquered by the Bengalis in 1714, in return for the Bengali vessel, Fatteromany, which had previously been captured by the Danes. After long negotiations, the former lodge was ceded back to the D.E.I.C. in 1718, and in September the same year, a new governor, Gallus Bøgvad, was sent to the lodge to try to recreate the former conditions, but to no avail.Relationship with missionaries
In contrast to Governor Hassius, Brun-Lundegaard has been considered by later literature to have been friendly to the Lutheran Danish-Halle Mission. Evidently, Brun-Lundegaard laid the foundation of the New Jerusalem Church in Tranquebar on 9 February 1717 and assisted in gathering resources and a suitable location for the building. In return, the missionaries arranged a sort of throne as a special place for the governor inside the church. Additionally, Brun-Lundegaard saluted from Fort Dansborg at the consecration of the building and donated a plaque to be built into the wall of the church with the inscription:However, according to Danish priest and historian Anders Nørgaard, there were no major differences between Governor Hassius and Brun-Lundegaard. Moreover, there is no personal friendship between Brun-Lundegaard and the missionaries, although they met when it was necessary, and showed each other goodwill.
Instead, the change in relations between the local administration and the mission was caused by a new compromise reached in Denmark between the mission's inspectorate and the D.E.I.C. management. According to the new compromise, the colonial administration was to function as the mission's authority, rather than being a private cause of King Frederick IV. Meanwhile, the administration was thereby also obliged to subsidize the mission under its authority. Subsequently, the years following the compromise were a heyday for the mission, and there are no reports of problems between the mission and Governor Brun-Lundegaard.
Personal and later life
Christen Brun-Lundegaard was married twice: first to Wibeke Christensdatter Berg on 5 July 1714, and second to Utilia Elisabeth on 29 November 1723, after Wibeke Christensdatter's death in the same year. Utilia Elisabeth was the widow of the former leader of the Danish-Halle Mission,.Brun-Lundegaard died on 24 January 1724 in Tranquebar after a long illness, leaving no children.