Jacob Kielland (14 December 1788 - 6 August 1863) was a Norwegian businessperson, consul and politician.
He was born in Stavanger to Gabriel Schanche Kielland (1760-1821) and his wife Johanna Margaretha (1756-1818), née Bull.[1] He had three older and two younger siblings,[2] but his youngest sister Elisabeth only survived for a month, and the oldest brother Jacob died at the age of 1. His oldest living brother Jens Bull Kielland became a military officer, and his youngest brother Jonas Schanche Kielland became a politician.
Jonas Schanche Kielland married Axeliane Christine Zetlitz (1792-1855),[1] daughter of the priest and poet Jens Zetlitz.[3] The couple had five sons and five daughters.[1] Of these children, four died young. A son Jens Zetlitz Kielland became a consul and artist, and fathered several notable people, among them the prominent novelist Alexander Lange Kielland and painter Kitty Lange Kielland.[4] Another son also named Jacob Kielland became a naval officer and politician, and father of several notable people, including diplomat Axel Christian Zetlitz Kielland and politician Jonas Schanche Kielland. Their oldest daughter Maren Elisabeth Bull Kielland married military officer Ingvald Maryllus Emil Smith and had the son Ingvald M. Smith-Kielland. Their youngest daughter Johanne Margrethe "Hanna" Bull Kielland married businessman and politician Jacob Jørgen Kastrup Sømme. They had ten children, including Andreas Sømme, businessman and father of geographer Axel Christian Zetlitz Sømme, and painter Jacob Kielland Sømme. The youngest living son Axel Christian Kielland was the father of sculptor Valentin Axel Kielland.
Jacob Kielland took education from 1802 to 1806, and after that started working in his father's company "Jacob Kielland & Søn". As his father died in 1821, Jacob and Jonas Schanche Kielland took over the company. Jacob Kielland acquired burghership in June 1821. The trade company mainly exported timber, lobsters and atlantic herring. Like many traders they were also involved in shipbuilding, running two shipyards.[1]
Jacob Kielland was also vice consul for the Netherlands in 1815, Hamburg and Preussen in 1821 and the United States in 1830. The latter relation was broken in 1863, shortly before his death. Kielland was also involved in local politics, as a member of Stavanger city council.[1]
His brother and business partner Jonas Schanche Kielland died in 1853, and with him being unmarried, Jacob was his sole heir. Jacob Kielland was, upon his death in 1863, one of the richest persons in Norway.[1]