Using Network Analysis on Oldenburg Merchants going to China

The Chinaman FREDENSBORG SLOT from the Danish Asiatic Company. Built in Copenhagen 1763-64. From gouache by Clement Mogensen Clementsen, about 1765. Photo: Maritime Museum of Denmark.

For the last several months have been sending in homework every tenth day for an interesting PhD-course in Social Network Analysis.

Next week I am going to attend the course  in France, and I have just finished the last assignment, which used my own data, so I thought I would share the results here.

Roll Books of the Danish Asiatic Company

At the moment I am diving into the wonderful archive of the Danish Asiatic Company, which is preserved at the Danish National Archives in Copenhagen.

So far the most interesting part is the roll books, where the crew of seemingly all ships in service of the Company is listed. Since I am investigating the merchants, I am especially interested in the section called Negotien, meaning the traders section of the crew.