Joseph Stephens och Huseby bruk : Utrikesförsäljningen på Huseby bruk under återuppbyggnadsåren 1869 - 1875

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to investigate how Joseph Stephens, who was the owner of the Huseby Estate between the years 1867 - 1934, saw the foreign trade as an opportunity to build up the economy of Huseby bruk when he came back to Sweden from India during the summer 1869. The manor, which is located in the south of Sweden, was in a poor condition when he returned but from that summer, he could for the first time work fulltime with the manor he had bought. The source material of this study is from the Huseby archives in the Linnaeus University, which in my investigation consists of correspondents to his father George Stephens and business contacts who were located abroad. The source material is also consisting of accounts from the bookkeeping of the company. The correspondents show how Joseph Stephens is patient with abroad market and sees the potential in it, even if the market in Sweden is easier to make profits in at the moment and has cheaper transport expenses. It also shows that he is making up plans for selling his products to the international market, even if there are complications that makes the market hard to get profit from. According to the accounts of Huseby bruk, most of the trade abroad went to Copenhagen. Another important city on the market was London. However, it seems like the company did not export any products to India between the years 1869 - 1875. The products which dominated the export were iron and wood products.