Ulrik Anton Motzfeldt was born on the island
St. Thomas, then part of the
Danish West Indies. His father,
Peter Motzfeldt (1777–1854) was a noted military officer and father of the
Norwegian Constitution who was stationed on St. Thomas from 1802 to 1809, Ulrik's mother, Ernesta Birgitte Margrethe Stenersen (1789–1848), was the daughter of the B. C. Stenersen,
stipendiary magistrate of St. Thomas. Ulrik's younger brother
Ketil was also a noted statesman. was a first cousin of
Johan Lausen Bull and Norway's first Supreme Court Justice
Johan Randulf Bull. Ulrik Anton Motzfeldt married twice. The marriage with his first wife produced two daughters. Motzfeldt later married Anna Pauline Jørgine Birch, and the couple had two sons and one daughter. ==Career==