Genfind

The Norwegian word bygd is an old and richly important word which may be translated as settlement in the sense of building up. [To pronounce it as Norwegians do, shape the lips to whistle and say beegd.]

Amts became fylker (counties) in 1918. Kommunes had boundaries altered in 1964. In the old days, many persons traveled to church by boat. As roads are built, those persons descendants may well travel by car to a different church; thus parishes may serve different farms than previously.

Tenant farmer (a cotter or husmann) was often listed in the official registers under the name of the farm to which his little home belonged. Sometimes the preposition "under" was put in front of the place-name. In this way, a cotter connected with the farm Lunde might be called Hans Petersen Lunde, or sometimes Lunde-eie (eie = possession), even if his home locally was called something else.

Coats of arms / Family crests. The use of family crests has been restricted to relatively few families, in particular the nobility, state officials, and the upper middle class. The so-called bumerker, which were used to mark tools and as signets and signatures, are not coats of arms. Their initials and emblems, however, can sometimes help to solve genealogical problems.

Parish registers (Kirkebøker). These are records kept by parish clergymen - usually by the pastor or parish minister (sokneprest) or sometimes by his curate (kapellan). These records provide information about, among other things, baptism (birth), confirmation, marriage, and burial (death). Since the beginning of the 19th century they have also recorded movement into and out of the parish (including emigration to America). These migration lists, however, are often very incomplete, and the individual entries are sometimes made many years after the actual migration occurred. Some parish registers date from the 1600s, but most begin after 1700. Parish registers did not take on a standardized form until about 1800. Before that date, the records were kept in a rather haphazard way; all ecclesiastical business was often simply entered in consecutive order, without any kind of classification. The parish registers are transferred to the regional archives 80 years after the last entry. More recent registers are in the care of the parish ministers. In many parishes, duplicates of the parish registers (klokkerbøker) were made by the sacristans (klokkere) as late as the 1970s. They were sent to the regional archives on completion. Registers less than 60 years old, however, are usually not accessible to genealogical researchers. See http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read

Census returns (Folketellinger). National censuses were taken in 1769, 1801, and every tenth year from 1815, up to and including 1875. From 1890 (1891) a population census has been taken every tenth year. All census returns from 1900 and earlier are available for inspection. They are all located in the National Archives, except for the 1875 and 1900 returns, which are kept in the regional archives.

Older census returns (Manntall). The National Archives have preserved a number of records dating from before the introduction of the national census. The most important of these records are the population rolls for 1664-66, which cover only the rural districts. They are entered in two parallel series, one filled in by the parish clergymen, the other by the local law officers. Women engaged in farming are listed, but otherwise only men and boys over a certain age are included. A computer version of the male census returns from 1664-66 has been prepared by the History Department at the University of Bergen. The population rolls of 1701 list only males in rural districts. Records covering large parts of eastern and southern Norway are missing. (For other population records in the National Archives, see below under county and bailiwick accounts.)

Probate registers (Skifteprotokoller). These records show the registration, value, and division of real estate and property of all kinds left by deceased individuals. They also list the names of heirs and guardians and a great deal of other family information. The registers also contain interesting data of an economic and cultural nature. The oldest registers date back to about 1660. They were kept by the probate court (skifterett or skifteforvalter), that is to say by the chief magistrate (district court judge or sorenskriver) in the rural districts and by the corresponding official (magistrat, byfogd, or byskriver) in the towns. These registers are now preserved in the regional archives. They are usually quite voluminous, and only some were originally indexed. Lately, however, quite a number have been indexed on cards, and some have even been processed by computer. The probate registers do not cover the estates of all deceased individuals. An estate was administrated officially only in certain cases; for instance, when there were heirs who had not yet come of age. The National Archives and the regional archives also house a number of special clerical and military probate registers. In addition, there are lists and extracts of the probate registers (skiftedesignasjoner) as well as obituaries (dødsfallsmeldinger) and records of all deaths.

Registers of conveyances and mortgages (Skjøte- og pantebøker; panteregistre). These books provide information about real estate conveyances, mortgages and other encumbrances on property, agreements and contracts, etc. A great deal of biographical material is often included. They rarely go farther back than to about 1720. Deeds from the last few decades are held by the local magistrate or town council clerk (sorenskriver or byskriver).

Real estate books (Matrikler). Real estate books called matrikler will give you the names of owners and cultivators of farms. The volumes from 1665 and 1723 (in the National Archives) are particularly important. More recent matrikler (from 1838 onward) have been printed. There are also quite a number of so-called jordebøker, records which largely provide the same kind of information. The oldest ones, from the Middle Ages, have been printed. Special mention should be made of Statholderarkivets jordebøker 1661, now in the National Archives.

Emigrant lists (Emigrantprotokoller). Since 1867, the police in a number of districts have kept lists of emigrants with their names, home address, date of departure, destination, and - in some cases - name of ship.

Since 1810, lists of passports (passprotokoller) have been kept by the police, and the oldest ones are now in the regional archives. Such lists do not contain as much information about emigrants as the emigrant lists normally do, but they can often provide the birthplace, the age, and the destination of the emigrant. In Norway, the requirement to have a passport was abolished in 1860, making the post-1860 lists of passports less important to researchers.

Migration records (Flytteprotokoller). For internal migration, see above under "Parish registers." After 1900 and up to 1915 (in many cases until 1943), migration was registered by the local police; in towns and cities usually by the politimester, in the countryside by the lensmann. Most of these registers are now on file in the regional archives.

Court records (Rettsprotokoller). The court records are among the sources which can provide you with additional information. Most of these records - the assize records of proceedings (tingbøker), in particular - are deposited in the regional archives. A few (from the higher courts of appeal) are found in the National Archives. The court records contain reports of civil and criminal cases, including the so-called odelssaker (referring to allodial property rights). Sometimes you can find information in these records about entire families through several generations. Some of the books go back to the early 17th century. They usually have no indexes, however, so you will need to allow ample time to study them.

Accounts (Regnskaper). Various accounts are also among the archival documents, and it may be useful for you to consult them. Of greatest importance are probably the county and bailiwick accounts (lens- og fogderegnskaper), which are now deposited in the National Archives. These accounts go back to the 16th century and include tax lists, real estate registers, and other material which may help you trace the owners and cultivators of farms from year to year. Information of a more detailed character about individuals can be found in various supplementary tax rolls (ekstraskattmanntall). The most important of these tax rolls date from 1645, 1647 ("Skattematrikkelen" printed in 17 volumes), 1710 ff., 1762 ff., and 1816 ff. The accounts of the bailiffs cover rural districts only, but there are also corresponding town accounts (byregnskaper).

Military records. Rolls, meaning lists of officers and other ranks for each military unit, are preserved from about 1650. The oldest rolls are very sketchy. In the rolls from the 18th and 19th centuries, however, much detailed personal information is given. In fact, sometimes there is so much information that its equivalent cannot be found in any other source. The preservation of the rolls, however, has been very much a matter of chance, and for certain districts or units the rolls may be missing entirely. The rolls that have been preserved are kept partly in the National Archives, partly in the regional archives (especially Bergen and Trondheim).

Miscellaneous records. Useful information can also be found in the archives of the town magistrates, the town council clerks, and the clerks of the aldermen's court, now in the custody of the regional archives. Some of the material includes citizenship registers (borgerskapsprotokoller) and other books with similar contents. These records indicate, for instance, when a craftsman, a merchant, or a skipper was given his civic rights. More detailed information can be found in the attached bundles of testimonials, etc. In a number of towns, the oldest of the citizenship registers have been printed.

The oldest of these, the so-called "diplomas" which were often written on parchment, go far back into the Middle Ages and are the primary source of information about that period. To use these documents properly, however, you need a great deal of historical knowledge and philological experience; that is why they are mostly studied by specialists.

The newspapers contain a great deal of personal and family information of a historical nature. Most newspapers are filed at Universitetsbiblioteket in Oslo. Many central and local libraries have collections of newspaper clippings that are of biographical value. Especially noteworthy are the collections of the Deichmanske bibliotek in Oslo. http://www.deich.folkebibl.no/

Address books, telephone directories, and trade indexes are other possible sources of information which you can consult yourself. Some of these records are even available in public libraries in America.