| Bridge
to Sweden
Newsletter no 18 |
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Midsummer children |
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| Hej! Another summer is gone, and no time for writing a newsletter until now. So sorry, but our trips with Americans and Canadians to farms and relatives have taken much of my time. And, of course, visits by my children and little granddaughter Lauren during the summer... Now fall has arrived, with yellow birches outside my window and some chill in the air. Just beautiful! As usual my husband and I have traveled to many corners of this country during the summer, with quite a few of you. We went to Halland, next to the Atlantic ocean - twice in fact. And to Småland, Öland, Västergötland, Dalsland and a few other areas. No more trips this year, but next spring, summer and fall there will be. Perhaps you would like to join us?
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A note from Gail Bates, who came to Sweden with her daughter Jennifer and found relatives in Halland, Öland, Västergötland, and even in Stockholm. Here you see Gail and Jennifer with relatives from Halland. |
I have thought for many years that I would like to go to Sweden to the areas from which all 4 of my grandparents came. Well, this summer my dream came true when Marie Louise and her husband, Lonny, took my daughter and myself on a tour to Kölingared, Sjötofta, Tvååker, and Färjestaden. Marie Louise did a great deal of research to supplement what I already knew and located a number of relatives that we were able to meet. It was also fun to see how the natives celebrated Midsommar. Everyone was extremely friendly and made us feel like we had known them all of our lives. It was a most rewarding experience to actually stand on the farms where our ancestors were born as well as visit the churches and graveyards where many of our ancestors were buried. Without the help and planning of Marie Louise it would have been impossible for us to do all that we did in such a short time. Gail Bates
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What's in this newsletter? 1. First a quick visit to Göteborg and the new Emigrant House with exhibits and research facilities, right in the building where your grandma or grandpa once sat waiting for their ship to Amerika. 2. Then we'll go south, as far south as we can go in Sweden in fact, to Skåne, Halland and Blekinge. Yes, we discussed this area before, but many of you have ancestors from there and have asked me to tell you more. 3. Finally we'll take off across the ocean, to New Zealand, a country some Swedes emigrated to. An interesting book I picked up recently has lots of information about many of these emigrants, and I'd like to share it with you.
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1. The Emigrant House in Göteborg Most of the more than one million Swedish emigrants left from the big harbour in Göteborg, on Sweden's west coast. To Göteborg most arrived by train, getting off at the central railroad station, walking Sillgatan (now Postgatan), to Tullhuset, where parents, brothers, sisters and friends said goodbye to those leaving for Nord-Amerika. Emigranternas Hus (the Emigrant House) opened recently with an interesting exhibit - some of it you'll find when you click on "Gallery". They also have a number of databases, which you'll certainly find interesting (just click on Research Center). So if you plan a trip to Göteborg, and would like to spend some time doing research within a thoroughly historical environment, remember Emigranternas Hus.
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2. Skåne, Halland and
Blekinge - Sweden's most southerly provinces As you probably know, Sweden is
divided into both provinces
(landskap) and counties (län).
The names Halland and Blekinge refer to both, but the province Skåne was until
recently divided into two län, Malmöhus and Kristianstad.
Now they are combined and there is only Skåne län, but since
in your research you will deal with old records, you need to know about
the old division. Would you like to
find these places on a map? ... and their descendents, from this area? There are excellent resources, on and off the Internet, but you will find that many web sites are in Swedish only. That's why, before you visit them, I suggest you take out your Swedish-English dictionary - or visit the Swedish School Net, which might be of help to you. " But they don't have the word husförhörslängd" you say? Just remember: Swedes like to combine words into longer ones. Husförhörslängd consists of three words, hus, förhör, längd, i.e. house, examination, register, and it therefore means something like "a register of house examinations". Fortunately most words are not this complicated and with your dictionary next to you, or on the screen, you can probably understand most of the Swedish web sites. Here are some of the most important genealogical resources, which deal with Skåne, Halland and Blekinge: Landsarkivet i Lund (the Regional Archive in Lund) has most records from the parishes in this area, except for the city of Malmö, up to around 1895. Increasingly later records are also stored there. You'll be glad to realize that their webpage is partially in English! Just send them an email to see if they have what you need. Malmö stadsarkiv (City
archive of Malmö) has parish records (birth, marriage and death)
and lists of emigrants from the city of Malmö. Remember though that
many people from these southern counties went to Copenhagen (Köpenhamn),
which is close to Malmö, and left from there. So if you don't find your
emigrant leaving from a Swedish port, try Copenhagen. Blekingerötter , about research in Blekinge, is mostly in Swedish but might be useful to you. So good luck with finding your family from Skåne, Halland or Blekinge. As always, if you need help, write me a note! Now let's go further south, to the other side of the earth actually - assuming you start with me in Sweden... |
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3. Swedes in New Zealand I recently picked up a book called Svenskarna i Nya Zeeland (The Swedes in New Zealand), written by Sten Aminoff. (Yes, it's spelled Nya Zeeland in Swedish!) I found this book quite interesting, since little has been written about the emigration to this part of the world. Let's go back in time, to the early 1800s, when a few Swedish sailors heard about a wonderful country far from Sweden, called Nya Zeeland. One of the first sailors to leave for New Zealand was Sven Sjögren, who then became friendly with a Maori family and married their beautiful daughter, Hinahina. They moved to Sweden, where unfortunately she became ill and died. Other sailors followed, most of them from the parishes along the Swedish coast. Charles Hopkinson, a sailor, became naturalized in New Zealand already in 1854. Carl Eberhard Sjöstedt, from Värmland, arrived in 1842, and changed his name to Charles Suisted. By mid 1800 gold was found in many places, including in New Zealand. Many Swedish emigrants settled in Australia first, then continued on to New Zealand. Yes, some of them found gold, and at least one, Olof Adam Söderlind, called Sutherland in NZ, apparently made quite a bundle. Many Swedes settled in Mauriceville West and in Norsewood, where they worked in the lumbering industry. Since most of their neighbors were English speaking, the Swedes assimilated rapidly and it did not take long before the Swedish language was forgotten. When World War I arrived and it became difficult to travel on the seas of the world, emigration more or less stopped. The Swedes who emigrated were named Johansson, Andersson, Persson, Olsson etc., like most Swedes. Many of these names were anglicized, like in other English speaking countries. Here you can read more about name changes. Over 10.000 people in New Zealand now have Swedish ancestry. Where do you start your research, if you believe you are one of them? Your first goal is to find your emigrant's Swedish name and his or her parish of birth or residence in Sweden. Start by asking your relatives, especially older ones, to see if they know where your great-grandfather came from. Also try out the following excellent resources:
Then contact me! Svenskarna i Nya Zeeland includes pages of Swedish emigrants, who settled in New Zealand and I'll be happy to look up your emigrants for you. This is the information included:
So time to find your family in Sweden - and start the long journey from New Zealand across the oceans - to visit them!
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I hope you have enjoyed this newsletter and that it will inspire you to start, or continue, your research. Please contact me with any questions you might have and I'll try to answer them. If you found this newsletter helpful to you, please forward it to friends and relatives who might be interested. I wish you a beautiful
fall, like the one we now have here in Norrtälje. I'll be back again, with
another newsletter, when snow covers our trees... Marie
Louise Bratt
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