Sweden Links

The purpose of this page is to provide many genealogy links for research in Norway & Sweden.
I hope this page helps you in your search for your ancestors and relatives.
This page will change often!
Jerry Longstrom

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I have translated the following information for you from the Rötter e-zine
about illegitimacy.       Chris

Until 1864 it was illegal to have an illegitimate child in Sweden. If the
law was followed the parents were charged, taken before 'tinget av
länsmannen' and fined. For this reason the father of the child is often not
named (to avoid being fined). One of the problems for researchers is that,
especially during the 1800's, this was not considered a serious breach of
the law and many parents were not charged.

After 1864 it gets harder. There may be details of the father in the birth
book, and it may be that the mother has taken the father to court for
financial support for the child, in which case the father's identity can be
found in the court records.

In 1900 the kommuns became responsible for social welfare for the unwed
mothers. It then became important for them to find out who the father was
so they could claim financial help from him. Then it may be possible to
find details of the father in barnavårdsnämndernas archives.

              Here is an extract from an article on illegitimacy:

"From about 1778 it was possible for women to give birth anonymously, a
decree by the king, that was passed as he was appalled at the number of
women that were to be executed for having murdered their infants. And those
poor little children were murdered mostly because of the stigma attached to
an unwed mother. So from then on a baby could have ”okända föräldrar”,
unknown parents, a thing which became very popular in Stockholm, it was
less easy to anonymous in a little rural parish. The babies were often delivered
at the ”Allmänna barnbördshuset”, Public maternity ward, in Stockholm and their
records are still there. They give mostly medical details about the birth but
also mentions the age and address of the mother. The problem with that is that
when you check this address there is a midwife living there, who took in girls
in ”trouble” for a limited time before birth, and they are
not recorded in the records as living there, so it is usually another dead
end. The baby was afterwards often placed in the ”Allmänna barnhuset”,
Public orphanage, and later often sent into the countryside as a
fosterchild. The records of Allmänna barnhuset are also still available, but
not much of it is filmed, the originals are kept at the Stockholms
Stadsarkiv (City Archives)."

         The tips they give for research are:

1) Check the Birth and Baptism records

2) Check the Husförhörslängder

3) Check the Domböcker, especially for the period prior to 1864

4) Check for future marriages of the mother, it may be noted somewhere that
the groom is the father. If the mother marries the father the child ceases
to be called illegitimate in the church records

5) Check bouppteckningarna of any subsequent husband(s) as he may
acknowledge the child as his on his death. This is less certain to be
correct as he may not be the natural father and still acknowledge the child
as his legitimate heir.

6) Where both parents are unknown, check Mantalslängderna for all residents
in the family where the child was fostered. Foster parents were often
related to the natural parents and the mother may also have been resident
with them.

Hope you can find something helpful in the above.
Cheers, Chris

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