Farm names Question

Rich Nordhagen

Farm names Question

I am seeing a lot of farm names that end in EIE. What does that mean? When I look at the Census I see things like Hemstad Østre and Hemstad Vestre. I typically don't see just Hemstad. Then in the parish records (birth, marriage, move-out), I see Hemstadeie. What is this suffix for?

Shari Duce

One definition I read for "eie" was a smaller cottage on the same farm. So Hemstadeie would be a smaller cottage in Hemstad. Google translation of eie is "own".

Gordon Collett

To expand on Shari's correct explanation just a bit, I'm mention some things you probably already know.

 

All farms in Norway are numbered with a Gardsnummer for the entire property. You will see these numbers used in the census records. The numbering system has been revised a couple of times through the years so they will not always be same from one census to another. One place to see the current farm numbers is in a property listing from the 1950 tax listing at:

https://www.dokpro.uio.no/cgi-bin/stad/matr50

 

Through the centuries, farms were divided. Sometimes into two completely different farms, sometimes into smaller subsections know as Bruk which were still considered part of the main farm and these were also assigned numbers known as Bruksnummer. In the later census records you will usually see both Gardsnummer and Bruksnummer, as you will in the property listing.

 

Typically a farm would have just a handful of large sections owned by farmers and these would be called gardsplass or gardsmannsplass. In addition they would have several small sections rented out to husmenn, that is, tennent farmers or cotters. These are referred to as husmannsplass.

 

I have primarily seen the term "eie" attached to farm names in eastern Norway. It always seems to designate one of these smaller lots or husmannsplass.

 

Names can suggest a lot of history. In your situation, most likely the original farm a few centuries ago was Hemstad. At some point it was split into East Hemstad and West Hemstad. Hemstadeie would be one of the husmannsplass on one of those two farms.

 

Looking in the property list mentioned above, I see in Stange kommune in Hedmark fylke, farm No. 128 Hemstad vestre and farm No. 129 Hemstad østre. I assume these are the ones you are referring to.

 

Hemstad vestre had the following bruk in 1950:

 

 

I've never understood the size/value designations, but it does show that bruk 1 is the main bruk and is certain to be a gardsmannsplass. The other three are tiny and would have been husmannsplass.

 

Hemstad østre in 1950 had just one bruk, so just the main farm without further subdivisions:

 

 

 

The 1801 census did not have the names for all the farm subdivisions but the 1865 and later census did. Looking in 1900 census at the the census district that contains the two farms you mention ( https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/census/district/tf01038035004588 ) you see:

 

 

 

This does not show the bruksnummer for the various properties, but it does shows that Hemstad vestre is listed as the main farm with farm number 128. It almost certainly had bruksnummer 1. Belonging to Hemstad vestre are six smaller properties, Hemstadeie, Hemstadbruket, Jonsstranden, Gunderstranden, Strandløkken, and Søstranden.

 

These smaller subsections of farms are not always on maps and are not always used in the parish records. If you see children born at Hemstad vestre, you cannot always be sure they were born at bruk 1, the main farm, unless you know their parents were the gardsmann, or the farmer who owned the land and his wife. In fact, if you see that the father is labeled a husmann, you can probably assume the child was not born on the main farm but rather on one of the smaller husmannsplass. In your example, the priest did write down that the children were born at the tenant farmer's place Hemstadeie.

 

Comparing the 1900 census and the 1950 property rolls it is apparent that the Hemstad vestre tenant farms underwent either abandonment and consolidation with the main farm or renaming or both since there are only four properties instead of seven and all the names of the subsections are different.

 

Just for completeness, here is the census for 1865:

 

 

 

and 1875:

 

 

 

These census used an older numbering system in which Hemstad vestre was No. 178. In 1875, Hemstadeie was just called Tajet (and had apparently been split into two even small sections). I don't know whether that is an older spelling or bad handwriting causing a mis-transcription of Ejet which is an older spelling of Eiet.

 

Since you know exactly where you ancestors were born, it adds to the completeness and value of Family Tree if you enter the complete place name:

Hemstadeie, Hemstad Vestre, Stange, Hedmark, Norway.

 

At the present time, most farms in Hedmark are missing from the standards database so you will have to enter this place name as:

 

 

 

This is the proper way to enter this full place name and it is properly standardized. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

 

Rich Nordhagen

Thank you so much for this detail. I am just starting out trying to understand my Norwegian heritage. I want to know more than just their names and birth dates. This is really helpful not only to understand about the farms themselves but to understand my ancestors position in life (farm owner, tenant, or servant). I appreciate your willingness to share so much information.