Sweden Household Examination Records
Hi all:
I've done quite a bit of Swedish indexing in the Örebro, Sweden, Church Records collection. I have noticed, however, that (and this goes for the entire Swedish Church records collection) that husförhör, or household examination (also known as clerical surveys) records aren't being indexed. The images are already on film and can be accessed on the FamilySearch website.
Household examination records are very similar to censuses. They have information on everyone that lived in a parish for a certain time period (usually 3 - 10 years). I have done a lot of Swedish genealogical research, and these records are EXTREMELY useful. They often include birth dates and places for all members of the family, which can be very helpful when the pool of first names in Sweden is relatively small and last names are very frequently patronymic. In other words, there can be lots of different people named, say, Hans Andersson, Anna Johsndotter, or Kristina Nilsdotter, in the same area. for this reason, having information on the birth and other vital information on these people can substantially increase the accuracy and ease of research. More information on these records can be viewed here: Sweden Household Examination Records (Husförhörslängder) • FamilySearch
Here are a couple examples that can help you visualize what these very valuable records are:
This record is from the Nännesmo Måsagården farm in Refele Parish, Jönköping, Sweden for 1841 - 1847 and can be found here:Sweden, Jönköping Church Records, 1581-1935; index 1633-1860; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9PZ6-3X9X?cc=1930273&wc=QDYY-M4W%3A226561001%2C226284802%2C226711901
The record gives this information:
Håkan Petersson, born 17 October 1804
wife Cathrina Jacobsdotter, born 10 May 1807
daughter Inga Lena, born 4 May 1830
son Joseph, born 29 March 1837
son Johan Peter, born 23 June 1841
daughter Maria, born 25 October 1844
son Andreas, born 18 June 1847
This record is from Wastad (Vastad) farm in Eftra, Halland, Sweden from the early 1800s and can be found here: Sweden, Halland Church Records, 1615-1904; index 1615-1860; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9PW2-G82?cc=1978341&wc=325K-6TL%3A259450601%2C259447002%2C259450602
The record gives this information:
farmer Olof Larsson, born 18 May 1791 in Eftra
wife Johanna Svensdotter, born 3 February 1786 in Eftra
son Lars, born 10 November 1815 in Eftra
daughter Svenborg, born 27 April 1813 in Eftra
daughter Gunnild, born 19 November 1823 in Eftra
widowed mother Inger Svensdotter, born 9 August 1760 in Eftra (she is Olof Larsson's mother)
This record comes from the Flahult farm in Ås Parish, Jönköping, Sweden for the mid-to-late 1700s and can be found here: Sweden, Jönköping Church Records, 1581-1935; index 1633-1860; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GPZN-9PB9?cc=1930273&wc=QDYY-MX4%3A226749401%2C226284802%2C226562502
The record has this information:
Nils Andersson, born 10 February 1694
wife Karin Andersdotter, born 14 March 1699
daughter Anna, born 4 August 1732
daughter Kierstin, born 23 March 1735
daughter Maria, born 1 November 1739
My point here is that these records can be very valuable for research.
FamilySearch has indexed some records of this type from about 1876-ish and on, but household examination records go back to the early 1800s and, in some cases, to the early 1700s or even late 1600s in some parishes.
I think that these records should be indexed and included in the Sweden, Church Records collection (or possibly the Sweden, Household Examination Records collection).
Please reply with thoughts or ideas.
Thank you!
Cody Bailey