Parish Maps

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Patrick M. Tavenner on October 24, 2009 at 2:35pm

Cheri,

I have found a parish map by simply searching on Google the name of the county and include "parish map." For example my family is from Jönköping län. Searching Google with the phrase "Jönköping parish map" (no quotes) comes up with a link to http://www.isleofoland.se/genealogy/maps/maps.htm. At this site I can find a map of my ancestor's parishes in the 19th century, which is when they left Sweden. Let us know what county you are searching.

Pat

Permalink Reply by Richard Dahlqvist on October 24, 2009 at 2:43pm

The only resource I know of that is available online is the following website:

Parish Maps of Sweden 1992

But those maps are of the parishboundries in 1992.

Nevertheless...They might be helpful.

Permalink Reply by Cheri Hopkins on October 24, 2009 at 3:58pm

Pat and Richard,
I appreciate the feedback and will check out both ideas. I have used google with not much luck but will try that again with different searches. I basically need the following parish maps for all the Lans in the mid 1800s(except Skaraborgs), which I already have. Thanks again for the great help!

Alvsborgs Lan
Goteborgs Och Bohus Lan
Ostergotlands Lan
Jankopings Lan
Kalmar Lan
Kronobergs Lan
Varmlands Lan
Norbottens Lan

Permalink Reply by Lynn Anderson on October 24, 2009 at 9:15pm

Cheri,
Just a few comments...
1. When doing your google searches as suggested above, try using the exact Swedish spelling and letters.

2. For the most part, I believe the 1992 parish changes were mainly mergers of old parishes. You can at least get "no greater than" boundries. Comments on this please>>>>

3 Throughout time, small changes have been made in parishes here and there. Cradled in Sweden (later editions) has a listing in the back that can help with these changes. The same can be said for kommun boundries.

4 Thanks Richard, for the tip on the 1992 maps. They are very helpful to me. It also helps identify topographic maps and most water features so places can be located.

Permalink Reply by Cheri Hopkins on October 24, 2009 at 10:51pm

Lynn and all who have responded,

Thanks for all your help and tips. I will follow up on them all and try searching some more. As a note to all other readers, Cradled in Sweden by Carl-Erik Johansson and also Your Swedish Roots by Clemensson & Andersson are both worth their weight in gold as to learning to do research with Swedish records. Read and study them and then learn about the area by studying as many maps as possible. I studied and read for a year before I ever started to get into the "records". It has really paid off, at least for me. Occasionally some help is needed and all of you have been great, again thanks!

Permalink Reply by Lynn Anderson on October 30, 2009 at 12:32am

I took a closer look at the Parish Maps of Sweden 1992 for Orebro län as recommended by Richard in his message. They look quite reasonable even for earlier times. The relationship of one parish to another seems intact in that län. These maps do not show cultural features (buildings, roads, railroads, etc.), only boundries which makes it harder to relate to geographic features. Perhaps you only need boundries.

Nevertheless, have you seen the Green series of modern topographic maps? They do not show parish boundries but they do show small country roads and some remnants of old cultural features like abandon railroad road beds. They also show most houses and cabins out in the country and many of these are historical buildings. For example, my relatives home which goes back to at least 1840 shows (but without the name) since it is still standing as a summer stuga (cabin). Other cultural features like churches and settlements are also marked. Of course they show län boundries as well as landskap boundries. Scale is 1:50 000. These are usable online as well.

And I still like my KAK road map book for larger areas.

Permalink Reply by Cheri Hopkins on October 30, 2009 at 1:01am

Lynn,
Thanks so much for the additional map info. I have not used the "Green" series but will check those out as well,as they sound very interesting. The boundaries are mostly what I need but the other maps will be great to check out also. I did spend some time with the 1992 maps and have been able to use some of those. They seem to be very near in boundaries to most of the original parishes . They do at least help me along. I appreciate your time

Cheri Hopkins

Permalink Reply by Lynn Anderson on November 17, 2009 at 10:57am

Thinking more about your inquiry... Do you need help on a specific parish? I can take a shot at a specific question.

Im pretty good at Swedish (and other) geography. Itried to start a Swedish geography topic but not much interest but geography is involved with so much of what we do in genealogy.

Do you really need to take the time to collect boundry on all 2-3000 parishes with their changing boundries?

Permalink Reply by Cheri Hopkins on November 17, 2009 at 2:08pm

Hi Lynn,
I am primarily working with Skaraborg and Kalmar records so far. I do have the parish maps for these particular areas. I am also primarily interested in the time frame of 1800-1860 or so. I do not think the parishes tended to change much during those times. Mostly I would love to have the 1800 parish maps for the other Lans., mostly at this point in time just to study! I wish I was in a place to order LDS films but am not so may have to wait until I visit Salt Lake again next May to find this info. I have studied the geography of Sweden a lot over the last year too. I find it very interesting and absolutely necessary to properly research Swedish ancestors. I have had great luck finding many generations because I did study the maps and language etc before I ever started looking for the records. Thanks so much for your input.

Another question, do you know of any source for old newspaper articles in Sweden? I am particularly interested in Loftahammar, Kalmar. We had both parents in a family who drowned there on the same day in July 1842 and I am so very curious as to whether anything would show specific information other than the church parish records. I assume they may have been fishermen since it is coastal but certainly am not sure of this occupation.

Cheri Hopkins

Permalink Reply by Lynn Anderson on December 6, 2009 at 10:00am

I would suspect newpapers were not widely available outside of cities in pre-industrial Sweden. Distribution and cost would have been major problems. But it is worth a look to find a story about someone.

Permalink Reply by Lynn Anderson on December 6, 2009 at 9:17pm

Cheri
I just sent off an email to Västervik city library which seems to cover Loftahammar and asked if there was a newspaper in 1842 and iff archival copies exist.

Permalink Reply by Cheri Hopkins on December 7, 2009 at 1:56am

That is awesome. I do so much appreciate your help and will look forward to their response!

Cheri Hopkins

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