Until 1991 there was no program of civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in Sweden. This means that church records are the major source of information about births, deaths and marriages. A Royal decree in 1686 required ministers in the Evangelical Lutheran
Church to record births, marriages, deaths, and people who moved in and
out of the parish.
The State church excluded all other denominations from their records until 1858. After this, everyone had to accept to be registered by the State church, even if they were of a different religious denomination. From 1991, the local tax authorities took over this job.
An excellent description of the process required to research Swedish ancestors of the 1800s can be found in the December 2007 edition of the magazine Ancestor: quarterly journal of the Genealogical Society of Victoria (G 994.5 AN2G), in the article 'My search for Johan Edward Johanson' by Terry Johanson (p. 8-9).
BOOKS
‘Scandinavia' in The Family Tree guidebook to Europe
G 940 F21N
‘Sweden’ in In search of your European roots: a complete guide to tracing your ancestors in every country in Europe, 3rd ed.
G 940 B33I (2001)
Sweden: non British research starter kit
G 948.5 SW32G
One way passage: Swedish migrants to Australia in the James Sanderson Archive
G 948.5 H689O
ONLINE RESOURCES
The Ancestry Library Edition subscription database includes the following records:
- Värmland, Sweden, Parish Records, 1661-1895 (in Swedish)
- Swedish Emigration Records, 1783-1951 (in Swedish)
Anno 1890 Folkräkningen 1890 på nätet
http://www.foark.umu.se/census/Index.htm
Online searchable database of the 1890 Swedish census for the counties of Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Västernorrland, Jämtland and Värmland.
Demographic database for southern Sweden
http://www.ddss.nu/(S(yvfwrm45ovqcdzv22brmdeyt))/english/default.aspx
Searchable online databases containing information extracted from the original Swedish parish church records of births and baptisms, weddings, deaths and burials.
DISBYT - a Swedish gold mine for family history researchers
http://www.dis.se/dbyt_e_index.htm
Searchable online database of births, marriages and deaths of Swedes who lived before 1911. Full access to members of the Swedish Genealogical Computer Society, limited access to guests.
Genline - Research Swedish Genealogy Online and Discover your Swedish Ancestry and Heritage
This database contains images of original church records (16th to 20th century) for births, marriages, deaths and household
examinations.
The State Library of Victoria does not have a subscription to this database - patrons will needs to pay to access it. Some small sections of this data is available to search for free - check website for more information.
Släktdata - Föreningen
http://www.slaktdata.org/
Searchable Swedish parish registers.
AD Online (Arkiv Digital) (commercial website)
http://www.arkivdigital.net
Sweden's Church Records from the 17th through to the 19th century. Over 25 million colour images of original church records on-line.
SVAR - Swedish Archives Information - a Department of the National Archives
This database includes information about/scanned copies of records relating to births, deaths, marriages, seamen, convicts, and the censuses of 1900, 1880, 1870, and 1890. As of July 2008, the Archives are also in the process of scanning the Swedish population
register for the period 1642 to 1820.
The State Library of Victoria does not have a subscription to this database - patrons will needs to pay to access it. Some small sections of this data is available to search for free - check website for more information.
EMIWEB
http://www.emiweb.eu (subscription website)
Information about emigrants, collected by the church before a person left a parish. E.g. intention to go live in Melbourne, Australia (departed parish…)
Federation of Swedish Genealogical Societies
http://www.genealogi.se/
(Some parts of their website can be viewed in English)
Online forum http://aforum.genealogi.se/discus/
The forum allows users to ask questions of fellow genealogists. Heavily used. Many people post in English.
Research Guidance: Sweden Events and Time Periods
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/RG/frameset_rg.asp?Dest=E&Juris1=135
JewishGen - Scanadanavia
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/#Scandinavia
CD-ROMs
Swedish Death Index
CD-ROM available in the Genealogy Centre. Currently (as of March 2011) we have the index covering 1947-2006 loaded.
We have ordered a copy of the index which covers 1901-2009 (it is 70% complete for the years 1901 – 1946; a new edition will be released in a few years). It also includes some records from 1895 to 1901.
The index can include the following details:
- birth date
- place of birth
- where registered for taxation
- address when died
- sex
- marital status (including if divorced, widower)
- maiden name
Searching is quite sophisticated. You can search by marital status, age range. You can also browse by surname.
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