User:SvareJM/Sandbox/Finland Sample Parish

Guide to Kalvola parish, Finland ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Online Records

 * Astia - Access digitized materials from the National Archives of Finland (Kansallisarkisto)
 * Digihakemisto (Digital Index) - This is a application to view and crowdsource indexes for materials available on Astia
 * HisKi - Finnish Genealogical Society's index to parish registers of births, marriages, and deaths. It does not include communion (rippikirjat / kommunionböcker) and pre-confirmation books.
 * Finland's Family History Association--SSHY (Suomen Sukuhistoriallinen Yhdistys) - Images of parish registers. Subscription offers additional resources. ($)

Indexed Collections

 * MyHeritage.com: Finland Church Census and Pre-Confirmation Books, 1657-1915. "Census books" here refers to communion books.
 * Digihakemisto (Digital Directory). In the left sidebar, select your parish. A menu for the parish will show these records, in addition to births, marriages, and deaths.
 * Finland's Family History Association--SSHY (Suomen Sukuhistoriallinen Yhdistys). Click on "Church Records" in the left sidebar.  Select your parish from the list that comes up. Some of the features of this website are available at no cost. It appears that the paid subscription version (which is very reasonable) gives access to additional records not found with the free version.
 * In the Finnish National Archives these records are in the church books for each parish.Choose the parish you need from the archives listed in the "Tree View".

The Swedish name for this parish is Kangais.

History
Kalvola is a former municipality of Finland and its seat was in Iittala. It was consolidated with Hämeenlinna on 1 January 2009. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region. The municipality was unilingually Finnish.

Villages
As of 1939 the following villages were found in this parish: Ahlajärvi, Iittala, Kalvola, Kuurila.

Place Names
To see what kind of place it is you will need a Finnish gazetteer.
 * Ahlajärvi
 * Bertula
 * Canganpä, Cåntio, Cutila, Cuttis
 * Erola, Eskola
 * Frantsila
 * Greula
 * Haapaniemi, Heikkilä, Heinus, Hemmilä, Hietajärvi, Hietamäki, Hitula, Hommois, Hommonen, Huti
 * Ihalaho, Ilomäki, Itala, Iittala
 * Jokiharvia, Jyrämo, Järvenpää,
 * Kaarnavalkama, Kankaanpaa, Kaaro, Kallio, Kalliomäki, Kari, Keickala, Keikkala, Kirkkomäki, Kotkaniemi, Kopio, Korho, Kraakkula, Krusila, Kuttis, Kyhkyinen
 * Lautaporras, Lehmämäki, Linduma, Lintunen
 * Mansikkamäki, Mölsä
 * Niemelä, Niemis, Nisumäki, Nummela,
 * Ohtis, Oikola, Ojajärvi, Orjanhirsi
 * Paakois, Peräkarvia, Pidätys, Pyhälä, Pykelä, Pusa
 * Rajala, Rengi
 * Sauvala, Seppälä, Siivola, Sillanpää, Siltala, Sipila, Sipila, Siukola, Suonpää, Sääksniemi
 * Taljahonka, Taljala, Talvitie, Tarpeeniemi, Taulama, Taxniemi, Tiitinen, Titilä, Toijanen, Tuomola
 * Unois
 * Wahteristo, Wastamäki, Wehkoma, Wehmais, Wichtilä, Wälivehmas, Wätulo, Wäärämäki
 * Äijänpää

Writing to the Local Parish
If you have not found your parish records in the above collections, the next step is to write to the parish. Also, the Family History Library does not have recent church records, due to privacy. But private information can be given to family members who write to the local parishes in Finland. If you do not speak Finnish, you may write your letter in English. In your letter, include a statement that you are willing to pay for the services you request. You will be billed when the research has been completed. Response time will vary, so be patient.


 * For addresses of parishes throughout Finland: Parish Contact Information
 * For details on writing to Finnish-speaking or Swedish-speaking parishes, discontinued parishes, payment methods, etc., consult the Finland Letter Writing Guide
 * A [[Media:Finland_Form_Letter.pdf|convenient printable form letter is provided here]] for writing to Finnish speaking parishes.
 * A [[Media:Sweden_Form_Letter_.pdf|convenient printable form letter is provided here]] for writing to Swedish speaking parishes.
 * You should copy the letter and fill in the appropriate blanks. A separate request form should be used when requesting detailed information on a spouse or child. Make sure you type or neatly print your letter and, when necessary, add any diacritical marks and special characters (such as å, ä, ö) with a pen.
 * If the form letters do not cover the records you want, you can write your request in English.

Related Sources
Finland Online Genealogy Records Ask the Community

Reading the Records

 * Since Finnish was not an official language in Finland until 1863, most records were written in Swedish. To do research in these records, you will need to know some Swedish and Finnish key words and phrases (such as born, died, mother, father, etc.), but you do not have to be fluent in the language.


 * Key words and a glossary of somewhat less common words are found in the Finnish Genealogical Word List and the Swedish Genealogical Word List. This interactive dictionary allows you to enter a word in the search box and receive the translation: Swedish Historical Dictionary Database, SHDD.
 * Online lessons are available to teach you how to read old Scandinavian handwriting:
 * Scandinavian Handwriting
 * Scandinavian Handwriting, part 3 - No part 2 available
 * Reading Gothic Handwriting for Swedish Genealogy, Lesson 1
 * Spelling and Phonetics for Swedish Genealogy, Lesson 2 — Names, dates, and key genealogical words
 * Reading Gothic Handwriting for Swedish Genealogy: Put It All Together, Lesson 3
 * Birth and Christening Records for Swedish Genealogy


 * Instructions, document examples, and translations are given for Reading Swedish Birth and Christening Records 1717, 1752, 1771, 1792, 1803, 1834, 1854.

Search Strategies
When you begin using church records, it is usually best to first verify the information you already have before you try to find new information. The following steps may be helpful as you use Finnish church records:
 * 1) Find a person’s birth record. Write down the name of the parents and the place where the family was living. You will then be able to find the person in more records.
 * 2) Search the communion records and pre-confirmation rolls of that parish for the date when the family was there for the birth you just located. Note all information about the family, including names, birth dates, birthplaces, marriage and death dates, and moving information. You will now have much more information about the family.
 * 3) Search the birth, marriage, and death records to verify the information you found in the communion and pre-confirmation books.
 * 4) Search the communion records and pre-confirmation rolls for all the years the family lived there. Start with the year of the parents marriage and go until the family dies out.

Repeat steps 1 to 3 for the person’s parents, siblings, or other persons of interest.

If you do not find earlier generations, search neighboring parishes. These step-by-step case studies with illustrations show how to apply these strategies:
 * Finland: A Case Study Using HisKi and Digitized Online Church Records


 * FINDING RECORDS OF YOUR ANCESTORS, PART A FINLAND Before 1900
 * Beginner’s Guide to Finnish Family History Research