Sweden Taxation

Depending upon the time period and the commonness of your ancestor's first and patronymic surname, Swedish tax lists or Mantalslängder can be used to prove continued residency, separate men of the same name, prove relationships, fill in for burned or missing church records, and extend a pedigree beyond the beginning of parish registers.

Some Swedish tax lists begin as early as 1620. Other's don't begin until the mid 1650s. They are arranged by Härad within the county. Each parish is then listed within the pages the härad covers in that year's list. They are not necessarily in alphabetical order, but as the record keeper took them, or rather copied them into the official book.

A parish listing could begin at the top, middle, or bottom of a page.

The farms are listed then listed in the order the record keeper visited them, not necessarily alphabetical order. The information given varied somewhat from time period to time period and area to area, but, the following pieces of information are generally found in all the lists, going across in columns. The first page of the härad must often be referred to to make sure you know what is being asked for or marked in each column. (INSERT TAX LIST HEADING):

1) The name of the farm or village area

2) the n