Sweden, Household Examination Books, 1880-1930
Description
Household Examination Books were created and kept by the Swedish Lutheran Church and are an important source for researching Swedish families from the late 1600s to modern times. Each year until 1894 the Parish Priest would visit each home in the parish and test each individual's knowledge of the catechisms. In addition, they would collect birth, death, and marriage dates as well as where families had moved to or from and when, etc. The priest would then come back each year and update or edit the information from the previous year and note any changes in the population of the home. After 1894 the examinations were less focused on doctrinal knowledge and more focused on enumerating the Swedish population. The Swedish Lutheran Church kept the official records of the Swedish population until 1991.