Tax records are great, if often overlooked, resources for Swedish genealogical research. In many parishes these records are especially important as they pre-date the beginning of household examinations, and they may be found when the local parish records have been destroyed, as multiple copies of tax records where kept in more than one location.
Example of an ArkivDigital filming of an 1820 Mantalslängd for Backe Parish, Göteborgs och Bohus Län
There are several types of taxes that have been collected in Sweden since the early 1600s, perhaps the most important being the mantal. The mantal was collected yearly in each parish. The original was retained by the district registrar (Häradsskrivare), and copies were kept at a regional office (Landskontor) and a national copy was kept at the Kammararkiv (now at the Swedish National Archives.) Today, there may be one, two, three, or sometimes no copies left. ArkivDigital has filmed many of the district and regional copies and now they are filming the national copies. They are focusing first on the tax lists that do not exist at the local or regional levels. You can read more about their plans here.
The district registrar original may have more information than the regional and national copies, and should be preferred if multiple copies exist. But it is always a good idea to review all existing versions. This blog post will describe how to find digitized versions of the tax lists on ArkivDigital, later posts will discuss how to use and understand what is on the list.
The tax lists can be a bit difficult to find because they can be in several different locations on ArkivDigital. The national level lists can be found by using the “New Archive Search” (Swedish Version: “Ny Arkivsökning”) and searching for “Chamber Archive” (Swedish: “Kammararkiv”).
Swedish version of the search to find list of national copies of the tax lists that have been digitized by ArkivDigital
The regional level lists can be found by using the “New Archive Search” (Swedish Version: “Ny Arkivsökning”) and searching for “Country Office” (Swedish: “Landskontor”).
English version of the search to find list of regional copies of the tax lists that have been digitized by ArkivDigital
The district originals can be a bit more difficult to find because they can be in several different archives. The majority are in the “District Registrar” archives (Swedish: Häradsskrivare) but you may also have to do a New Archive Search/Ny Arkivsökning in:
English / Swedish
“Kommunalborgmästare” / “Kommunalborgmästare”,
“Crown Bailiff” / “Kronofoged”,
“Kronokamrer” / “Kronokamrer”,
“Crown Treasurer” / “Kronokassör”,
“Census Office” / “Mantalskontor”, or
“Taxation Authority” / “Uppbördsverk”.
Once you the New Archives Search returns a list of options it may be by län (county) or härad (district). You will need to know the härad your parish is located in. Note: härad boundaries changed over time so make sure you are looking in the correct place for the given time. Once you have found the appropriate härad, scroll through to find your parish, and then in most cases the villages and farms will be listed and scroll to your desired location.
If household examination records do not exist, tax records may be the only way for you to reconstruct families. While these records can pose some challenges, they can be vital to your research!