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Welcome to Norway Anno 1865

Have you ever tried to find your Norwegian ancestors? Have you been able to trace them back to 1865?

Did you know that 150 years ago all Norwegian citizens were counted and registered on their farms and in all the major cities? These registrations are available online, and you can find them for free in the Norwegian 1865 Census, in The Norwegian Digital Archives. I have used this source together with information from other sources to write the story of my ancestors. It has been a wonderful journey back in time, and I would love to share it with my family and friends, and possibly others who might find it interesting to learn about the life in Norway back in 1865.

Farmers and fishermen

The stories of my ancestors are mostly stories about farmers and fishermen. They lived on smaller farms and lived a life very different from the much wealthier landowners. They had to manage and learn how to survive through tough times. They were dependent on a good harvest to have enough food for everyone in the family, and the weather conditions gave them a lot of challenges, especially for the fishermen during the winter.

Large families

It was common to have large families with many children. The children could help out on the farm, but that also meant they had more mouths to feed. Sadly, a family could very often loose a child - or even the mother or the father in the family. In many of the stories of my ancestors, we can see that a loss of a mother or father could mean that the family had to split up. They would for instance have to place the children with other families to get through the difficulties. Under these conditions, it is easy to understand that nearly one million Norwegian citizens decided to emigrate to the United States of America in the 18th century.

Read the exciting stories of my ancestors.