Scandinavian Marriage Records-More than just Names

Happy Valentine’s month! I hope you’ve had a great week. I also hope you had a great Valentine’s Day yesterday. We will be talking about Scandinavian marriage records in a minute because marriage records are a great topic to talk about for the month of February. But first let me tell you about my Valentine’s day.

It was a normal day for me, but I chose to do small special things throughout the day. I put a small card and chocolate in my husband’s car the night before because he leaves for work before I wake up. So he got to discover his little treat on the way to work.  I was hoping to start his day off on the right foot.

I gave a little stuffed animal and candy to my daughter in the morning before school and she wanted to take it with her.  She didn’t like my answer when I had to say no, but the animal would be well loved at home. Then I gave myself some chocolates. 

I also made a Valentine’s dinner complete with dessert, which I never do.  I usually do only the minimal requirements for dinner because I just want to get it done so I can move on to more enjoyable things! However, when it’s a special occasion, I do enjoy taking the time to plan a special meal and share it with the family. Sometimes I even make a themed dinner.  Of course, my daughter didn’t eat it, but that’s OK.

My most favorite part was creating “love cards” and sending them out to friends, neighbors, etc. I wrote a simple phrase of “You are Loved” on the card and stuck it in their mailbox or front door. That’s it! I didn’t expect any feedback from them when they got the card, but I did it to show love and to feel love. It reminds me how simple it is to show love.  I didn’t have to do a grand thing to show love unless I wanted to.  I usually don’t want to put in that much effort so I stick with simple ways. In the end, I still feel the love that I want to feel without anybody else’s help. It works for me!

Anyway, let’s talk about genealogy! Specifically, let’s talk about what to look for on Scandinavian marriage records when you find them.

1. Dates

If the record has two places for dates, then one spot is for engagement dates and the other is for a marriage date. This happens for all Scandinavian countries. If you don’t see two dates, then it’s usually a marriage date that’s on the marriage record. Now some countries in certain times did have a separate engagement book and marriage book.  The engagement books are called “banns registry” and would list witnesses, the couple, engagement dates, etc.  The marriage book would then have only the marriage date and the people involved on that day.

In addition, most marriage records will include birthdates and places of the couple and sometimes of the parents. This is important for researching the correct ancestor and for finding birth records if you haven’t already found them.

2. Witnesses

Many of the witnesses are relatives.  This is especially important when one of the relatives is hard to find in other records.  Some people didn’t have a lot of documentation in their lives for whatever reason.  Therefore, when they were witnesses to a relative’s marriage, then we can place that relative in its context. In addition, professional genealogists use a tool called the “FAN Club.”  It’s an acronym for looking at an ancestor’s friends, associates, and neighbors to find more documents for that person. This is the case for marriage records as well.  Witnesses are important!

3. Residences

Marriage records will almost always list the residence of the couple and the residence of the parents. It might be birthplaces or it might be the current residence that’s listed, but a residence will be listed on the record. Pay attention to that because residences will help you get the correct ancestor and it will get you another generation to research.  

In addition, the witnesses will have residences behind their names in some records.  This helps to learn where they are living at the time of the marriage. This is needed to help track their movements if they are hard to find in other documents.  

Last Thoughts

Those are the three main things to look for on marriage records in general. Sweden has some additional things to look for, but I won’t go into detail about that here. I will write another post on Swedish marriage records. If you have any questions about Swedish records now, then just email me or comment and I will be happy to answer any questions. For other posts about marriage records go here and here.

In the meantime, how is your search going for Scandinavian marriage records? What have you discovered about your family? Has any of your family helped you in your search? Do you still have questions about Scandinavian marriage records? Some of these records can be a little tricky to decipher and track down. For more help on Scandinavian Church Records try Family Search Wiki. This link will have general information about Scandinavia with more direct links to your specific country.

Don’t give up! I’m here if you need me or I can hopefully direct you to a facility or website that can help you specifically. Those records are out there! Just keep moving forward!

Good luck and happy hunting!

Tiffany