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Your Swedish Roots: A Step by Step Handbook
Get a start on your Swedish family history with Your Swedish Roots, a step-by-step handbook to help guide you in researching your Swedish ancestors. First, learn general information about Sweden, Swedish naming practices, and the Swedish language. These basics will help you research names of ancestors and search through Swedish records with greater ease. Next, learn what Swedish records are available, where to find them, and how to use them. Swedish church records will be one of the most value to you, as they are very complete and well preserved. Finally, follow sample cases on particular Swedish families to learn helpful research steps for your own family history. As you learn about your Swedish ancestry, you will experience the rewarding feelings that come from seeking out and discovering your ancestors.
- GenresNonfictionReference
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 5, 2019
Your Swedish Roots is the first book in written in English by Per Clemensson and Kjell Andersson, experts on this topic and authors of many on the subject in Swedish.
The earlier definitive work on Swedish genealogy (there is only one), Cradled in Sweden (Everton Publishing, Provo UT, Revised Edition 1995), by Carl-Erik Johansson (1917-2000) is pre-Internet and even pre-CD. There are other differences between the two books. As one grows as a Swedish researcher, it makes sense to own and use both. Cradled in Sweden is a reference work - it is not easy to read. It contains the detailed information that is sometimes handled in Your Swedish Roots by directing readers to web sites.
For a newcomer, Your Swedish Roots is an excellent and inviting resource. While not ignoring the complexities of Swedish research, this book, by introducing approaches to finding the place of origin in Sweden and laying out thoughtfully chosen case studies, guides the reader through the processes.
The book is rich with knowledge. It can pretty much be read straight through and referred to later on. Its strengths include many images that take one back to the ancestral lands, and logical comprehensive treatment of primary records. There are plenty of photographs and drawings of farmhouses, churches, and the ships that transported so many Swedish emigrants to America. Transcriptions of Old Swedish and translations into English accompany reproductions of birth, marriage, death, and household examination records. Preprinted forms were used even several hundred years ago. I personally have struggled with the headings on many such forms and was pleased to find example translations and explanations.
For Americans of Swedish decent the details about life in Sweden are illuminating. One picture shows a pre-1900 bride in a black dress, "practical since she could use it for other occasions."
Drang and Piga are terms denoting an individual's occupation and social status that appear it seems in most Swedish marriage records. In Your Swedish Roots, these are general terms meaning young man and young woman, respectively. In Cradled in Sweden they come out as farm hand and maidservant. I accept both sets of definitions even though the former has the hint of political correctness.
The authors stress flexibility. Even though a parish is named in a record, it may not be the parish where the individual was born and raised. In the 1879 passenger list of the Steamship Orlando, Gustav Adolf Rapp's birthplace is incorrectly given as Carlsborg parish in Skaraborgs province. The authors show other records that refute that information: Gustav was born in Ransberg parish.
This book is blatantly welcoming. Its final chapters (14 through 17) are devoted to researching in Sweden, traveling in Sweden and "meeting the Swedish family." Chapter 17 is a smorgasbord covering all of Sweden's provinces. It was the only part of the book I could not breeze through, more reference material than prose.
Helpful appendices include a dictionary of Swedish words in frequent use in parish records, abbreviations used in the records, and a list of genealogical societies in Sweden.
Per Clemensson and Kjell Andersson are responsible for good work. They open the door for many Swedish-Americans interested in family history. There is room for a sequel or two with additional case studies. These might go further back in time with records of the 1600s and 1700s or feature some examples very rich in historical detail. Tongue in cheek - a few titles come to mind: Your Swedish Rootsson, Mor Your Swedish Roots, and Mormor Your Swedish Roots.
Books about Sweden in English are pretty hard to come by. In my own small collection of rare finds, Your Swedish Roots finds a welcome spot next to The Soul of the North (2000) by Neil Kent and This Land of Sweden (1946) by Prince William.
The earlier definitive work on Swedish genealogy (there is only one), Cradled in Sweden (Everton Publishing, Provo UT, Revised Edition 1995), by Carl-Erik Johansson (1917-2000) is pre-Internet and even pre-CD. There are other differences between the two books. As one grows as a Swedish researcher, it makes sense to own and use both. Cradled in Sweden is a reference work - it is not easy to read. It contains the detailed information that is sometimes handled in Your Swedish Roots by directing readers to web sites.
For a newcomer, Your Swedish Roots is an excellent and inviting resource. While not ignoring the complexities of Swedish research, this book, by introducing approaches to finding the place of origin in Sweden and laying out thoughtfully chosen case studies, guides the reader through the processes.
The book is rich with knowledge. It can pretty much be read straight through and referred to later on. Its strengths include many images that take one back to the ancestral lands, and logical comprehensive treatment of primary records. There are plenty of photographs and drawings of farmhouses, churches, and the ships that transported so many Swedish emigrants to America. Transcriptions of Old Swedish and translations into English accompany reproductions of birth, marriage, death, and household examination records. Preprinted forms were used even several hundred years ago. I personally have struggled with the headings on many such forms and was pleased to find example translations and explanations.
For Americans of Swedish decent the details about life in Sweden are illuminating. One picture shows a pre-1900 bride in a black dress, "practical since she could use it for other occasions."
Drang and Piga are terms denoting an individual's occupation and social status that appear it seems in most Swedish marriage records. In Your Swedish Roots, these are general terms meaning young man and young woman, respectively. In Cradled in Sweden they come out as farm hand and maidservant. I accept both sets of definitions even though the former has the hint of political correctness.
The authors stress flexibility. Even though a parish is named in a record, it may not be the parish where the individual was born and raised. In the 1879 passenger list of the Steamship Orlando, Gustav Adolf Rapp's birthplace is incorrectly given as Carlsborg parish in Skaraborgs province. The authors show other records that refute that information: Gustav was born in Ransberg parish.
This book is blatantly welcoming. Its final chapters (14 through 17) are devoted to researching in Sweden, traveling in Sweden and "meeting the Swedish family." Chapter 17 is a smorgasbord covering all of Sweden's provinces. It was the only part of the book I could not breeze through, more reference material than prose.
Helpful appendices include a dictionary of Swedish words in frequent use in parish records, abbreviations used in the records, and a list of genealogical societies in Sweden.
Per Clemensson and Kjell Andersson are responsible for good work. They open the door for many Swedish-Americans interested in family history. There is room for a sequel or two with additional case studies. These might go further back in time with records of the 1600s and 1700s or feature some examples very rich in historical detail. Tongue in cheek - a few titles come to mind: Your Swedish Rootsson, Mor Your Swedish Roots, and Mormor Your Swedish Roots.
Books about Sweden in English are pretty hard to come by. In my own small collection of rare finds, Your Swedish Roots finds a welcome spot next to The Soul of the North (2000) by Neil Kent and This Land of Sweden (1946) by Prince William.
July 21, 2008
In my opinion this is the second best book on Swedish genealogy. The first being Cradled in Sweden by Carl Erik Johansson. Your Swedish Roots takes the most basic and essential information in Johansson's book and makes it prettier and more accessible to beginners.
There are a wealth of pictures which aren't really necessary but are certainly visually appealing, making it more like a coffee table book. There is a great deal of space dedicated to planning a trip to Sweden, which is interesting, but slightly off topic.
The intended audience seems to be the beginner genealogist, as it provides more basic "how to" information. The author's own family is used as an example; basically walking the reader through the use of the Swedish records to find genealogical detials: birth, death, marriage dates, place and date of emmigration, etc.
There is a great chapter on internet sources which is quite up to date. However, the veteran Swedish genealogist will probably know of these already.
Basically, if you're just starting out and want a simple "user friendly" guide to the Swedish records, this is definitely the book for you. If you've already done some research and want more in depth details on the various records, Cradled in Sweden is the book to get. If you already have Cradled than this book is rather redundant. Although, I can see it working quite well as a conversation-starting, coffee table book.
There are a wealth of pictures which aren't really necessary but are certainly visually appealing, making it more like a coffee table book. There is a great deal of space dedicated to planning a trip to Sweden, which is interesting, but slightly off topic.
The intended audience seems to be the beginner genealogist, as it provides more basic "how to" information. The author's own family is used as an example; basically walking the reader through the use of the Swedish records to find genealogical detials: birth, death, marriage dates, place and date of emmigration, etc.
There is a great chapter on internet sources which is quite up to date. However, the veteran Swedish genealogist will probably know of these already.
Basically, if you're just starting out and want a simple "user friendly" guide to the Swedish records, this is definitely the book for you. If you've already done some research and want more in depth details on the various records, Cradled in Sweden is the book to get. If you already have Cradled than this book is rather redundant. Although, I can see it working quite well as a conversation-starting, coffee table book.
January 28, 2019
Researching my Swedish ancestors was difficult for me, as I had no experience with the records available and how to access them. This book is extremely helpful in beginning to understand the records available, how they've changed over time, and how to interpret what you find in them. It offers those who do not speak Swedish, translations for commonly found words and abbreviations found in the Parish records. This is an important resource for those not familiar with performing research in Sweden. Like most books more than a few years old, any references to specific online resources are bound to be dated, and inaccurate, or missing important resources that are now available. This is the case with this book as well. Many records are now available online through multiple sources, that were not available or single sourced when this book was written. Some resources mentioned as stand alone web sites are now rolled under ancestry. It will be necessary to revisit the internet access methods, but the book is still a valuable resource for interpreting what's available and how to use the original sources. The case studies are particularly helpful.
January 10, 2019
It was basic but very helpful.
May 23, 2011
This book actually demystified Swedish church records and I now know where to look for them and how to translate key words so I can distiguish between different types of records and find the information I am looking for. I am currently reading through "household examination" records by the thousands on Ancestry.com and feeling confident about it. It's great.
December 29, 2016
Very well written and complete step by step instructions. A couple images of example documents were incomplete (printing errors?) but didn't detract too much from the point illustrated. It would also be well served by an update including resources available from ArkivDigital. However, the lists of common translations and abbreviations will keep this copy handy as I find my Swedish ancestors.
September 26, 2010
Okay, so I didn't actually read this one cover to cover. It's more of a reference book for Swedish genealogical research, and it is excellent. It has tons of good information and lots of great pictures.
June 1, 2009
Probably the best Swedish genealogy handbook that I've come across!!
Now if I could only find a book that focuses primarily on Czech genealogy.
Now if I could only find a book that focuses primarily on Czech genealogy.
Read
January 8, 2011It is good for what it offers and is somewhat prosaic reading.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews