Clerical Surveys/Household Examinations/Husförhöslängd

The Household Examinations are one of the best resources for Swedish Family History.  They are a perpetual census.  The parish priest would usually update them in the fall of each year.  Searching them can range from easy to hard.  Once you know the farm name you want to look at you have to find it.  On www.genline.com some Husförhöslängd have the farms and villages listed so can see what images go with which farm/village.  When this is not done, you want to find a village index with in the record.

The example I am using is Våxtorp.  Here we find the following household examinations.  (I have indicated whether or not there is a village index.)

• 1760-1763 no village index
• 1766-1769 no village index
• 1772-1781 no village index
• 1780-1783 no village index
• 1785-1790 no village index
• 1790-1793 no village index
• 1794-1796 no village index
• 1799 village index
• 1799-1802 no village index
• 1801-1803 no village index
• 1807-1814 index
• 1823-1826 index
• 1826-1831 index
• 1831-1840 index
• 1840-1848 index
• 1848-1856 no index
• 1850-1861 no index
• 1857-1861 index
• 1861-1869 index
• 1869-1877 index in back

Usually the index is towards the beginning of the record.  This may have been created by the priest or added later by an archivist.  It is also handy that the villages usually follow the same order in each list.

In 1826-1831 we find a typed list

This will make searching other Husförhösländer easier.  The farm and village names are clear and easy to read.  However, you may have a village index like the 1799 or 1807-1814.

1799

1807-1814

And here we see poor image quality.

1814-1823

1823-1826

1857-1861

1861-1869

1869-1877

If we did not have the typed example this village index is very clear and easy to read. 

You can use the indexes that are easier to read to help familiarize yourself with the Gothic handwriting used by the priests.  It will also help you with the spelling of the farm or village you are interested in.