If you like us to help with your research, leave a query about your ancestors in our guestbook,
click here for details
or send an email if you prefer, to find out if we can help you, and how much it would cost,
by clicking here
.
To include details from Norway, Sweden and Denmark in your family tree, the
main sources are census and church records, but there are more and more
publications on internet and in books.
If you are in a hurry, try some of these links. They are among the largest
Genealogy search engines. Otherwise, see below for more information.
Ancestry allows free searches for ancestors in Scandinavia.
MyTrees also allows free searches for ancestors in Scandinavia.
To search genealogical and other items at two of internet's biggest book stores
(in US and UK), click here
We have purchased microfiches from Denmark,
Norway and Sweden, click here for
details
To start your research, check with your family members. Do any of them know
anything more than you about your Scandinavian family? If so, you are already
on the way to finding the details you need.
You can at the same time visit the places where your ancestors lived, take
photographs or video. You may be able to find some information from the people
who live there now.
Many Scandinavian families enjoy having a visit from tourists from overseas,
especially if it could be a distant relation.
Your trip could be an experience you will never forget.
If they are difficult to find, we can contact them on your behalf.
If that is difficult, we can do the research for you.
We have purchased records on microfiche from Scandinavia, both church records and
census records. There is a chance that we have the information you are looking
for already.
If not, we can check internet and/or order and check the records for you.
We need the name of the parish (or location), and the year (or date) of birth,
confirmation, marriage or death of the ancestor that you would like to
research.
There is a fee payable for this (we have to pay fees ourselves to do this).
Click here to see the census and church
records we currently have on microfiche.
To continue, there is a choice. Listed below are the options, from the most
expensive (but the best), to the cheapest. Click on them for more details.
1. Go to Scandinavia and visit the archives
The most expensive, but also the most rewarding way, is to go
to Scandinavia, visit the archives and do the research
yourself. Most of the archives have English speaking staff available to find
the books, microfiches or microfilms you need to check.
2. Contact a researcher in Scandinavia
The second most expensive way, is to hire a researcher in
Scandinavia to do the research for you. Lists of researchers
are available from several internet locations in Scandinavia. Note that
it may be difficult to control cost at times, if the researcher is far from
you.
3. Find a researcher locally that can help you
A cheaper way is to have someone do the research for you
locally. You may find a researcher who is fluent in the
Scandinavian languages where you live.
To find out if we can help you, and how much it would cost, please send us an
email with your enquiry by clicking here
.
The IGI covers more than two percent of the Scandinavian records before 1900, and there is a chance that the name you are looking for, will be there.
Next, try several internet sites that cover Scandinavian names, for example this one.
Whether you find the name you are looking for or not, the next step is to check parish or census records for the place your ancestor came from. Denmark and Norway are gradually putting more and more census records on internet, which can be searched nationally (in Norway) or by county (in Denmark).
Sweden is putting more church records on internet, but have some of the 1890 census available free. All 1890 and 1900 census can be searched for a price.
But the safest thing is to go to the Genealogical Library and order a microfilm with parish records (or census records if available) for the area of the country where your ancestor was born.
Genealogical Libraries (also called Family History Centres) are found in many major cities.
They charge a fee for each microfilm ordered, and it could take several months before the film reaches the library.
However, most records are in handwritten Gothic Scandinavian language. If you need to learn some basic words, there are books available at libraries, book-shops, or there are courses arranged.
If you happen to be close to Brisbane, Australia, there is a Scandinavian Group of the Genealogical Society of Queensland in that city.
They have collected many genealogical books, atlases, maps and records from Scandinavia.
The group meets usually on the third Sunday of every second month, and sometimes have guest speakers talking about Scandinavian research and migration.
If you would like more information about the meetings, please send an email to us by clicking here .