Norway, Emigration Registers, 1867-1959

1,001,744 records

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Immigration & Travel

Immigration & Emigration Records

Norway, Emigration Registers, 1867-1959

Norway, Emigration Registers, 1867-1959

1,001,744 records

This is a collection of records created between 1867 and 1959 by local police departments tasked to assist emigrants leaving Norway for foreign ports. Accordingly these records are sometimes referred to as the Norwegian Police Emigration Lists (Norwegian: Emigrasjonsprotokoll). In these records, for each emigrant, you will find his or her name, gender, departure date or year, last known residence, and other informational items depending on the time period including the emigrant’s birth date, marital status, declared destination, birth place, and ship or shipping line that were to transport them from Norway. Most of the ships during this time period operated as “feeder ships” which carried passengers to larger ports in Europe or the British Isles where the emigrant would transfer to other ships for their transoceanic voyage.<br><br>Starting in 1867 the police in Norway were tasked to ensure that emigrants were being treated fairly as unethical practices had developed among some of the companies and their agents selling tickets to carry passengers abroad. Emigrants were being placed on dangerously overcrowded vessels and some were being tricked into signing contracts to cover some or all of the cost of their ticket through unscrupulous and abusive labor requirements upon arrival at their destination. The reforms instituted by the Norwegian government between 1867 and 1869 were designed to prevent the predation of these emigrants departing from Norwegian ports and follows similar practices instituted in Sweden and Denmark.<br><br>The manner in which these records were collected by the police mean that these records are not “passenger lists” but rather registers of people declaring their intention to emigrate through purchasing tickets and showing the accompanying contracts required by Norwegian law since 1867. Part of the process of purchasing a ticket was appearing at the police station with an approved agent and an approved contract which were inspected by the police. Emigrants were entered into these registers as they appeared at the police station and are mixed together in the registers regardless of which ship they were booked to take, the exact date of departure, or which destination they intended to reach. Usually emigrants departed within a few days of their enrollment in these registers.

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Immigration & Emigration Records

Norway

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