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.
For ancestors that are hard to find, the Genealogy Detective is a good tool.
Leave a free query about your ancestors, click here for details
NEW: We have recently purchased more microfiches from Ofoten parish, Nordland, Norway, 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 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 1890, and there is a chance that the name you are looking for, will be there.
Next, try several internet sites that cover Scandinavian names.
We have found the site mentioned below (Ancestry) is one of the best, because they allow free searches of records from the whole world.
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 .
Click here to go
to the Johansen Home page