Rogaland     Formerly called "Stavanger amt", Rogaland 'fylke' is located on the southwestern coast of Norway. It includes such places as Egersund, Jæren, Haugesund, Ryfylke, Sandnes, and Stavanger. Today the population of Rogaland is approximately 374,000 - about 8% of the population of Norway. It has some of the best agricultural land in Norway, and produces more agricultural products than any other county in Norway. In addition, this county has the largest number of employees in the manufacturing sector of any county in Norway, and it is also the center of North Sea oil and gas activity. Stavanger, the administrative center of this 'fylke', is the oil capital of Norway.     Rogaland has historically been divided into four regions: Dalane, Jæren, Nord Rogaland, and Ryfylke. There are 26 'kommuner' (municipalities) in Rogaland, 4 of which are cities: Eigersund, Haugesund, Sandnes, and Stavanger. The official Rogaland county web site has some information in English about Rogaland.

1. Genealogy organizations

DIS-Rogaland is a local chapter of the Norwegian genealogy organization DIS-Norge. The web site is in Norwegian, but there is a link for "Etterlysninger / Research" where you can post queries about your Rogaland ancestors.

DIS-Haugaland is a local chapter of the Norwegian genealogy organization DIS-Norge. (The web site is in Norwegian).

Slektsforum Karmøy was founded in November, 1996. This genealogy club focuses on genealogy, family history and all kinds of information related to Karmøy, a "kommune" located north-east of Stavanger. (Karmøy kommune includes the two towns Kopervik and Skudeneshavn, and such smaller places as Åkrehamn and Norheim).

Rogalandslag - a bygdelag of the descendents of Rogaland that emigrated to the USA. It meets yearly with several other bygdelag for a stevne (meeting) that combines genealogy and heritage.

2. Rogaland resources

Census records

• Rogaland census records & more (listed by municipality) from the Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen. You can also search nationwide by going to the Digitalarkivet home page or by using the links below.
• Manntall (Census) 1663-66 Stavanger amt I from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Manntall (Census) 1663-66 Stavanger amt II from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Manntall (Census) 1663-66 Stavanger amt III from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• 1801 census - Rogaland from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• 1865 census - Rogaland from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen. Also available at The Norwegian Historical Data Centre (RHD) at the University of Tromsø
• 1875 census (incomplete) from The Norwegian Historical Data Centre (RHD) at the University of Tromsø
• 1900 census - Rogaland from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen. Also available at The Norwegian Historical Data Centre (RHD) at the University of Tromsø
• Other Rogaland census records from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.

Other records

• Tax lists from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Military rolls from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Church registers from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Emigration records from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Probate registers from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Fire assessment registers from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Citizenship (Borgerskap) records from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Other records from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• The Digital Inn from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• 1886 Matrikkelen from The Norwegian Historical Data Centre (RHD) at the University of Tromsø
• Births in Jelsa, 1884 - 1904 (transcibed from church records) provided by slektsdata.com
• Sjeleregister over Jelsa sogn og Sand Anneks sogn 1758 (register of souls - congregation membership list) provided by slektsdata.com
• Miscellaneous other Rogaland resources provided by slektsdata.com

 
 
• See also Rogaland kilder from the web site Slektshistoriske kilder 1500-1900 by the Norwegian genealogy organization DIS-Norge. This web site has extensive links to various genealogy databases for each fylke in Norway. (In Norwegian with some English)

 

Bygdebooks

•   Rogaland bygdebooks is a list of the bygdebooks that cover various areas in Rogaland. (Updated 10 October 2002)
• The Jelsa bygdebok is now online!
• The Kvitsøy bygdebok (draft) is also online!
•   The Ęttesoge for Sokndal - An "internet bygdebok" is also online!

 

LDS Family History Library online catalog

• The LDS Family History Library Catalog is now on the Internet. The link is to the "Place search" page of the web site. In addition, don't forget the International Genealogical Index (IGI) and the other databases available on the LDS web site. To make your search a little easier, I have created the following list of clerical districts in Rogaland:

3. Rogaland regions and 'kommuner'

1. Dalane Region: Bjerkreim, Eigersund, Lund, and Sokndal.
2. Jæren Region: Gjesdal, Hå, Klepp, Randaberg, Sandnes, Sola, Stavanger, and Time.
3. Nord-Rogaland Region: Bokn, Haugesund, Karmøy, Tysvær, Utsira, Vindafjord, and Ølen.
4. Ryfylke Region: Finnøy, Forsand, Hjelmeland, Kvitsøy, Rennesøy, Sauda, Strand and Suldal.

4. Rogaland maps

Large map of Rogaland from the NORWAY LIST Web Site. Kommune names are underlined.

5. Rogaland genealogy query pages

Slektsbiblioteket Queries is a new and very promising Norway query page.

Rogaland genealogist from Slektsforskerbasen (in Norwegian)

[email protected] mailing list archives is another often overlooked resource. You can search the archive to find out if others are researching the same families or places in Norway, and then contact them.
 

6. Rogaland museums

Krossens Havremølle Museum - The Krossens Oats Mill museum in Sandnes.

Stavanger Museum. The museum consists of four separate departments: the Zoological Department, the Ethnological Department, Stavanger Maritime Museum, and the Norwegian Canning Museum.
 

7. Miscellaneous Rogaland web sites

Stavanger History Guide is absolutely fantastic! This is the web page where you can read about the copper used to build the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor!

Terje Bakkalia has a very nice home page, with an ahnentafel as well as an alphabetical list of his ancestors.

Michael Van Baaren's home page with ahnentafels of his ancestors.

Willy's genealogy web page has a great deal of genealogy information about his ancestors from Hordaland, Rogaland and Agder. You will find 2,500 names on his family tree on this web page!

Stein Norem Wisted has a great genealogy page about Sokndal in Dalane, Rogaland. Here you can read about two women who, in 1620, were accused of being witches in Sokndal. On the Norwegian version of his web page you can read old census and tax records from Sokndal, farm histories from Sokndal up to 1800, and the incredible story about a child that was snatched by an eagle in 1879!

Welcome to the Norwegian Riviera - local history and genealogy information from Tananger, the biggest community in the municipality of Sola.

Ket Henriksen's genealogy page with ancestors from Rogaland, Hordaland, and Vest-Agder. (In Norwegian).

A Family Tree From The Western Norway by Gudny Ferkingstad and Olaf Lund from Karmøy.

Slekts side for Ivar Vølstad includes surnames from Sandnes, Høyland, Gjesdal, Høle, and Jæren. (In Norwegian)

Unofficial home page for Egersund by Bjørn Roger Rasmussen includes many photos and a brief history of the town of Egersund.

Karmøy kommune - history, coastal culture, tourist information and more.

Bilder fra Karmøy photographs from Karmøy (text is in Norwegian)

Stavanger akkurat nå! web cam showing Stavanger.

RogBase contains comprehensive information about Rogaland, including a web page on the Municipalities of Rogaland.