[The Swedish censuses, from the first census year 1860 to the year 1945, were fundamentally different than censuses in other countries. In Sweden the censuses were not taken by census workers going out with a questionnaire and interviewing people in their homes. Instead the censuses were taken by vicars and parish priests who made extracts from the already existing catechetical registers (1860-1890) and parish books (1900-1945).]

Catechetical register (all counties in Sweden, except the city of Stockholm)

Example from Gävle Heliga Trefaldighets parish, Gävle city, for the years 1886-1890.

_____ Name of estate

Column 1

____ Name in full of every person

____ Position in family for every person

____ Occupation (office, trade)

____ Nationality (mention if foreign nationality)

____ Disability (mentally ill, idiot, blind, deaf-mute)

Column 2
____ Birth year

Column 3

____ Birth month and day

Column 4
____ Birth place (parish in county or city)

Column 5
____ Married (year, day and month)

Column 6
____ Widower, widow or divorced (year, day and month)

Column 7
____ Vaccinated (smallpox vaccination)

Column 8
____ Moved in from another parish in county or city or transferred from another page in the church examination record

Column 9
____ Moved in or transferred (year, day and month)

Column 10
____ Number on the attestation document used when moving into the parish (attestation needed when moving between parishes)

Column 11
____ Dead (year, day and month)

Column 12
____ Ability to read

Column 13
____ Knowledge of the Christian teachings

Columns 14, 16, 18, 20, 22
____ Attended church examination (year, day and month)

Columns 15, 17, 19, 21, 23
____ Received Holy Communion within the Swedish church (year, day and month)

Column 24
____ Attended meeting for conscripts (for army or navy conscripts)

Column 25
____ Character and special notes

Column 26
____ Moved to another parish in county or city or transferred to another page in the church examination record

Column 27
____ Moved out or transferred (year, day and month)

Column 28
____ Number on the attestation document used when moving out of the parish (attestation needed when moving between parishes)

Enumeration form for the 1890 census
(all counties except the city of Stockholm)

Instructions regarding the taking of the 1890 census were given in a statute of the 13th September the same year. It states that the census information for the entire country, except the city of Stockholm, should be provided, in accordance with the announcement of the 4th of November 1859, by vicars and parish priests in the form of extracts from the catechetical registers of each parish. The instructions for the columns in the enumeration form were as follows:

____ Parish name, Deanery, County

Column 1

____ Household or consumption unit (within clearly visible brackets)

Column 2

____ Village or place of residence (block or ward in city)
(Village name to be written on a special row and underlined)

____ Name in full of every person

____ Position in family (h. = wife, s. = son, d. = daughter etc)

Column 3
____ Occupation (office, service, trade)

Column 4

____ Disability (mentally ill, idiot, blind, deaf-mute)

____ Nationality (mention if foreign nationality)

____ Ethnicity (mention if foreign ethnicity, for example Finn, Sami, Gypsy etc)

____ Religious faith (mention if foreign)

____ Exit from the Swedish church

____ Not baptized in the Swedish church

____ Absence (from the parish)

Column 5
____ Birth year

Column 6
____ Birth place (parish in a particular county or city)

Columns 7 - 14

Enumeration form (ward list) for the 1890 census
(Stockholm city)

For the city of Stockholm, the information that should be provided by the citizens of Stockholm for the 1891 tax census should also contain those special details that are necessary for the 1890 census. The information should thereafter by city officials be extracted and provided as census information.

____ Ward number, Parish name

Column 1

____ Household or consumption unit (within clearly visible brackets)

Column 2
____ Block and the property number within the block
(To be written on a special row and underlined)

____ Name in full of every person

____ Position in family (h. = wife, s. = son, d. = daughter etc)

Column 3
____ Occupation (office, service, trade)

Columns 4 - 11
____ Persons who are tax census registered in the property

Columns 12 - 19
____ Persons not tax census registered in the property

Column 20
____ Birth year

Column 21
____ Birth place (parish in a particular county or city)

Column 22
____ Church registration place (parish in a particular county or city)

Column 23

____ Disability

____ Foreign nationality or faith (mention if foreign)

____ Absence (from the parish)

Column 24
____ Remarks about place of tax census registration, travelers etc.