HFL

[Mary Nelson Keithahn]

A relative in Sweden sent me information on her family line.  What do the letters HFL mean when followed by numbers and preceded by enlight (in accordance with?) Is this mentioning some law or regulatio?
 
Also, what does the abbreviation h.h. mean?
 
Thanks for your help.

[Ingela Martenius]

Hfl = Husförhörslängd, clerical survey record or household examination record (both translations are used).
The vicar in each and every parich in Sweden visited all of his parishioners every year and noted down all changes in the family (who died, who was born, who moved etc.) in one book (the Hfl), each family grouped together. Sort of a very, very exact census done every year by a true professional who more or less knew the answers beforehand. At the same time the parishioners' ability to read and their knowledge of the Small Catechism (there was only one church!) was checked. Literacy was as close to 100% as was physically possible but less than 50% knew how to write (before 1842 that is). Knowledge of the Small Catechism wasn't that good.
 
The numbers following Hfl refers to the exact volume and page. E.g. something like Västra Karaby, A I:5, 228 - the parish of Västra Karaby, the Hfl volume no 5, page 228.
 
The word isn't enlight (unless someone is a bad speller), it's enligt which means according to.
 
So this is simply a source citation. For births, marriages and deaths the Hfl isn't the optimal source - the dates often became slightly (or even very much) wrong compared to the original source which must always be the birth/baptismal records book, the banns/wedding records book and the death/funeral records book.
Perhaps your relative - who seems to be a conscientious genealogist - takes it for granted that birth/marriage/death is always checked in their respective books, while the Hfl provides the picture for the whole family (e.g. a sibling has moved or married; something that doesn't relate directly to the direct line) - I tend to do it that way myself.
 
Taken out of context the abbreviation h.h. can mean many things, but my guess it that it means his wife (in Swedish hans hustru).
 
Ingela

[Mary Nelson Keithahn]

Thanks, Ingela, for this, and the word on different surnames in a family. I am trying hard to understand the family history, and this helps!  enlight was my typo--the record from Sweden was enligt.  This record is all in Swedish and I am trying to translate it with an online Swedish dictionary, word for word.  My English gets in the way of correct spelling of Swedish words, and I can't put in the three extra Swedish letters with this computer except in my Word program. I really appreciate the help I get from the kind people who visit this site!  Mary

[Ingela Martenius]

Mary,
 
Copy the Swedish (they aren't of course) letters to a Notepad or Wordpad document and save that document. Then, whenever you need them, just open up the document (keep it on your Desktop) and do copy - paste. Saves a lot of confusion. For you to copy: å Å ä Ä ö Ö
 
If there are more questions, don't hesitate to ask. But it's better if you can give us an example; things taken out of context can go horribly wrong.
 
Should you wish to know more about your ancestors' lives here in Sweden - customs, beliefs etc. - rather than just dry facts like year married and moved to, you can read my articles:  Rites of Passage in Sweden; it's only about 15 pages with plenty of pictures.
 
Ingela

[Per Pettersson]

Mary!
 
If You use a Microsoft system You can get the typical Swedish letters in two other ways too.
1. In Word the symbol table
2. Using the key ALT together with the numerical keyboard i e
Press ALT and 132=ä, 134=å, 148=ö, 142=Å, 143=Å and 153=Ö.
 
Per

[Mary Nelson Keithahn]

Per,
 
Thanks for the advice, but I have MacBook Pro with a Mac OS.  The alt key produces a different symbol with each number key, and if I press alt with three numbers I just get those three symbols.  I am using the symbol table in Word, but it doesn't work in other programs.  I think the the extra letters should be on the Mac somewhere, so I will keep looking for them.  
 
Mary

[Judy Olson Baouab]

There are directions for typing the letters on a Mac, but you'll need to scroll down a bit.
 
http://www.augustana.edu/x14886.xml
 
Judy

[Mary Nelson Keithahn]

Thanks, Judy.  I found the Mac instructions and tried them out.  This will be much faster than the Word symbol inserts and more versatile, once I get used to it. I appreciate your help.  Mary