Translation please

[Thord Johnson]

marriage record for Nils Svensson and Bengta Johansson 1829 6/12 see attached.
Västra Sallerup (Eslöv) (M) EI:1 (1805-1841)image 45, page 80. Poor Nils lost his first wife in February 1829,
then married Bengta in December 1829 and then, unfortunately, he died in June 1830. My subject is Bengta and thus
I have found out when and how she got her title of Enka.
 
Many thanks for any help received,
Thord Johnson
Emerson, NJ

[Thord Johnson]

[Ingela Martenius]

Well, not exactly. Marriage record for the widower Nils Svensson and the maid Bengta Johansdotter (she was her father's daughter, not his son - and this was still very much the days of patronymics - learn more about Swedish naming customs here, http://web.comhem.se/~u31263678/genealogy/Names.pdf).
 
Nils' wife had died 11 Feb 1829 (on the 11th of last February) and he had to show proof that he had correctly transferred his dead wife's property to their children (I can see only one daughter, Boel b. 1805, but there may have been other children). I see in the Household Examination 1826-31 that Nils was born in 1783 while his first wife, Karna, was born in 1769. I do wonder what Boel thought about getting a step-mother only three years older - but she would probably not be too bothered since she had already married (in 1828, to Jöns Larsson) and lived at Eslöv N:o 5.
 
The banns were read first on Dec 6th (they had to be read on three consecutive Sundays, making Dec 20th the last time); the banns were requested by the bride's brother-in-law, Nils Mårtensson from Ellinge village (the bride-to-be also lived at Ellinge). Permission for the bride to marry (every woman bar widows had to have the consent of their marriage-guardian [giftoman] until 1872, 1882 for noble women) was given in writing (yes, particularly in Skåne the farming population sometimes knew how to write already from the mid 1700's) by the bride's father, Johan Persson in Hammarlunda parish (the reason Bengta's brother-in-law demanded the banns to be put up was of course that her father, her marriage-guardian, lived in another parish).
 
So, to be rather crude, maybe it wasn't so surprising that Nils died less than a year after his second wedding - the change of pace was probably quite noticeable between a consumptive woman of 60 and a healthy one of 27 for a man of 46, 47. Yes, I see he died June 6th (buried June 13th) from dropsy - and dropsy is basically either a failing heart or failing kidneys (births, deaths 1805-31).
 
Ingela
PS. You can read more about old Swedish customs here: http://web.comhem.se/~u31263678/genealogy/RitesofPassage.pdf

[Thord Johnson]

Thank you Ingela for your wonderfull translation. You made the story come alive. My children and grandchildren  will treasure this snapshot of life in old Sweden and how their ancestors came through some difficult times. I hope Nils had happiness before he passed away.
 
Also thank you for the great articles on Swedish Names and Rites of Passage in Sweden. They are a must read for anyone looking at my genealogy records.
 
Tack så mycket!
Thord