Faroe Islands Land and Property

Faroe Islands

Land and Property Records [Jordebøkur, Festibøkur, Pantibøkur]
Research Use: Land and property records cover gaps in church records. They verify existence of a person as an adult (helpful where death records are unavailable). Land records can be a useful linking source, sometimes listing two generations. If the property was a copyhold farm, the land records of the manor can, in many cases, yield information about the tenants as far back as the early 1700s.

Record Type: Records of property ownership, tenure, and mortgages. Time period: 1684 to present.

Contents: Property records [Jordebøkur] – names of land owners, dates of deeds, residence, descriptions of land and property, names of fathers and sometimes of other relatives or heirs; dates, and modes of land acquisitions (from a parent or grandparent, by dowry, or partage). Copyholder records [Festibøkur] – names of leaseholders, descriptions of property, and names of the previous lessees; if the new lessee is related, the relationship is stated; terms of the lease are also given. Mortgage records [Pantibøkur] – information regarding real estate conveyances, mortgages, and other encumbrances on property, agreements, contracts, and so forth which sometimes include genealogical information.

Location: National Archives [Rigsarkivet] in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Percentage in Family History Library: 100%. The Library has property records of 1684, copyholder records 1708-1878, and mortgage records 1706-1860.

Population Coverage: 20 to 60%.