Paamiut Parish, Greenland Genealogy

Background

 * Paamiut, formerly Frederikshåb, is a town in southwestern Greenland in the Sermersooq municipality.
 * Paamiut is located on the coast of Labrador Sea in the southern end of a small estuary called Kuannersooq ("Inlet").
 * Frederikshaab (sometimes anglicized as Frederick's Hope) was established by Jacob Severin's company in 1742 and named in honor of the Crown Prince Frederick.
 * The town has one of the finest churches in Greenland, built in 1909 from wood in the Norwegian style.
 * Following the warming climatic trends since the 1920s, Paamiut developed a booming cod industry between the 1950s and 1989, when the stock dwindled.
 * In connection with a development plan called G60 Paamiut was chosen as to be the place to live for the entire population of the former Paamiut municipality. Therefore, the number of people living there rose significantly during that period.
 * With 1,308 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the tenth-largest town in Greenland, down from the seventh in 2005. Paamiut has been losing population for almost every year in the last two decades: more than 31% relative to 1990 levels, almost 20% relative to 2000, and more than 16% relative to 2005.

Place Names
Farm names or small village names within this parish include these place names and variations:

Census Records

 * 1834-1870 Greenland, Denmark, Censuses, 1834-1870 (in Danish) at Ancestry - index & images ($)
 * 1834-1921 Greenland Censuses, 1834-1921 (in Danish) - incomplete indexes
 * Dansk Demografisk Database - incomplete indexes

Church Records

 * 1864-1925 - Paamiut/Frederikshåb Church Records - at Greenland National Archives Kirkebóger, images only, complete.
 * 1752-1861 - Greenland Kirkebøger, 1752-1861 at FamilySearch Catalog - index and images.Includes born and baptized, confirmed, married, dead and buried and communions for most parishes. Frederikshåb 1742-1849 vol. 2.
 * Church books in Paamiut (Frederikshåb) parish - at Danish Family Search, index and images, incomplete.

Church Location and Contact Information
Paamiut (Frederikshåb) præstegæld 3940 Paamiut Greenland Telephone: (+299) 681151 Telefax: (+299) 681030 E-mail: paamiut@ilagiit.gl Website

Reading the Records
Because the Faroe Islands were under the jurisdiction of Denmark, many research resources relating to Denmark will be helpful in using Faroe Islands records.
 * Help Reading Danish Records:


 * Denmark Parish Register Headings provides translated examples of parish headings. You will be able to interpret much of what is in the records using these headings. Danish Word List covers typical  terms found in the records. Fixed and Moveable Feast Days for: Denmark will help you translate dates written in feast day form. Denmark surnames are patronymic and change every generation, so carefully study Denmark Names, Personal.


 * Help Reading Old Handwriting: 


 * Scandinavian Handwriting
 * Scandinavian Handwriting, part 3 - No part 2 available
 * Gothic Script and examples (Danish)
 * Gothic script help links (Danish)


 * Knowing What to Look for Next:


 * To understand the best research strategies for these records, see Denmark Church Records Christenings Guide.