Buskerud County, Norway Genealogy

Guide to Buskerud ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Buskerud is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold.

The county is conventionally divided into traditional districts. These are Eiker, Ringerike, Numedal and Hallingdal. Hønefoss is the district capital of Ringerike. Its western part is a mountainous plateau with forested valleys and high, grassy pastures; its eastern part contains a lowland basin with many lakes and streams.


 * Buskerud

Church Records/Civil Registration

 * These are the most important records you will use, and a majority of your research will be found in them. All civil registration was kept by the church parishes until 2012.
 * Digitalarkivet: Digitized parish registers of Buskerud
 * Norway Indexed parish register transcriptions
 * The Family History Library has microfilms for all Buskerud parish registers up to about 1920. These can be viewed at the library or at a Family Histor Center near you.
 * By clicking on the parish links above, you may find direct links to all the records for that parish.
 * You do not have to be fluent in Norwegian. These records use a very limited, specialized vocabulary that is easy to learn. For help reading and interpreting theses records, see Norwegian Genealogical Word List, Norway Handwriting, and Reading Scandinavian Gothic Handwritten Records Lessons 1: Scandinavian Gothic Letters, 2: Names, Words, and Dates, and 3: Handwritten Records.
 * Parish Register Headings for Norway: This pdf gives the translation of headings for the records in different time periods.  When a record is written with labeled columns it is much easier to search. Much of the material you read in each column will just be names and dates, since the meaning of those names (child, parents, godparents, minister) only has to be read once, in the column heading.


 * For more detail on the contents of these records and how to use them, see Norway Church Records and Norway Civil Registration.

Censuses

 * Bragernes prosti, Prestemanntall 9, 1664 - 1666
 * Valdres prosti, Prestemanntall 8, 1664 - 1666
 * Tønsberg prosti, Prestemanntall 10, 1664 - 1666
 * 1865 Census
 * 1875 Census Partial
 * Norway Census, 1875 FamilySearch database
 * 1885 Census (cities only)
 * 1891 census (scanned)
 * 1900 Census
 * 1910 Census

Family History Resources
Norwegian American Bygdelagenes Fellesraad

Hallinglag   Hallinglag home page

Numedalslågen Lag   Numedalslågen home page

Seven Lag Stevne   Seven lag Stevne home page

Sigdalslag  Sigdalslag home page

Ringerike- Drammen Districts   Ringerike-Drammen Districts home page

Farm Books
Bygdebøker for Buskerud

Government Offices and Sites

 * Buskerud fylke
 * Buskerud fylkeskommune

Land Records
1886 and 1838 land registers are found at The Norwegian Historical Data Centre. These are Excel files, which can be downloaded. The give the name of the farm, the farm owner, and the amount of tax. Both farms and sub-farms are included.

Passenger Lists

 * Emigr. from Drammen 1880 with "Beta" to Hawaii
 * Passport Journal for Hallingdal, 1856-1865

Probate Records

 * Digitised probate records for Buskerud County


 * 1640-1903 - at FamilySearch — index


 * 1679-1819 - Probate register for Drammen 1679-1819


 * 1705-1801 - Probate register for Kongsberg 1705-1801

Probate Jurisdictions
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