Ostrobothnian
Petalax
Parish History
- Petalax initially was part of the Narpes parish
- When a section of the Narpes parish grew, that geographic area was given permission to become an independent parish. It was called the Korsnäs parish. Petalax was within the Korsnäs parish boundaries.
- Later the Korsnäs parish divided and the area of Petalax became a part of the Malax parish
- Petalax served as a chapel parish first under Korsnäs, and then under the Malax parish
- Petalax became an independent parish in 1926 6, 7
Petalax parish from 1938 displays on the HisKi project website, made available by the Genealogical Society of Finland. To view a large online map of the Petalax parish from 1934, click here. This map in in the public domain.
Parish Records
Because parish Communion records are listed by farm name and because farm names often were used as a part of a person’s name, it is interesting to note the following farms. Many of these farms are labelled on the parish map found in the link below to the left. Villages and farms of Petalax were recorded in T.W. Karsten’s work, Svesk Bygd I Osterbotten: Nu Och Fordom. 2 Petlax Parish Communion records were not used to confirm these findings. To open a printable list of villages and farms (pdf), click here.
Villages & Farms
There are two historic villages in Petalax: Gammelby and Nyby
- Smeds
- Frans
- Jut
- Finne
- Tors
- Båsk
- Grägg
- Säbbas
- Höstman
- Spärring
- Fant
- Prost
- Rusk
- Johannesberg
- Träskbäck
- Mamrelund
- Granberg
- Långbacka
- Hultholm
- Ribacka
- Lolaks
- Åmossa
- Bjurmäs
- Ågren
- Österbacl
- Västerback
- Söderback
- Österholm
- Rivall
Farms in Nyby date back to 1801.
Parish Church
In 1805 Nathanael Rönnblad of Pörtum built the church. 5, 6 The building was first used as a prayer house, and in 1809 the congregation was allowed to inaugurate it as a church. Normally the building is referred to as a chapel until the area becomes an independent parish. In this case, the building was inaugurated as a church 17 years before Petalax became an independent parish. The bell tower was built later, in 1832, by Henrik Kuorikoski. 7
Petalax Church This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Attribution: Hotarju
Folk Dress
Each parish has a unique folk dress. Parish folk dress can be recognized by its style, colors and patterns.
Petalax folk dress photo used with permission of the Brage costume agency.
Resources:
- Genealogical Society of Finland, HisKi project, Petalax parish, http://hiski.genealogia.fi/hiski/a73jz7?en+0391
- Karsten T.W., Svesk Bygd I Osterbotten: Nu Och Fordom; Helingfors, 1923, pages 65 – 68
- Petalax Church image, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Petolahden_kirkko_ja_sankarihaudat_2016.jpg
- Petalax Folk Dress image, Brage costume agency, https://www.brage.fi/sve/draktbyra/draktbyran/folkdrakter/view-163648-90
- Petalax Forsamling: https://www.petalaxforsamling.fi/kyrka-och-lokaler/petalax-kyrka
- Petalax Forsamling, https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petalax_församling
- Petalax Forsamling, , https://www.petalaxforsamling.fi/kyrka-och-lokaler/petalax-kyrka/las-mer-om-petalax-kyrka
- Petalax Parish Map, 1934, http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fd2015-00006732
