Ostrobothnia
Björkö
Parish History
- Initially Björkö was part of the Malax parish
- In 1885 when Replot became an independent parish, Björkö was a part of the Replot parish.
- Björkö was separated as an independent parish in 1932 8
While Björkö gained its parish independence in 1932, it is not identified on this map dated 1938. Björkö is the largest island north of Replot Island. This map is made available by the Genealogical Society of Finland.
Parish Records
Since the village of Björkö Kyrkoby and its farms were recorded in T.W. Karsten’s work, Svesk Bygd I Osterbotten: Nu Och Fordom, records were not reviewed in Björkö or Replot Parish Communion records. 7
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.
To open a printable list of farms (pdf), click here.
Land
In addition to the main island, Björkö includes 350 skeeries and its total area is 72 km2.
On the 1900 map attached, Björkö Island is identified. The location of Björkö Kyrkoby (the church village) is marked with a cross (+).
Village & Farms
The sole historical village is Björkö Kyrkoby (the church village).
- Brådd
- Ols
- Galt
- Sand
- Nabb
- Skägg
- Brink
- Snabb
- Blikt
- Djup
- Doktar
- Geust
- Back
- Dal
- Håkans
Parish Church
The Björköby church, built in 1859, was named Maria after the wife of Tsar Alexander II. 2
Björköby church. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Mikkoau
To view more of the Björköby Church, click here.
Folk Dress
Until 1932, Replot and Björköby were one parish. Because of this, they are represented by the one parish folk dress. Parish folk dress can be recognized by its style, colors and patterns.
Replot-Björköby folk dress photo is used with permission of the Brage costume agency.
Of Interest
Björkö Island is about half way between the west coast of Finland and east coast of Sweden. It is located in the Kvarken, the narrowest part of the Gulf of Bothnia. Because of its strategic location the island was important in transporting communications between the two countries. 1, 8
Starting in about 1616, postal traffic moved through Björkö to Sweden and continued for about 200 years. 8 While under Swedish rule, Björkö received reductions in taxes and exemption from military service for this strategic service. 1
Björkö means ‘birch island’ in Swedish. 1
References
- Björkö, Finland, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bj%C3%B6rk%C3%B6_(Korsholm)
- Björkö Church, https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=sv&u=https://www.replotsforsamling.fi/&prev=search , under ‘Church and Premises’, look for Björkö church
- Björköby Church image, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bj%C3%B6rk%C3%B6byn_kirkko.jpg
- Björköby Church video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofV3pQBr2x8
- Björkö Map from Karta öfver Finland, 1900, http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fd2015-00006716
- Genealogical Society of Finland, HisKi project, Replot parish, http://hiski.genealogia.fi/hiski/a6n5gn?en+0439
- Karsten T.W., Svesk Bygd I Osterbotten: Nu Och Fordom; Helingfors, 1923, pages 110 – 112
- Korsholm Archipelago, http://korsholmsskargard.fi/
- Replot-Björköby Folk Dress image, Brage costume agency, see Replot-Björköby, https://www.brage.fi/sve/draktbyra/draktbyran/folkdrakter/view-163648-96
