Ostrobothnian

Sideby

Land & Livelihood

Sideby is on the coast of Bothnia.  It is the southern-most parish of Ostrobothnia. Resident’s lives have been strongly influenced by their proximity to the sea. 3

‘In addition to the agricultural activities that many people engaged in during the 1700’s as part of their arduous everyday existence, the people in Sideby also worked in a variety of maritime jobs.  Farming and seafaring were intimately associated with each other.  Local farmers were also fishermen, ship owners and ship builders.  Sideby developed into an important shipbuilding center from around 1830 until the 1870’s. 3

This map of the Sideby parish from 1938 displays on the HisKi project
website, made available by the Genealogical Society of Finland.

Of Interest

‘In a book that Erik Appel wrote in 1994 about the fishing and ship building industries in Sideby, he provided a lyrical description of early life on the Kil Bay in Sideby and the people’s close relationship with the sea in the chapter titled Kil Revived (p241-255).’

‘The sea needs no spokesperson; its might presence speaks for itself.  As you approach the harbor, the Kil Hill appears and the Bothnian Sea spreads out before your eyes in both stormy and calm conditions, whether the sun is shining or the skies are overcast.  You can easily imagine an earlier Kil panorama that contains every element in the life of a community that was intimately connected to the sea… You can imagine barges towing the sawed lumber out to the small cargo boars and towboats that anxiously await at Kurkokar (Church Island) to transport the cargo to Sweden, Germany, England, Holland, France and other distant destinations.’ 3

Parish History

  • The oldest mention of Sideby in historical documents is in 1540 3
  • Sideby belonged to the Ulvsby farmland during the Middle Ages 3
  • It was transferred to the Lappfjärd parish in 1606  4
  • In 1860, Sideby became an independent parish 4

Villages & Farms

The historic villages within Sideby parish include:

  • Sideby Kyrkoby (the church village)
  • Skaftung
  • Ömossa

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.

The villages and farms of Sideby were recorded in T.W. Karsten’s work,   Svesk Bygd I Osterbotten: Nu Och Fordom. 2 Sideby Parish Communion records were not used to confirm these findings.

To open a printable list of villages and farms, click here.

Historic Farms

  1. Teir
  2. Hanses
  3. Lassfolk
  4. Kars
  5. Pellfolk
  6. Jossfolk
  7. Appelö
  8. Bodman
  9. Västerback
  10. Högbacka
  11. Rosnäs
  12. Strömsnäs
  13. Hedkrok
  14. Lillbäck
  15. Norrback
  16. Storsjö
  17. Silverberg
  18. Hedback
  19. Gäddvik
  20. Gäddträsk
  21. Kallträsk
  22. Badstuvik

  1. Teirfolk
  2. Grannas
  3. Ingves
  4. Norrgård
  5. Demansör
  6. Österbygd
  7. Grankull
  8. Sundnäs
  9. Henriksdal
  10. Rosenlund
  11. Långfors

  1. Skogman
  2. Öman
  3. Öström
  4. Heden
  5. Västervik
  6. Österback
  7. Rosenback
  8. Kivistö
  9. Bergvik

Parish Church

A chapel church built in Skaftung, just north of Sideby Kyrkoby existed in the 15th century.

In 1786 the residents of Sideby joined together to build a little wooden church in Sideby Kyrkoby.  There were only 17 farmers involved in the building of their church.  ‘These men did not build the church from their surplus riches, but from an inner need to have a house of God, a temple of the Lord among them, and a shepherd who would preach the words of God to them and be their teacher.’  Most of the lumber used to build the church came from the property of these farmers. 6

Besides these 17 farmers, were their wives, their children, tenant farmers, boat pilots, blacksmiths, carpenters, and others; a total of 204 people in all.6

The Sideby bell tower was built in 1831 next to the church.  The bell tower was designed by C.L. Engel and A.W. Arppe, likely built under the direction of the well-known architect Heikki Kuororikoski and his son Erik. 6

On November 25, 1969 the old Sideby church burned to the ground. The exact cause was never found; some speculated that a short circuit might have caused it.  A new church was built on the site of the old Sideby church and was dedicated on June 3, 1972. 4

Sideby Church. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license; Attribution: Västgöten

Folk Dress

Each parish has a unique folk dress.  Parish folk dress can be recognized by its style, colors and patterns.

Sideby folk dress photo used with permission of the Brage costume agency.

References:

  1. Genealogical Society of Finland, HisKi project, Sideby parish, http://hiski.genealogia.fi/hiski/a6n5gn?en+0490
  2. Karsten T.W., Svesk Bygd I Osterbotten: Nu Och Fordom; Helingfors, 1923, pages 6 – 9
  3. Sideby or Siipyy (Finnish name), https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=sv&u=https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideby&prev=search
  4. Sideby Church, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sideby_kyrka_20180912c.jpg
  5. Sideby Folk Dress image, Brage costume agency, https://www.brage.fi/sve/draktbyra/draktbyran/folkdrakter/view-163648-98
  6. Witt, Sandra Johnson, “The Old Sideby Church and Bell Tower”, http://sydaby.eget.net/eng/ch/sideby_church.htm, published by Staffan Storteir; republished fully or partially in Swedish Finn Historical Society Quarterly publications, Vol 14, Issue 3; Vol 15, Issue 3; Vol 20, Issue 3
    (Additional acknowledgements to Appel, Erik (1994) Kom Blankus, kom BlankSharpus: Fiskare och skeppsbyggare, Sideby, Vasa, Finland : Scriptum, p. 241-244 ISBN #951-8902-43-7; Norrback, Emil (1936). Sideby kyrja 150 ar. Historik till minnesfesten den 11 okt. 1936” Kristenstad, Finland: Tyckeri & Tidnings AB and others)