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Anna Louise Dorotée Ehrensvärd

1855–1930

Born
23 Aug 1855, Stockholm
Country of birth
Union between Sweden and Norway, today Sweden
Died
2 Apr 1930, Linköping
facts
6
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

A life in time

  1. Born · Stockholm

    Birth, Stockholm

  2. Child born: Count Robert Douglas, 13th Count of Skenninge and Stjernorp

    Birth, Allmannsdorf

  3. Died · Linköping

    Death, Linköping

What was it like?

The world around Stockholm, 1855: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Anna was born the same year as Ernest Chausson, Emile Verhaeren, and Percival Lowell.

Born the same year

  • Ernest Chausson

    French composer (1855–1899)

  • Emile Verhaeren

    Belgian poet (1855-1916)

  • Percival Lowell

    American astronomer (1855-1916)

  • Ferdinand Tönnies

    German sociologist, economist and philosopher (1855–1936)

  • Paul Deschanel

    11th President of the French Republic (1855–1922)

  • John Browning

    firearms designer of the United States (1855-1926)

Fashion

Aprons as mandatory social attire

In parts of Sweden like Dalecarlia, women were expected to wear an apron at all times outside the farm; failing to do so or wearing the wrong one could be seen as immoral or inappropriate, even leading to being barred from church.

Festive red shirts with luxury buttons

In the Lule region, men would sometimes wear a special red shirt or jersey known as a "kreop" on the first day of a church feast, which featured shiny, expensive metal buttons.

Music

Fiddles on every farm

During the mid-1800s, the fiddle was the most common folk instrument, and it is believed there was a fiddle on every farm by the end of the century.

The dominant polska dance

The polska was the dominant and most characteristic dance music style for fiddlers during the mid-19th century.

Getting around

Horse-drawn posting and boat transport

In the mid-19th century, travelers used the government-organized posting system (skyssvesenet) to hire horses and carriages from designated farms, with a boy accompanying them to return the equipment. Along the coast, travelers relied on boat transport (båtskyss) where routes were not connected by road.

Around 1825–1849

Horse-drawn post transport and equipment

Travelers often hired horse-drawn transport at regulated post stations spaced approximately 11 km apart, and they were advised to carry their own whip, as it was rarely provided.

Daily life

Homes and heating with cast-iron stoves

In many rural homes, the main room served as a multi-purpose living space where the family gathered around a hearth or, increasingly, a cast-iron stove, which was considered a luxury item. Kitchens began to separate from the living area, though in many homes, the stove remained the primary source of heat for the entire household.

Around 1825–1849

Fetching and heating water

Water for the household had to be fetched from a spring before dark, as it was considered unlucky or unsafe to do so at night. If water needed to be warmed for tasks, a glowing ember was sometimes dropped directly into the bucket.

Food

Eating sour milk from common troughs

Peasant families often ate sour milk, known as fillebunke, from a large common wooden trough using individual wooden spoons. They would decorate the surface with ginger and brown sugar before eating.

Around 1825–1849

Blanda: Everyday Rural Drink

Blanda, a mixture of sour whey or milk with water, served as the everyday drink for common people in northern regions.

Prices and wages
Around 1830–1849

Clothing payments for servants

Beyond their wages, farmhands often received a clothing allowance that included two pairs of Swedish shoes and one pair of fine German calfskin shoes for holidays.

Around 1830–1849

Holiday and dance money

Farm workers were often allowed one market day and one dance day per year, and they usually received an extra riksdaler to cover expenses for the dance.

Work

Agriculture as the primary occupation

In 1870, two-thirds of the population worked in agriculture, making small-scale subsistence farming the most common practice.

Around 1825–1849

Frequent job changes on Moving Day

October 24 was officially Moving Day, when servants frequently changed employers, moving on average eight times between the ages of 15 and 30.

News and letters

High cost of sending letters

In the 1850s, a worker's hourly wage was approximately 4 skilling banco, while the single-issue price of the newspaper Aftonbladet was 3 skilling banco. Sending a letter was significantly more expensive than it is today.

Around 1854–1854

Stockholm postal office hours and procedures

At the Stockholm post office in 1854, letters could be left through a slot in the vestibule until 7:00 PM, where people could also check posted lists of names to see if they had received mail. If arriving after hours, one had to negotiate a higher fee inside the office to get a letter sent with that day's post.

During their lifetime

  1. 1856

    First Swedish railway opens (1856)

    The first railway line in Sweden opened in 1856, traveling twelve miles from Örebro to Ervalla.

  2. 1860

    Passport requirement for travel abolished (1860)

    The requirement for passports for travel between Sweden and Norway was abolished in 1860, facilitating labor migration.

  3. 1868

    Crop failure and famine (1868)

    In 1868, Sweden suffered a general crop failure and famine, which led to an increase in emigration.

  4. 1873

    Introduction of the gold standard (1873)

    Sweden adopted the gold standard in 1873 and replaced the riksdaler with the krona, minted at 1 krona per 100 öre.

  5. 1880

    First telephone network established (1880)

    The first telephone network in Stockholm was built in 1880, following earlier demonstrations of the technology in 1877.

  6. 1909

    Suffrage reform enacted in 1909

    In 1909, Sweden enacted a major suffrage reform that expanded voting rights.

Family

Spouses

Children

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.