The family circumstances of women migrating permanently or temporarily to Sundsvall in the nineteenth century

Abstract

The aim of this article is to identify the factors which lead some women to migrate to the town of Sundsvall in northern Sweden. Analysis of the life histories of a cohort of women bom between 1815 and 1819 in parishes close to Sundsvall revealed that even before the middle of the nineteenth century, Sundsvall was beginning to emerge as an important destination but that it was service, rather than marriage, that motivated migration.

It was also established that the social position of the woman's father was one of the important determinants of her migration, service and marriage histories. Daughters of farmers were more likely to marry than the daughters of non-farmers. They would also marry earlier. In respect of their record as a servant, daughters of farmers would enter service later, work for fewer employers and be less likely to re-enter the parental home having once left for a service post. Daughters of non- farmers were, however, more likely to move to Sundsvall implying that the weakness of the parental family economy may have fostered such migration.

Inter-acting with social position was the place of the woman within the sibling set. Daughters who were the first or second born children of farmers, for example, were less likely to become servants but more likely to spend part of their adulthood in the town of Sundsvall. However, the departure of daughters from the parental household rarely resulted in a childless parental household. A number of (generallyyounger) siblings remained while many of the daughters, particularly of non-farmers, returned to their parents after a number of spells of service.