Cohort mortality in Sweden (pdf)

Cohort mortality in SwedenGrowth of population statistics2. Growth of population statisticsChurch registrationThe Swedish church registration was regulated in 1686 by a churchlaw. However, at that time most of the parishes had already someform of church registration at the time. For instance, as early as 1622,the parish of Väasteråas issued regulations on baptism andmarriages as well as burials registers. The parish even kept a registerof persons living in the congregation. This was the predecessor towhat would later be called the "husförhörslängden" (the catecheticalexamination register). The oldest existing church book in Sweden isa death and burial register for the Holy Trinity congregation inUppsala for the year 1608. (Source: Arv och Anor, 1996 page 15)The church law of 1686 made it obligatory to keep church registers.Besides the usual church registers of baptisms, marriages, burialsand migration, it became obligatory to keep a register of theinhabitants in the congregation, the catechetical examination registerinhabitants in the congregation, the catechetical examinationregister. The register was created during the annual parishcatechetical meeting and the priest would take notes on theinhabitants' church attendance and knowledge of Christianity. In thebeginning, the register did not include all persons. For example,children and persons of rank were not included. Eventuallyhowever, the register included all the residents in the congregation.The catechetical examination register and the church registers wereclosely tied to each other. For example, at the same time as a birthwas noted in the baptism/birth register, the necessary correctionswould also be made in the catechetical examination register. Theidea was that the catechetical examination register would constantlybe updated to show the residents in the congregation. This was notalways so in practice. Sometimes there were only rough notes aboutbirths, deaths etc, and the church records were only updated once ora few times a year. As a result, notes could easily disappear or weredeficient. In addition, all events did not come to the attention of thepriest. This was particularly true for migration.Population statistics begin in 1749Interest for population statistics was aroused during the latter partof the 17th century. Within what was known as the politicalStatistics Sweden 15