Emma Bredberg 1845-1908

Early life 1845-1866

Emma[Note 1] Bredberg was born 25 March 1845 at Hvittaryd Skattegård, a farm at which her family were tenants, in Lommaryd parish, province of Småland. She was the fourth-born and third surviving child of Stina Samuelsdotter and Carl Erik Bredberg. She was baptised at one day old, at the parish church in Lommaryd[1].

At the time of her birth Emma had two older siblings, Carolina Frederica (b.1840) and Carl Gustaf (b.1842). Carolina Frederica may have had some form of intellectual disability, but sources are not clear[Note 2]. Their father was a sergeant in the Swedish army, although thanks to Swedish neutrality this was a rather casual position[2], and there is no evidence that he was ever away from home or that the family was particularly different from those of the other tenant farmers in the region.

One way in which they were somewhat differnt from most local families, and indeed the majority of rural Swedes, is in having an inherited family name as opposed to using patronymics (such as Carlsson or Andersson). The name Bredberg had been in use by the family for at least five generations, since the 1740s. It appears to have derived from the village of Bredkärr, birthplace of Emma's great-grandfather Petter Bredberg and about 20 kilometers from Hvittaryd, combined with the Swedish word for mountain ("berg"). Names created this way by joining the first part of one's home village with a natural feature (not a local one in this case, since this part of Sweden is very flat) were common among craftspeople moving from rural to urban areas, but this does not appear the scenario for the Bredbergs. However as patronymics were more associated with rural labouring folk, the inherited surname likely made them sound more distinguished[34].

In March 1850 the family moved some eighty kilometers westward[3], to a farm named Ingestorp Övregården, just outside the village of Länghem. There were also around five farm labourers living on site. In 1853 the household was joined by Emma's paternal grandfather, Anders Bredberg, who had recently been widowed[4].

Emma would have recieved a primary education, this being the responsibility of every parish since 1842. There was at that time no central school for Länghem parish[5]. The alternative for many poorer parishes was the flyttbar skola ("mobile school"), whereby a teacher would travel from village to village and hold classes in locations such as farm outbuildings[6]. Emma also learned some traditional handicraft skills, being able to weave items such as tea towels[7].

In 1861 Emma's sister Carolina Fredrica, who was then aged twenty-one and still living in the family home, became pregnant. The identity of the father and the circumstances of the conception are not apparent from the records. The child was born in January 1862, and named Clara. Emma and her brother Carl Gustaf acted as official witnesses at Clara's baptism. Witnesses were supposed to be knowledgeable in the catechism, and ensure the child received a Christian upbrining[35].

The following year Carolina Frederica would marry a man from a nearby parish, and moved in with him. Despite the short time between the birth of her first child and the marriage, it appears her husband was not the father of Clara, as the latter did not take his surname and did not even move with her, remaining with Emma and the rest of the family in Ingestorp. As if this scenario were not already unconventional enough, Carolina Frederica would return to Ingestorp in 1864 to give birth to another child, who was statedly not fathered by her husband. In fact this second child, with given name Bertha, later had the surname Olander instead of Bredberg, implying that it was known who the father was. Like Clara, Bertha would grow up at Ingestorp. It seems likely that Emma, now in her late teens, played at least some role in raising her two young nieces.

The Bredberg household would continue to change over the next two years. In November 1865 Emma's mother died at the age of 63. Her father was quick to find a replacement, entering into a relationship with the daughter of a neighbouring farmer. Emma's new stepmother, coincidentally named Emma Christina, was just two years older than Emma herself. Her first half-sibling was born in November 1866, just under a year after her mother's death, and given the names Olga Ebba Constantia. In the meantime, Emma's grandfather Anders died in March 1866. This death, her stepsister's birth and her father's remarriage (one month after the child was born) all occurred in Gränna, a parish some way to north where Emma's paternal uncle lived, despite everyone involved officially living at Ingestorp throughout this period. It seems then that for a time Gränna was a sort of second home for at least some of the Bredberg family, though the reason for this is not clear. There is no evidence that Emma ever went there, but her brother Carl Gustaf would go on to marry a woman from from Gränna, so it seems plausible that the whole family spent some time there.

Domestic Service 1866-1886

With two adults dead and a growing number of small children to feed, it is little surprise that Emma went into employment. In November 1866, shortly before her stepsister's birth, she left Ingestorp to work as housekeeper for Carl Gerhard Muhl, at his home in Klef, Halland province, about 50 kilometers to the west[8]. The Muhls were a family of minor nobility with longstanding military associations[9], and Carl Gerhard was a retired lieutenant, so it is possible Emma's position was obtained through her father's army connections.

Conduct and expectations of servants and their employers in Sweden were at that time legally encoded by the Servant Act (tjänstehjonsstadgarna) of 1833. The employer had an obligation to provide food, lodging and medical care when required. The servant had to be obedient, sober, and could not leave the master's property without permission. Emma was probably somewhat familiar with these regulations, since they would also have applied to the labourers who worked on the farms she grew up on[10].

The Muhl household consisted of the Lieutenant, his wife, four grown-up children of around Emma's age, and around twenty serving staff. As housekeeper, Emma was the most senior employee. For Emma to hold this position in a household of this size at such a young age, she may have had some previous service experience, perhaps having worked somewhere locally near Ingestorp where she did not live on site. Very little information is forthcoming about the Muhls' house in Klef, and I have not been able to find any pictures of it.

Her period of service there was, in any case, quite brief. At some point in 1867 she reutrned to Ingestorp, for reasons that are not clear, and remained there for two years[11]. During this time her brother Carl Gustaf got married and subsequently emigrated to the United States, whereas Carolina Frederica got divorced from her husband, and moved back in. Emma's two nieces Clara and Bertha continued to grow up in the Bredberg home, along side their young stepaunt Olga Ebba. Emma's activities during these two years are not known, as she is simply listed as her father's daughter. She may have worked somewhere locally, or she may have helped out at the farm and with supervising the children.

In March 1868 Emma acted as witness for the baptism of Agnes Emmerentia Björkman, daughter of a couple living on a plot of land neighbouring her father's farm[12].

In October 1869 Emma departed Ingestorp again, this time to work as housekeeper for Graf (Count) Claes Herman Sparre, at his manor house in Thorsbo, around fifteen kilometres to the northeast of Ingestorp[13]. The Sparre family had a long association with Länghem, being owners of a castle named Torpa Stenhus[14] in the north of the parish, about ten miles from Ingestorp. Emma was probably recommended for the position by her neighbour Carl Ulrik Björkman whose daughter's baptism she had witnessed the previous year, since he had worked for the Graf at Thorsbo before settling at Ingestorp.

The house at Thorsbo appears to have been similar in size to Emma's previous workplace in Klef, being home to the Graf and his wife and daughter, with around fourteen serving staff. She was not there for long, simply because the Graf and his family moved to another residence at an unknown[Note 3] point in 1870, relocating to Fästered, a short way to the north. Most of the staff at Fästered were the same individuals who had worked for its previous occupants, but Emma was one of just two servants who were transferred from Thorsbo, so it would appear that her work was appreciated by the Graf.

In February 1870 (which may have fallen between the move from Thorsbo to Fästered) Emma returned briefly to Ingestorp, in time to act as one of the official witness at the baptism of her second stepbrother, who was named Karl Elfving. This is the only tentative evidence we have that Emma was supportive of her father's new relationship. This visit to her family may also have been the last time she saw her sister Carolina Frederica for some time, since that latter emigrated to Germany later that year and would not return for another four.

Fästered was another modestly-sized manor house, with perhaps fifteen or twenty staff[15]. Emma's occupation whilst working for the Graf is described as "mamsell", which was a general term for an unmarried woman employed in a senior position[16]. This contrasts with her time in Klef, where she was specifically described as a housekeeper ("hushållerska"). The position was presumably the same however, with Emma positioned on household surveys above all other serving staff, and directly below her employer's family. She worked there for three years, returning to her family home in Ingestorp at the end October 1873. The date suggests that this was a termination of her contract, which as per the Servant Act could be instigated either by the employer or employee, but employment would run until the traditional moving date of 24 October[17]. There is no obvious reason for Emma to leave, but since it does not appear that she was replaced at Fästered, it would seem that it had more to do with the Graf's circumstances than with Emma's. She would go on to work for the Sparre family again, so it certainly does not appear that she had displeased them.

The household at Ingestorp appears much the same as when Emma was last there, with the addition of another child born in 1872, and named Josefina Elvira. This made a total of five pre-teen children now, with Emma's two elder half-siblings and her nieces Clara and Bertha[18]. The youngest, Josefina Elvira, died in January 1874 aged twenty months. In June 1874 Emma's sister Carolina Frederica returned to Länghem from Germany, but rather than moving back to the family farm, she went to the fattighus (poor house). She brought with her another illegitimate child, named Inge and born just five days before her arrival in Länghem, who remained with her at the fattighus. If a note in the margin of one household survey is to be believed, Inga was born in an outhouse and saved from being killed by her mother by "divine providence"[19]. As with so many of the known facts about Carolina Frederica's life, we are left with more questions than answers. Whatever the case, it appears the rest of the family were either unable or unwilling to provide for her at home.

There was perhaps some expectation from family that Emma, who was now twenty-nine, be thinking about marriage. Twenty-nine was then in fact the mean age for women at their first marriage in Älvsborg county, which was slightly higher than the national average[20]. However Emma had apparently either not yet found the right man, or had no desire to marry at that time. She was after all quite capable of supporting herself, so there was no economic pressure for her to find a husband.

After a year in Ingestorp, Emma returned to working for the Sparre family, this time for the Graf's brother Eric Teodor at Torpa manor house at the northern end of Länghem parish. There was already a mamsell at Torpa, who had been in place for two years, but she and Emma would work side by side as apparent equals. There were twenty serving staff, including Emma and her co-mamsell, working for the Sparres and their three children[21].

The wooden manor house ("Trähus") at Torpa should not be confused with Torpa Stenhus, the medieval castle which was the official seat of the Sparre family. Since the 1660s all the castle's owners had lived in an adjacent manor house[22], so it was there that Emma would have worked. A fire insurance survey from 1826 lists two antechambers, six bedrooms (not including servants' quarters, the number of which is not given), a main hall, dining room and kitchen, as well as various farm-related structures such as a pigsty and a milk store. One bedroom, known as the "brudkammer" (bridal chamber) contained a bed once having belonged to King Gustav Vasa[36].

Emma was to spend a particularly long time at Torpa compared to her other workplaces, being there from 1874 to 1881. In 1876 the other mamsell left and was replaced by another named Ida Vilhelmina Kjerrulf, who was the daughter of Länghem's parish priest[23]. She was about a year younger than Emma, so they may well have known each other growing up. They hopefully got on well enough to work together, since they would both be mamsell at Torpa for the remainder of Emma's time there. Ida Vilhelmina would continue to work at Torpa until her death in 1897[24].

It was in 1879, whilst at Torpa, that Emma would have received the news of her brother Carl Gustaf's death from tuberculosis. He and his wife had settled in St. Louis, Missouri, and the news had probably taken weeks if not months to reach the rest of the family in Sweden. A decade later, Emma would remember her brother by naming one of her sons after him.

In November 1881 Emma left Torpa, and began working at Ljunghem Manor House, about sixty kilometers north of Länghem. The reason for this transfer is not obvious, although since she was not replaced at Torpa it may be another case of her employer reducing the overall number of household staff. The house at Ljunghem was home to Friherre (baron) Reinhold Jacob von Essen, his wife and two children, and something in the region of forty staff, making it by far the largest household Emma had worked in thus far. Her occupation was now listed as husfru, a specific term for a housekeeper, as opposed to the more ambiguous mamsell as it had been under the Sparres. Whereas the serving staff were all single like Emma, there were also a few families living on site besides the Friherre's own. For example, the gardener lived there with his wife and child[25]. As well as being an aristocrat, Emma's new employer was a member of the first chamber of the Swedish parliament[26].

Marriage and motherhood 1886-1908

A new gardener had begun working at Ljunghem in 1883, named Gustaf Wilhelm Malmqvist. Aged twenty-six when he first came to the manor house, he was twelve years younger than Emma, but the two of them apparently got on well, and around the end of 1885 she became pregnant with his child. She appears to have continued working for as long as was practical, and they waited until 10 July of the following year to get married, whereupon she moved from the manor house into what was presumably the gardener's cottage on grounds of the estate. The age gap perhaps did not seem too unusual to Emma, as it was very similar to that between her own parents, with Stina having been eleven years older than Carl Erik. Their first child was born on 29 August, and was named Erik Wilhelm, a name which appears to have been made by combining the second given name of both their fathers.

Honouring her father may have been especially important to Emma at that time, since he had died in January of that year. She returned to Länghem in order to witness the inventorying of his estate, and was the only family member to do so. Her sister Carolina Frederica had emigrated to the United States in 1882, making her young half-siblings the only immediate family Emma had left in the country, and it is not clear how often she saw them or her stepmother. It probably seemed quite poignant to Emma, to be losing the last nearby member of her birth family in the same year she started her own.

Emma would barely have had time to adjust to being a mother and wife, before she would go through a change of address too, as Gustaf Wilhelm had been given a position as gardener elsewhere. At the end of October they headed for Lång in the parish of Grums[27], sixty kilometers to the north on the opposite side of lake Vänern. Gustaf Wilhelm's new employer would be Henrik Rosensvärd, a former minister of war. It must have been quite strange for Emma to be moving to a new manor house for the sixth time in her life, and not be assuming the position of its housekeeper. Distressingly, the journey to Lång would be marked with tragedy, as little Eric Wilhelm died en route two days before they arrived[Note 4]. The cause of death is not recorded.

It was not long before Emma was pregnant again, and her second son was born at Lång on 1 September 1887, a year and three days after his deceased brother. He was also given the name Erik Wilhelm. The sense of repetition must have been especially palpable, as the family would move once again two months later. Their destination this time was Mariedal, in the same region as Ljunghem. Gustaf Wilhelm's apparent new employer was Gustaf Sparre[28], a cousin (albeit twice-removed) of Claes Herman and Erik Teodor Sparre. Thankfully, history did not entirely repeat itself, and Erik Wilhelm survived the journey.

The were at Mariedal for two years. By the time they moved again Emma was pregnant for a third time. Their next home was not another manorial estate, but the station house at the village of Äskekärr[29], which lay along the newly opened railway line connecting the towns of Finnekulle and Mariestad[30]. Gustaf Wilhelm had apparently changed careers from gardener to station master. They moved in on 1 November 1889, and their third child was born on the 5th. They named him Karl Gustaf, which combined the first given names of Emma's father and husband, as well as serendipitously being the name of Emma's deceased brother.

When Karl Gustaf was baptised at the parish church of Forshem, the official witnesses were Lars Johan Andersson, a tanner, and his wife Eva Sofia Hultgren. This couple lived at Dalaqvarn about fifteen kilometers away and in a different parish, and it is a mystery as to how they were known to Emma and Gustaf Wilhelm. Dalaqvarn is however roughly halfway between Mariedal and Äskekärr, so it is possible a heavily-pregnant Emma and her family had stayed with them en route to their new home.

Emma and her family were one of nine households that made up Äskekärr. Most of the other residents were small farmers, their families and labourers. In 1890 the family were joined by a maid; nineteen-year-old Amanda Johansson. Although this was the first time Emma had had a household servant of her own, there was probably something rather familiar about the arrangement to her as she would have been responsible for supervising the serving maids during her days as a housekeeper. Amanda only remained with the household until 1892, and they did not replace her, so she was probably hired only as an extra pair of hands while Erik and Karl were still very small.

In 1894, the household was joined by Gustaf Wilhelm's brother, Karl Axel. A gardener like his brother, it appears he had recently become unemployed. What he did during his time in Äskekärr is not clear; he is only listed as being a tenant. He moved out again in 1896.

In November 1897 the family left Äskekärr as Gustaf Wilhelm was transferred to Jula station, Utby parish, near Göteborg (Gothenburg). Although the station house itself appears to have been a very similar building, Jula was a somewhat larger settlement, with a manor house, a smithery, and several farms. It perhaps also saw more traffic from being so close to a major city. Emma and her family were only there for a year[31].

In December 1898 they returned to Forshem parish, but this time to the main station for Forshem itself, which was situated at a settlement called Helledal[33]. This was to be Emma's home for the last ten years of her life. Little can be said about this time, the household remaining unchanged. Erik and Karl, aged twelve and nine respectively when they moved back to Forshem, were presumably attending school somewhere locally. Neither of them would move out until after their mother's death.

Emma died on 12 June 1908. The cause of death is not recorded.

There are a number of similarities between Emma's life and that of her mother. Both married a man more than ten years their junior, both lost their first child in infancy, and both died aged sixty-three. The similarities would continue after Emma's death when, just as Emma's father had done, Gustaf Wilhelm remarried a year after being widowed. His second wife was apparently not well-liked by Erik and Karl, and was not considered part of the family[37].

Notes

1. She appears on some online trees as Emma Ingeborg Bredberg. However I can find no evidence for this middle name. She was baptised Emma, signed her name Emma Bredberg and is Emma Bredberg on every other available record throughout her life. It is possible that Ingeborg was a name used privately within the family, but my suspicion is that it originates in a mistake in someone's research. Perhaps Ingestorp, the settlement in which Emma spent much of her childhood and early adulthood, was misread for "Ingeborg" when it appeared on a record or some handwritten notes next to Emma's name and was assumed to be a midle name. Emma is unusual in her family in having only one given name - her father, all her siblings and half siblings, her husband and all her children would all had middle names - so it is not hard to see why a researcher might be on the lookout for a potential middle name for Emma too.
2. On one household survey, from 1874, a note describes Carolina Frederica as "Idiot". This outdated medical term referred to a person with a profound intellectual disability. However this level of impairment seems unlikely for Carolina Frederica, as she was married and appears to have travelled independently.
3. The household survey books for both the old and new parishes simply say "1870", where normally a full date would be given. They are also missing from the incoming and outgoing books for both parishes. I guess when you're an aristocrat, you don't need to tell anyone when you're moving house.
4. His exact place of death is also not clear. He died on 11 November, and the household survey for Lång indicates that Emma and Gustaf Wilhelm arrived on the 13th. However Erik Wilhelm is recorded on that household survey, and he was buried in Grums churchyard. Perhaps the family stayed in Grums village before moving onto the estate. Like many Swedish parishes Grums is quite far-flung, and there would have been a further ten kilometers of northward travel from Grums village to Lång. It is also possible that the date they were officially registered as arriving was not the same date they actually got there, in which case Erik Wilhelm may have died shortly after they arrived rather than shortly before.

References

1. Lommaryd Kyrkobok 1810-1860, Landsarkivet
2. Högman, Hans: Indelningsverket under 1800-talet, Militaria; accessed 19 Oct 2024
3. Utflytning, Lommaryd 1843-1861
4. Husförhörs-bok, Länghem 1851-1860, Landsarkivet; p35
5. Allmän information om Länghem; accessed 19 Oct 2024
6. Westberg, Johannes (2021): Were there national school systems in the nineteenth century? The construction of a regionalised primary school system in Sweden, published in History of Education, Vol 51, No.2; p191
7. This information has been passed down through the family.
8. Husförhörs-bok, Sibbarps och Dagsås 1863-1871, Landsarkivet
9. Adliga ätten Muhl nr 1351, Adelsvapen; accessed 20 Oct 2024
10. Lundh, Christer (2003): Life Cycle Servants in Nineteenth Century Sweden - Norms and Practice, Lund University; p3
11. Husförhörs-bok, Länghem 1866-1875, Landsarkivet; p90
12. Födelse- och dop-bok Länghem 1861-1894, Landsarkivet
13. Husförhörs-bok, Gällstad 1861-1871, Landsarkivet; p90
14. Torpa gård, Riksarkivet; accessed 23 Oct 2024
15. Husförhörs-bok, Finnekumla 1870-1876, Landsarkivet; p56
16. Tuneld, Ebbe (ed) (1942): Svenska Academiens Ordbok
17. Lundh, op. cit.; p4
18. Husförhörs-bok, Länghem 1866-1875; p174
19. Husförhörs-bok, Länghem 1876-1880, Landsarkivet; p195
20. Lundh, Christer (2003): Regional Varieties in Age at First Marriage in Sweden, 1870-1900, University of Lund; p4
21. Husförhörs-bok, Länghem 1866-1875; p178
22. slottsguiden.info 23. Husförhörs-bok, Länghem 1866-1875; p99
24. Död-bok Länghem 1897, Landsarkivet
25. Husförhörs-bok, Ljunghem 1876-1883; p1
26. Von Essen nr 118; accessed 26 Nov 2024
27. Husförhörs-bok, Grums 1886-1890, Landsarkivet; p459
28. Husförhörs-bok, Ova 1881-1894, Landsarkivet; p161
29. Husförhörs-bok, Forshem 1878-1894, Landsarkivet; p356
30. Gefleborgs Läns Tidning, 16 Oct 1889; p3
31. Husförhörs-bok, Utby 1895-1916, Landsarkivet; p177
32. Inflyttningsbok för Forshems församling, 1896-1905, Landsarkivet; p11
33. Husförhörs-bok, Forshem 1895-1906; p396
34. Morris, Geoffrey Fröberg AG (2018) Swedish Naming Customs, Swedish American Genealogist: Vol. 38: No. 1, Article 6
35. Dopvittnen avslöjar familjens nätverk, Släkt-Historia; accessed 5 Nov 2024
36. Torpa Trähus, tranemo.se; accessed 5 Nov 2024
37.This information has been passed down through the family.

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