Britta Tomasdotter Purainen

   Another name for Britta was Brita Tomasdotter Purainen.⁵⁷⁴⁹

  Research Notes:

1.BirthBet 1644 and 1650, at North Röjdäsen, Fryksände parish


There are 5-6 family researchers (on-line FT's) that record her birth as 1644 or 1645 (Kenneth Bergman, Bo Brunzell [http://www.brunzell.org/Bosses/000/002/144.htm], Disbyt FT, and from Tony Östlund on geni.com ).

Roger Olof Holmstrand FT on Disbyt records Britta's birth as 1650, as does Manual Aguilar Henriksson

There are other FT's on Disbyt that record Britta's birth as 1655 (see my document, Niclas Persson Anbytarforum posts, Apr 2001). Niclas Persson also records her birth as 1655 [see below my notes regarding Niclas Persson's information, point 2].

All FT researchers agree that Britta Tomasdotter Purainen was born in Norra Röjdäsen, Fryksände


Conclusion: Birth: There is no way to verify the above dates. Most of the Family Tree researchers that I have found do not provide any detailed source material. Parish records prior to 1707 for Fryksände area not available (or were not recorded). Both Kenneth Bergman and Bo Brunzell post some summaries of some court records (Gunnar Almqvist summaries). Although these provide some evidence or information on various people, they usually do not usually record birth/death dates and often the family relationships that are mentioned are difficult to determine and at times are confusing.

Thus, the most reasonable conclusion regarding Britta's birth is: her birth was between the years 1644 and 1655.



2. DeathBet 1695 and 1706, Fryksände parish

As with Britta's birth there is no definitive evidence regarding her death. Almost all FT researchers (there are a couple who do not record a death date) record her death as 1 Nov 1706 at the farm Sälsjön in the current parish of Gräsmark in Värmland län. Britta would have been living at Rattsjöberget with family and with her husband, Bengt Henriksson Manninen who it is believed died around 1688 or 1689. Sälsjön is about 60+ kms south of Rattsjöberget).

However: Niclas Persson (Tenhuinen), along with Mikael Andreasson and Mikael Johansson, wrote a series of posts on Anbytarforum in April 2001. Niclas Persson appears to have conducted significant research on the Finnish families in Värmland, and he along with 2 other researchers (Jan Myhrvold and Gabriel Bladh) wrote "Skogsfinska släktnamn i Skandinavien" [Forest Finnish Family Names - pdf on my PC - gen resources - Forest Finns folder].
I have a document, "Niclas Persson Anbytarforum posts, Apr 2001" that I translated using 'google translate' [12 May 2019 in "z-folder" on my PC]. It appears that Niclas Persson has a good reputation as a researcher in Värmland.

Niclas Persson makes two statements [5th post, page 5 of document, Niclas Persson Anbytarforum ...] that are relevant to Britta Tomasdotter Purainen:
1).Erik Eriksson 168 (8) 3 [born 1688 or 1683] born in Rattsjöberget is a brother to my Johan Eriksson 1695
born in Norra Röjdåsen.
2).Their (Erik and Johan's) father was Erik Eriksson Tenhuinen f.1660 ca in Norra Röjdåsen, and wife Britta
Tomasdotter Purainen b. 1655 ca in Norra Röjdåsen. Britta is most likely dying in a cot when my Johan
Eriksson who was born in 1695.

These 2 statements:

(1). Provides evidence that Niclas Persson Tenhuinen decends directly from Johan Eriksson Tenhuinen (b 1695) and Karin Larsdotter Porkka (b 1693)
(2). Provides evidence that Britta Tomasdotter Purainen's birth was abt 1665 and her death abt 1695.

The date of death of course conflicts with other researchers.
Is Niclas Persson's information more accurate than information posted by others. As of 12 May 2019, I
would hypothesize that his information is likely to be more accurate.

But before I can reach a conclusion, I need to explore any other evidence that the date of death of Britta Tomasdotter of 1 Nov 1706 is not accuate?

(a).Although Gräsmark was not a separate parish until the early 1800's, Arkivdigital does have death records starting in 1688.

Death/burial for 1 Nov 1706: Gräsmark (S) CI:1 (1710-1722) Image 86 / Page 161, no 16
"... hustru Britta from Sälsjön"
There is no other information on this record. There is no efternamn (patronymic name) nor is the name of the husband recorded. Additionally, there is no age recorded at the date of death.
This record DOES NOT PROVE or really even suggest that the person who died on 1 Nov 1706 was 'our' Britta
Tomasdotter (Purainen)

(b).The earliest household record for Gräsmark starts in 1765. There are about 5 families listed at Sälsjön at that time. It is possible that prior to 1765, household records for the area covered by Gräsmark were kept by Fryksände parish (although this is doubtful). But the problem I have encountered is that there is NO farm named Sälsjön identified in the Fryksände parish household record (and I haven't found the farm in Färnebo or Sunne parish). Thus, I can't find family or individual information from about 1730 to 1765 in Fryksände parish. What happened? It is possble that the farm was called something else or was a part of another farm in Fryksände or was not counted. I have no idea.

So, there is no more information to obtain from the parish records.

(c).Given name of "Britta". Britta was very common during this time period, so likely in the early 1700's there would have been many people named Britta. In the transcribed Fryksände birth book, there are over 50 people named Britta from 1707-1720; in the transcribed Fryksände death book there are 15 people named Britta in the same time period. And only 3 people name "Britta Tomasdotter" in the transcribed death book (from 1707-1714) but neither are 'our' Britta Tomasdotter.

The efternamn of "Tomasdotter" was likely less common, but looking through the early records "Tomasdotter" was recorded a number of times.

In the transcribed Fryksände birth book, 13 people or mothers had the efternamn of "Tomasdotter" with one person name as "Britta Tomasdotter" as a mother - she was married to Mats Eriksson and was from Tväräna.
In the transcribed Fryksände death book 2 people with the efternamn of Tomasdotter, but neither who are named "Britta Tomasdotter".

In the transcribed Fryksände marriage, 1 person was named Britta Tomasdotter who was married in 1735 and another person who was married in 1745.

Thus, as far as Fryksände parish is concerned, there is NO PERSON with name "Britta Tomasdotter" that would fit with 'our' ancestry. 'Our' Britta Tomasdotter must have died prior to 1707, the earliest available death records (Fryksände parish).

In the transcribed Gräsmark parish birth books, there are about 30 or so people named "Britta" as mother, but prior to year 1720 none were named "Britta Tomasdotter". However there is a gap, from 1721-1751, so there could be others. In the transcribed Gräsmark parish death books, there is no one named "Britta Tomasdotter" [death records at Gräsmark begin with the year 1688, but with the gap from 1721-1751; there are 44 people named "Britta" and as discussed above in point 2.a., the person who died on 1 Nov 1706 has no other idenfying information].

In the transcribed Gräsmark parish marriage records, there is a list of "people from Gräsmark married in another parish". In list, there is no person named "Britta Tomasdotter" but there is one person named "Mats Larrson at Sälsjön" who was married to Margareta Mårtensdotter in 1670, and they married at Sunne parish.


Therefore it is reasonable to conclude that there is no clear evidence from the transcribed parish books
that 'our' "Britta Tomasdotter" lived or died in Gräsmark prior to 1720.



(d). As already stated, Britta would have been living at Rattsjöberget with her family and with her husband, Bengt Henriksson Manninen - it is believed that he died around 1688 or 1689. When Bengt Henriksson Manninen died his son Staffan Bengtsson (b about 1680) would have been about 8 years old.

Reviewing the information of their children (Bengt Henriksson and Brita Tomasdotter), all were born at Rattsjöberg. Bengt Henriksson Manninen and Britta Tomasdotter Purainnen's oldest son, Henrik Bengtsson Manninen's children were all born at Rättsjöberg, with the youngest born 1704. And their son Staffan Bengtsson (b abt 1680) Manninen's children were born at Rättsjöberg, with the youngest born 1709. Their daughter Marit (b abt 1672) married Staffan Persson and they lived at Mången [it is hard to pinpoint where this place was, but it is about 10+ kms to the north east of Östmark] .

When I first came across the death of Britta Tomasdotter (Purainen) recorded as 1 Nov 1706 at Sälsjön in Gräskmark parish, I was surprised with the location. It did not seem to make sense, given the location of most of our ancestors on this direct line (ancestors of my 2nd great grandfather, Erik Andersson (b 1843) in the Ärnsjön and Mellmarkstorp areas and further north/east, but not south. As I indicated above, it seems unusual that Britta Thomasdotter Purainen would leave the area that she knew best and go to another area that was likely unknown. If she had actually moved to Sälsjön she would have been about in her 50's.

At the same time, this move would not have been unknown or even unusual.


(e). During this general timeframe (1690-1710), are there any other persons named Britta Tomasdotter who had married someone named Mats Larsson??

To answer this question, I first searched the Disbyt family data bases. Using Östmark as the parish (this is where most of the ancestors that I have researched on this family line), although I did not find anything other than what I have already discussed.

However, I found one other FT tree posted by Roger Olof Holmstrand (id, 5430) by searching "Vitsand" parish [in earlier years, this parish was apart of Fryksände] I found the following: Mats Larsson Suomilianen b 1635 at Gräsmark and died 1735 Gräsmark and he was married to Brita Tomasdotter b 1645 at Vitsand (NOT Fryksände, although the area/farm of Vitsand was recorded in the earlier Fryksände Household Records), d. 1715 Gräsmark. They had 2 children, Karl Mattsson (b abt 1680) and Sara Matsdotter (b abt 1685). Note that these are the same children noted by Bo Brunzell although he notes they were born after 1690 at Sälsjön, and also the same people as noted by the geni.com FT linked to Tony Östlund, but internally linked to a 'private user' with a date of 7 Jul 2017.

NOTE: on 8 Nov 2019, I tried to find the FT posted by Roger Olof Holmstrand (id, 5430), but couldn't find it. This often is the case with DISBYT - a previous seems to have disappeared and can't be found. BUT on the 8 Nov 2019, I found a FT post that is from "a deceased member" that includes Mats Larsson Suomilianen b 1635 died 1735 at Gräsmark and his second marriage was to Brita Tomasdotter b 1645 in Vitsand, but no date of death noted. No children are noted in this post (also note: I have often referred to FT's by Roger Olof Holmstrand but couldn't find him; DISBYT does not have a mechanism to view FT's posted by a person using their id #; perhaps he deleted his information or he did not renew his membership and the Disbyt administration removed his FT's ????? )
See my document that is noted at the end of these researd notes.

One difficulty is that the likely Finnish Family name of Suomilianen (or spelling variations) are not found on Niclas Persson and Jan Myhrvold's "Skogsfinska släktnamn i Skandinavien" list of Finnish Family names [FFN]. But on a google search for Suomilianen is noted as a "Finnish" word for "Finn" [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suomalainen]. So the above reference may mean, "Mats Larsson, a Finn". On the page (geni.com FT) for Mats Larrson (b 1635, d. 1735) at Sälsjön and married to Britta Tomasdotter there is note from MyHeritage FT noting a Finnish Family name of "Haikonen" [Niclas Persson ... noted in first sentence, has the a Finnish Family name of Hoikoinen, with 2 people with the FFN but no given or efternamn].

My hunch is that this is person who others have recorded as Brita Tomasdotter and as being married to Mats
Larsson at Sälsjön, even though her date of death is different.


(f). Both Bo Brunzell and Kenneth Bergman had recorded a summary of a Court Record, 1692 vt 29 [see my document, "Kenneth Bergman court record's posts" (page 5) for a basic translation of the complete record. In summary, Annika Henriksdotter (Häkkinen) a half-sister to 'our' Bengt Henriksson Manninen ( and Britta Tomasdotter's first husband) had claimed that Britta Tomasdotter and her children should not have a right to ½ of Rattsjöberg. In 1692 the court reviewed previous rulings (in 1669 and in 1672) when the property had been divided to the heirs. Thus in 1692 the court reviewed that both [Britta Tomasdotter and her children and Annika Henriksdotter and her heirs) to "remain with each half of Rattsjöberg."

Bo Brunzell does not post the completed court summary, only the first couple of sentences. He then posts another court record [FH 1722 h111, from Fryksände Härad] and from his post it appears this is part of the first (1692 vt 29) but it is actually a separate record, 30 years latter. This record is a bit confusing and refers to someone named "Mats Larsson of Sälsjön" agrees with other children of the "deceased Britta Tomasdotter" should inherit land that was bought and refers to a "list" in 1701. The court defered any decision. [ there is no further post about this ].

Then, on the next line is "Died 1706-11-01 in Sälsjön, Gräsmark (S)"

But there are 2 quesions: (1) who is this Mats Larsson. Many other FT researches have assumed he is a
husband of "our" Britta Tomasdotter. However, this record DOES NOT support this conclusion.
(2) "who died" in 1706? This reference is not clear, although it could be Britta Tomasdotter or was it in relation
to Mats Larsson death?
However, the actual death record is inconclusive, as I indicated above (see point "2.a." above). Is this the proof
that Britta Tomasdotter Purainen died in 1706? Possibly, but it is most certainly not conclusive.

(g). Ancestry.com. There are a number FT's on Ancestry (Linvall-släktträd; Jeppsson Släktträd; Göran Persson Släktträd; Strandbreg Släktträd; Warholm Släktträd; Persson Släktträd) that record:
Britta Tomasdotter Purainen's birth as abt 1655 and death as 1695 married to Johan Eriksson Tenhuinen

Jeppsson Släktträd and Göran Persson FT record Johan Eriksson Tenhuinen (b 1695) married to Karin Larsdotter (b 1693) and also note that her first marriage was to Anders Andersson Hotakka (b 1687). These also follow Johan Eriksson Tenhuinen daughter Britta Jonsdotter (Johansdotter) b 14 Jan 1729 BUT this is likely not correct (has her has her married to Erik Nilsson (b 17 May 1734 at Smedsby and died 1800 at Sörmark).

There are many Disbyt FT's and Kenneth Bergman's data that have her married to Olof Olofsson Valkoinen. Using Kenneth Bergman: Britta b. 14 Jan 1729 at Ärnsjön died on 14 Mar 1800 at N Åskogberget; Olof Olofsson, b 1729 at N Åskogberget and died 17 May 1806 at N Åskogberget.



Over-all conclusion: After reviewing all of the above, there really is NO viable conclusion, other than it is likely that Brita Tomasdotter Purainen died between the years 1695 and 1706.
As I stated above, I think that she died arournd 1695 as noted by Niclas Persson in his post on Anbytarforum.


Further Research

Athough I have complete a substantial review, there is most likely other information that may be helpful regarding my 8th great grandmother, Britta Tomasdotter's birth and death. As of 16 May 2019, I will leave further research for the future.





2. Britta Tomasdotter Purainen (b abt 1655) Marriages:

1st marriage:abt 1662 (Bo Brunzell)to'our' Bengt Henriksson Manninen (1638-1689/1692)
children:Henrikb. 1663
Marit1672-1743
Staffan1680-1736 ('our' direct line)

2nd marriage:Abt 1695 toErik Eriksson Tenhuinen, b 1661 ² ... note
...children:Erik (Eriksson Tenhuinen)b. abt 1689 at N Röjdåsen ¹ ... note
Johan Eriksson Tenhuinenb. 1695 at Rattsjörberget [2 Jan 1758 at Amsjön, Östmark]
³ ... note


Erik Eriksson Tenhuinen 2nd marriage to Karen Larsdtr Räisäinen born around 1680
Karn Eriksdotterb. about 1696 d. 1711 [??]
unknown sonb. unknown (see Anbytarforum post below ² ... note)
Mats Eriksson Tenhuinenb. about 1705

¹ ... noteplace of birth from Tony Östlund. Kenneth Bergman only records Johan Eriksson Tenhuinen. Bo
Brunzell does not record Brita's 2nd marriage. Disbyt: Jo Carina Wolff, id 09386 (update 1 Feb 2006). Records name/marriage but no other information. No connect to 'our' Bengt. Other FT's on Disbyt do not record 2nd marriage.


If son Erik Eriksson Tenhuinen's birth is about 1689, it is likely that 'our' Bengt Henriksson Manninen died in 1688 or a bit earlier. Their youngest, 'our' Staffan Bengtsson (b 1680), would have been about 8 or 9 years old when his father died. Bengt's death of 1689 as noted by Bo Brunzell may not but a year or 2 off.


² ... noteIt is likely that Erik Erisson Tenhuinen (b abt 1661 and died 1711) re-married after the death of Brita Tomasdotter Purainen. To: Karin Larsdotter Räisäinen (b 1671 and died 1711). There must have been some type of accident (maybe a fire) since some members of the family all died on the same day, as well as others at N. Röjdåsen.

According to a post on Anbytarforum it it likely there were possibly 2 [possibly 3] other children born to Erik Eriksson Tenhuinen (1661-1711) 2nd marriage: (1) unnamed son, and (2) "Mats omk 1705",
[ link, Mikael (micke_bjb) (5 Oct 2018);
<https://forum.rotter.se/index.php?topic=153919.msg1480295#msg1480295> ]
- is likely that a girl, Karin Eriksdotter, was also born abt 1696 and died 1711 (see transcribed Fryksände death) But the death record does not have any other identifying info, so hard to verify. She is named in the death record with others who died on the same day at the farm, Sälsjön. She would have been the daughter of Erik Eriskson (1661-1711) and Karin Larsdotter Räisäinen (b 1671 and died 1711).
- see death record, 1 Mar 1711: Fryksände (S) CI:1 (1707-1732) Image 169 / Page 331


Niclas Persson Tenhuinen Anbytarforum post (Apr 2001) states that Erik Eriksson Tenhuinen (b about 1660) marries again after the death of Britta Tomasdotter (likely 1695). He married Karin Larsdotter Räisäinen from Öieren [ Norway ] b. abt 1680. They had 2 children, Mattes Eriksson Tenhuinen b about 1705 and he had married Karin Staffansdotter Purainen. Her father was Staffan Tomasson Purainen b abt 1653 and died abt 1732 and his wife Annika Eriksdotter Haljainen b. abt 1675. Staffan's father is of course Tomas Klemetsson again [grandfather of Britta Tomasdotter Purainen].

Mattes Eriksson Tenhuinen family: Fryksände (S) AI:6a (1752-1757) Image 174 / Page 178, Röjdåsen
Mattes - b 1705 died 1754 [Fryksände deaths (S) FI:1 (1749-1807) Image 12 / Page 17, no 32]
wife, Kerstin Staffansdotter Purainen (b 1716 m. 1738, d. 1783)
son Erik b 1746; daugther Annika b 1748, son Mattes, b 1752-d.1754; daughter Marit b 1755

- in the earlier household records, Fryksände AI:5 1750-1752, p 67 at Röjdåset
- Erik Thennuhn [Tenhuinen?] b 1689, married to Annika ??? b 1692; son Johan b 1731, daughter Annika 1735, and son Pål b 1742
And again earlier: Fryksände (S) AI:4 (1741-1749) Image 59 / Page 10, Röjdåset
name spelled as Erik Thennün ?, wife Annika ???
And again earlier: Fryksände (S) AI:3 (1730-1738) Image 45 / Page 8, N Röjdåsen
- Erik Eriksson and wife Annika
and at the bottom, Mats Eriksson and wife Kerstin Staphansdotter

Tony Östlund FT on geni.com:
Erik Eriksson Tenhuinen b abt 1689 d. 1759 was first married to Marit Persdotter d. 1713 [transcribed death, 1711] and then to Annica Danielsdotter Vetelainen (1695-1771)
their children: Britta Eriksdotter, Elisabet (Lisa) Eriksdotter, Gertrud Eriksdotter, Johan Eriksson, Erik Ersson (Eriksson), Annica Eriksdotter [see http://kahn.in/familj2/p45604581.html for ], Påhl (Pål) Eriksson

NOTE: the above Erik Thennuhn [Tenhuinen], b 1689 parents were: Erik Eriksson Tenhuinen b 1660 and Britta Tomasdotter Purainen. AND he was a brother to Johan Eriksson Tenhuinen b 1695 - this person's decendents include Nicas Persson Tenhuinen and Mikael Johansson [ see there posts, and my document, "Niclas Persson Anbytarforum posts, Apr 2001 ]




³ ... note: also see his research notes under his page

Johan Eriksson Tenhenhuinen (b about 1695 Rattsjöberg, Fryksände, Värmlands län and died 1 Feb 1758 at Arnsjön, in Fryksände Värmland.

Kenneth Bergman, Tony Östlund, and Manuel Aguilar Henrikssson record this information. AND Niclas Persson



3. Also See my document: "Britta Tomasdotter Purainen, b. bet 1646-1655" for some additional background research notes. The spelling of her given name seems to vary, with either "Britta" or "Brita" and are interchangeable.
I have included an image of the FT as noted point 1, e. ^{5749,8462,8463,8464}

Britta married Bengt Henriksson, son of Henrik Larsson Manninen and Kerstin Bengtsdotter, in 1662 in Fryksände, Värmland län, Sweden.⁸⁴⁴³ (Bengt Henriksson was born about 1628 in Rämmen, Värmland län, Sweden and died about 1689 in Fryksände, Värmland län, Sweden ⁸⁴³¹.)

Britta next married Erik Eriksson in 1695 in Fryksände, Värmland län, Sweden. (Erik Eriksson was born about 1661 in Fryksände, Värmland län, Sweden ⁸⁴⁶⁵ and died on 1 Mar 1711 in Fryksände, Värmland län, Sweden ⁸⁴⁶⁵.)