Onsøy is a peninsula and a former municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre was Gressvik.
History The parish of Onsø was established as a municipality on January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). A part of Onsøy with 170 inhabitants was merged into the neighboring municipality Fredrikstad on 1 January 1968.
On 1 January 1994 the rest of Onsøy was incorporated into Fredrikstad. Prior to the merger, Onsøy had a population of 12,923.
Etymology The Old Norse form of the name was Óðinsøy. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the god Odin, the last element is øy meaning 'island'. The former island was later turned into a peninsula because of post-glacial rebound.
Onsøy Church Onsøy Church (Onsøy kirke) was built in 1877. The architect was Henrik Thrap-Meyer. The church is of Gothic Revival style and constructed of brick with has 375 seats. Onsøy Church is located in Fredrikstad parish. Jens Bjelke was buried in the churchyard.
Elingaard Manor
Elingaard Manor (Elingaard herregård) is a manor house located on Onsøy. The current main building was erected in the Renaissance style and was completed early in 1749. The building was constructed on two floors and consists of a main wing and two side wings. Outside is a garden laid out by English model. The manor house was developed by Chancellor Jens Ågessøn Bjelke (1580–1659). Jens Bjelke, one of the wealthiest men in Norway, was the grandson of Jens Tillufssøn Bjelke and the father of Jørgen Bjelke. His elder son Admiral Henrik Bjelke (1615–83) inherited Elingaard Manor. Elingaard manor is currently operated as a museum.Jens Bjelke (Store norske leksikon)Henrik Bjelke (Store norske leksikon)
Farms of Onsøy Onsøy is a former municipality in the Norwegian county (fylke) of Østfold, in the region of Østlandet. Østfold was known from 1662 to 1919 as Smaalenenes county (amt). Currently it is part of the municipality of Fredrikstad, which was established in 1838 and merged with the municipality of Glemmen in 1964. A small portion of Onsøy was switched to Fredrikstad in 1968, and the remainder of Onsøy joined Fredrikstad in 1994, along with the municipalities of Borge, Onsøy, Kråkerøy, and Rolvsøy. From 1070 to 1968, Onsøy was a parish in the Oslo diocese; since 1969 it has been part of the Borg diocese. From 1559 to 1660 it was part of what was then known as Akershus county (len).
Maps of the farms of Onsøy
Coordinates are approximate. Note that each map has a maximum number of listings it can display, so the map has been divided into parts consistent with the enumeration districts (tellingskrets) in the 1920 census. This map will include one farm (gaard) name per farm number; other farm names or subdivision numbers may exist.
Tellingskrets (enumeration districts): 1: gaards 1-15 (lime); 2: Haredalen, gaards 35-39 (black); 3: gaards 16-34 (blue); 4: Åle gnr. 40-47 (green)
Tellingskrets (enumeration districts): 5: Græsvik (lime); 6: Hauge (black); 7: Aale nedre og Rød (green); 8: Okseviken - Krosnes - Viker (red); 9: gaards 56 Fjelle store to 63 Oksrød (purple); 10: Slevik (teal); 11: gaards 74 Fuglesangen to 83 Sund lille (blue)
Tellingskrets (enumeration districts): 12: Stene (lime); 14: gaards 106 Rauø to 112 Engelsviken (black); 15: Manstad (blue)
Farm names and numbers Following are the farms in the Onsøy (formerly Smaalenes) municipality, as they are listed in O. Rygh's series Norske_Gaardnavne ("Norwegian farm names"), the Smaalenes volume of which was published in 1897. Here is a digital version of that volume: <>
The farm numbers are used in some census records, and numbers that are near each other indicate that those farms are geographically proximate. Handwritten Norwegian sources, particularly those prior to 1800, may use variants on these names. For recorded variants before 1723, see the digital version of O. Rygh. Note that the 1920 census records mapped above may not match O. Rygh. Additional farm numbers missing from the O. Rygh record were found in the 1950 Draft Land Registry.
Farm names were often used as part of Norwegian names, in addition to the person's given name and patronymic or inherited surname. Some families retained the farm name, or toponymic , as a surname when they emigrated, so in those cases tracing a surname may tell you specifically where in Norway the family was from. This tradition began to change in the mid to late 19th century, and inherited surnames were codified into law in 1923.
Farm Name Farm Number Ørmenneset 1 Havnen 2 Ørmen 3 Ørmen sæter 6 Høyum 8 Mollestad 10 Krabberød 11 Svierød 12 Fosse 13 Ammundrød 14 Torbjørnrød 15 Valle nordre 16 Ulvedalen 17 Valle søndre 18 Onsø Præstegaard 19 Ek 20 Slottet 21 Skogen 22 Mossigrød 23 Mossig nordre 24 Mossig søndre 25 Mossighuset 26 Kolberg nordre 27 Kolberg søndre 28 Kolberghuset 29 Torp vestre 30 Torp østre 31 Skuggerødmyren 32 Borge Mellem 33 Borge østre 34 Kjølberg 35 Kjevelsrød 36 Ingulsrød 37 Strand nedre 38 Krabberød 39 Skaare nordre 40 Skaare mellem 41 Skaare søndre 42 Dale 43 Ørebæk vestre 44 Ørebæk østre 45 Brekke 46 Hurrød 47 Græsvik 48 Hauge 49 Aale øvre 50 Trondalen 51 Rød 52 Okseviken 53 Krosnes 54 Viker 55 Fjelle store 56 Dale lille 57 Langeteig 58 Elslet 59 Torgauten 60 Søstrene 61 Nøklegaard 62 Oksrød 63 Bjorkjønlien 64 Mellegaard 65 Slevik vestre 66 Langgaard 67 Dyrød 68 Halvorsrød 69 Brekke 70 Fjelle lille 71 Stenakrød 72 Solbrekke 73 Fuglesangen 74 Tvete østre 75 Tvete vestre 76 Kjenne østre 77 Kjenne vestre 78 Lere 79 Lilleng 80 Torp søndre 81 Lund store 82 Lund lille 83 Øtne østre 84 Øtne vestre 85 Skollerød 86 Sanderup 87 Stene lille 88 Stene store 89 Hauge søndre 90 Hauge nordre 91 Gjølberg 92 Forsetlund søndre 93 Hageengen 94 Forsetlund nordre 95 Bossum søndre 96 Bossum mellem 97 Bossum nordre 98 Lund vestre 99 Huseby store 100 Huseby lille 101 Ellinggaard 102 Espesti 103 Ytterstad 104 Hankø 105 Rauø 106 Smauet 107 Haviken 108 Rød vestre 109 Gaustad nedre 110 Gaustad øvre 111 Engelsviken 112 Skontorp 113 Stene vestre 114 Manstad 115 Husløs søndre 116 Lervik 117 Skjælø 118 Husløs nordre 119 Berge 120 Kjære 121 Koret 122 Kallerød 123 Østenstad 124 Saltnes mellem 125 Solberg 126 Røtne 127
References
Other sources Borges, Grethe (2007) Elingaard : et gammelt herresete (Fredrikstad] : Fredrikstad museum)