Torvastad is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. The area is now mostly part of Karmøy Municipality in the traditional district of Haugaland. The administrative centre was the village of Haugesund (from 1838 until 1855), and after that it was the village of Torvastad on the island of Karmøy. Other villages in the municipality included Norheim and Vormedal.
Torvastad Municipality originally encompassed parts of the present-day Haugesund Municipality, Utsira Municipality, and Karmøy Municipality. It included the northwesternmost part of the mainland of Rogaland county plus the northern part of the island of Karmøy and the islands of Utsira, Røvær, Vibrandsøy, and Feøy. It got smaller over the years, and upon its dissolution in 1965, the municipality covered only .
Prior to its dissolution in 1965, the municipality was the 489th largest by area out of the 525 municipalities in Norway. Torvastad Municipality was the 260th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about . The municipality's population density was and its population had increased by 30.9% over the previous 10-year period.
General information
The parish of Torvestad was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 February 1855, the village of Haugesund was declared a "ladested" (port of lading). The law said that a ladested could not be part of a rural municipality, so it was separated from Torvastad Municipality to form a municipality of its own. The split left Torvastad Municipality with 3,242 inhabitants.
On 1 November 1881, Torvastad Municipality was divided. Most of the mainland part of Torvastad Municipality (population: 1,665) became the new Skaare Municipality and the rest of Torvastad Municipality (population: 1,918) continued on as a smaller Torvastad Municipality.
On 1 July 1924, the island of Utsira and some small surrounding islands (population: 414) were separated from Torvastad Municipality to form the new Utsira Municipality. This left Torvastad Municipality was left with 2,187 residents.
On 1 January 1965, Torvastad Municipality was dissolved upon recommendations of the Schei Committee and its lands were divided as follows: the small island of Vibrandsøy (population: 70) was transferred to Haugesund Municipality the rest of Torvastad Municipality (population: 3,783) was merged with the following areas to form the new Karmøy Municipality: all of the town of Kopervik (population: 1,737) all of the town of Skudeneshavn (population: 1,275) all of the Skudenes Municipality (population: 3,583) all of the Stangaland Municipality (population: 2,678) all of the Åkra Municipality (population: 6,008) most of Avaldsnes Municipality (population: 4,153), except for the Gismarvik, Førre, and Stegaberg areas that became part of Tysvær Municipality
Name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Torvastad farm () since the first Torvastad Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the male name . The last element is the plural form of which means "farm" or "location". Thus the name is something like "Torfi's farm" or "Torfi's place".
Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Torvestad. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Torvastad.
Churches The Church of Norway had one parish () within Torvastad Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Torvastad prestegjeld and the Karmsund prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.
Churches in Torvastad MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtTorvastadTorvastad ChurchTorvastad1880
Geography The municipality encompassed the northern part of the island of Karmøy, plus a small area on the mainland, across the Karmsundet strait. The highest point in the municipality was the tall ridge to the northeast of the village of Vormedal. Haugesund Municipality was located to the north, Avaldsnes Municipality was located to the east and south, and Utsira Municipality was located to the southwest.
Government While it existed, Torvastad Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Karmsund District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.
Municipal council The municipal council of Torvastad Municipality was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
Mayors The mayor () of Torvastad Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:
1838–1840: Nils Jørgensen Vibrandsø 1841–1845: John Bendix Johnsen Brække 1846–1847: Ditlev Møller 1848–1849: Johannes Christian Bøe 1850–1851: John Christian Johnsen Haaland 1852–1852: Hans Andreas Høstad 1853–1881: Haagen Jørgensen Storsteen 1882–1887: Ole Johannesen Storsteen 1888–1891: Christian C. Haaland 1892–1897: Ole Johannesen Storsteen 1898–1898: Christian C. Haaland 1899–1901: Ole Johannesen Storsteen 1902–1907: Christian O. Haaland 1908–1913: Thomas L. Haaland 1914–1916: John Christian B. Hausken 1917–1919: Nils A. Økland 1919–1922: Bendik Stange 1922–1925: Kristian B. Hausken 1925–1928: Thore L. Hausken 1928–1941: Knut Stange 1942–1944: Bendik Hausken 1945–1945: Finn Retzius 1945–1945: Knut Stange 1946–1947: Arnt Stange (Ap) 1947–1958: Lars Håland 1958–1959: Hans Midttun (Ap) 1959–1964: Thomas Stange (V)
See also List of former municipalities of Norway
References