Konsuln, arbetaren, och järnverket : En demografihistorisk undersökning över de första Sandviksarbetarna och deras bakgrund under 1863-1870.

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this essay was to conduct a survey of the earliest workers at the Sandviken ironworks in Gävleborgs county, Sweden, during the period of 1863-1870 in order to determine their places of birth or origin. The study is primarily based around four books and one article which describe historiographic terms and methods, two books covering the processes behind industrialization and urbanization in the 19th century by historian Lars Nilsson and Welsh historian John Elliot. The two other works originate from Sandin, Sjödin and Skogsbergs book about the town of Sandviken and it’s earliest foundations alongside an article written by Yngve Terenius in 1968 covering the excavation of the canal in Sandviken. The essay’s survey area is limited to the immediate area surrounding the town of Sandviken.The majority of source materials come from the Sandviken municipality’s archives of the Sandviks ironwork company’s historical archives. There, the census records concerning the workers of the company throughout 1863, 1866 and 1870 were studied alongside the parish’s household examination rolls that detailed the birthplace and origins of the workers found within the census records. The result of this study shows that a majority of the workers present in Sandviken throughout the period of 1863-1870 came from the counties of Dalarna, Värmland and Västra Götaland respectively. To summarize, 529 workers’ backgrounds were surveyed. Of these 529 workers, 302 workers were born in counties outside of Gävleborg, whereas 102 hailed from Dalarnas county, 43 from Värmlands county, and 41 from Västra Götalands county. The remaining 227 workers were born in parishes within Gävleborgs county. Four parishes within the county had the largest contribution to the workers’ immigration during the period, namely: Ovansjö parish with 95 workers, Torsåker parish with 39, Högbo parish with 33 and finally Valbo parish with 21. The study showed that the amount of workers from Gävleborgs county steadily increased from 1866 to 1870. In accordance to Sandin et als. book and Terenius' article, they mention workers from Värmland and Västra Götaland as being of importance in the early days of the ironworks. This study confirms those theories. However, alongside the 529 workers there are 935 family members whom weren’t included in the survey. The study results are presented in circular diagrams under the section titled ”Undersökning”, and onwards. The diagrams titled ”tillfälligt anställda arbetare” cover the temporary workers at the ironworks for the year they’re represented. The other 9 diagrams titled ”arbetares födelseorter” pertain to the birthplace of the workers for each year. The final six diagrams under the title ”statistisk sammanslagning” are diagrams describing a merge in numerical data from the surveys of temporary workers and the house examination rolls for each year they’re represented