Servant Migration in Sweden in the Early Nineteenth Century

Abstract

This article deals with the influence of the servant institution on the rural migration pattern in southern Sweden in the early nineteenth century, especially with the different temporal, geographical, and social aspects of servant mobility. The oneyear contract employment periods gave rise to extensive servant migration on special moving times. It was customary for servants to change employers after some years of service, with extensive circular servant migration as a consequence. However, the migration area was largely limited to the local labor market. For most people, the occupation of servant was not the one they followed all their lives but a temporary job during a limited phase of their lives. The servant institution comprised all social groups in the area of investigation, including landholding peasants, but servants were more often recruited from landless households than from farm families. Less than 10 percent of the servants were young boys and girls.