Ulvik Herad

Ulvik comes from the old Norse Ulfvik which means woolf cove.

This area of the county stretches from the northeastern arms of the Hardangerfjord, extending into the Hardangervidda mountain plateau. The train from Oslo to Bergen goes through Finse, the highest railway station in Norway. It goes through an area with no road access and is well worth the journey.

Ulvik is Part of Hardanger & Voss prosit in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. In 1608 Ulvik and Graven separated from Kinsarvik. In 1838 Graven( aka Granvin) parish included Ulvik and Eidefjord but from 1859 Graven is now part of Ulvik.

This area has been settled for a very long time. There is evidence of old settlements here from 600 – 800 in Osa, Øydve, Torblå, Lekve, Håheim, Hakastad, Vambleim, Spånheim, Oppheim, Vestrheim, Hallanger. In viking times (from 800) there were settlements in Kvåle, Hjeltnes and many more.

From the farm and family books, Ulvik Heard was divided into 5 main areas : Ulvikbygda (Ulvik village and surrounding farms, the largest ), Vangsbygd (5 farms), Bagnstrond (4 farms), Osagrenda (3 farms), and Fjellkrinsen (the mountain area settlements along the railway line).

Ulvikbygda

This is the area around the village of Ulvik and it has by far the largest number of farms, 32 listed in the farm books. Many of the farms also had smaller crofts. This is also the area where many of my ancestors were born and lived.

Hetlenes

This farm is one of the oldest in Ulvik. Ola Gunnarsson Ringøy married Eli Olsdatter, the widow of Kolbein Olsson who farmed Hetlenes. They lived at Torblå but later returned to Hetlenes where Sigrid Olsdatter was born. Sigrid married David Hallsteinsson from Bagne in 1757 and they ran ‘bruk’ 1 at Hetlenes.

Hjeltnes

There were many smaller crofts attached to Hjeltnes farm, among them Ure, one of the oldest settlements in the area.

Bruk 1, Plass 1: Ure

Sigrid Olsdatter and David Hallsteinsson from Hetlenes (above) had a son, Rasmus who went to live at Ure. He was there in 1801 and his son David was born there.

This croft was located on the other side of the fjord a short distance outside Hetlenes and did not bear the name for nothing. On one side are huge stone mounds. On the other side a large ravine. But people seem to have lived in this spot for a long time.

Translated from Ulvik : gards- og ættesoga. 1 : Almennsoga og ein del gards- og ættesoga (Kolltveit, Olav | Kvestad, Johannes | Dyrvik, Torbjørn) page 375

Bruk 1, Plass 2: Karko

David Rasmusson cleared this croft in the 1820s. His widow Kari Larsdatter took over after his death and ran it for many years, later helped by her son Nils Davidsson. In 1865 they had one cow and four sheep and they grew, at most, 1000kg potatoes. By 1875 her son Sjur had taken over the farm, although he didn’t receive the deeds until 1876. He had two cows, three sheep and grew 750kg potatoes. This was not enough to feed his large family and so he also worked for various other people. His mother Kari and brother Nils had moved on to Osa at this point.

Any interpretation of this strange name [Karko] is difficult to find. Maybe it has something to do with Kari, the wife of the first man to farm here? The man died early, and she sat as a widow with the croft for many years.

Translated from Ulvik : gards- og ættesoga. 1 : Almennsoga og ein del gards- og ættesoga (Kolltveit, Olav | Kvestad, Johannes | Dyrvik, Torbjørn) page 400

Vangsbygd

TBD

Bagnstrond

There are 4 main farms in this area. They are Bagne, Bagnsnes, Bolstad and Holkasvik. Of these, as far as I can tell, my ancestors only lived on Bagne. The in formation is taken from the Farm Books.

Bagne

The farm is at an elevation of 540m 

The first person listed in the farm books for this farm is Magnus or Magne. He was a tenant from 1603. Little is known about him. He probably had three children, Odd, Ragnhild and Askjell. Ragnhild married Elling Kjetilsson who took over the farm after his brother-in-law in 1656. The farm burned down in 1688 They had 10 children and Hallstein, the youngest but one, married Marta Davidsdatter Hotle. They lived at Hotle for a while before returning to Bagne to take over the farm (when?). During this period there are 9 other names listed for the farm.

Hallstein and Marta had 6 children all born at Bagne. My direct descendent is David Hallsteinsson who went to Hetlenes. One of his brothers ran the farm and his son after him until after 1792 but they were no longer there in 1801.

Osagrenda

This is the area at the end of Osa fjord. There were 3 main farms here: Sygnestveit, Osa og Sævartveit. This is where my father was born. My grandparents were not farmers, Kari had a a shop and later a cafe and Lars was a painter.

Osa

Sygnestveit

Notes:

Hotle farm is located in Eidfjord. It’s about 875m above sea level. It’s in either Eidfjord or Ullensvang borough (wip)

References