Helgøy is a former municipality in

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The island municipality existed from 1886 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located in the western part of the present-day

Karlsøy Municipality Karlsøy () is an island List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hansnes. Other villages include Dåfjord, Hessfjord, Karlsøya ( ...

. The municipality included the islands of Helgøya, Grøtøya, and

Nordkvaløya or is an island in Karlsøy Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The island is situated north of the islands of Ringvassøya and west of Helgøya. The Norwegian Sea borders to the northwest. The island of Nordkvaløya is very rugged and mou ...

, large parts of the nearby islands of

Rebbenesøya or ) is an island in Troms county, Norway. The southern third of the island is part of Tromsø Municipality while the northern (larger) portion of the island is part of Karlsøy Municipality. There is a regular ferry connection from Bromnes on ...

Ringvassøya or is a large island in Troms county, Norway. It is divided between Tromsø Municipality and Karlsøy Municipality. Several islands surround Ringvassøya including Kvaløya to the south; Reinøya and Karlsøya to the east; Vannøya, Helgøy ...

Vannøya or is a rocky island in Karlsøy Municipality in Troms county, Norway. At , Vanna is the 17th largest island in Norway by area. The highest peak is the mountain Vanntinden at a height of above sea level. The population of the island (2017) is ...

, and many smaller surrounding islands. The

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

was located on the south side of the island of Helgøya in a small village where

Helgøy Church Helgøy Church () is a historic parish church of the Church of Norway in Karlsøy Municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is located on the small unpopulated island of Helgøya. It is a little-used annex church for the Karlsøy parish which is p ...

is also located. Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the municipality was the 148th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Helgøy Municipality was the 532nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,517. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was and its population had decreased by 5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

From ancient times, the parish of Helgøy had existed. On 1 January 1838, municipal self-government law was introduced in Norway (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law), and the Helgøy parish was made a part of

. Helgøy grew as a trading post under Christian Figenschou, but residents soon became dissatisfied with the municipal government based in Karlsøy. On 1 September 1886 the parish of Helgøy was separated from

to form a municipality of its own. Helgøy Municipality had an initial population of 828. Despite being separated, the two municipalities still had a common

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

, and doctor, but all these were residents in Karlsøy. From 1886 to 1892, Christian Figenschou was the mayor of Helgøy. After 1886, residents began developing a local town center on Helgøya island, with

, a rectory, a farm, and flourishing trade. A small village grew up around the church site and a permanent school in the parish was added on Helgøya island. Steam ships regularly stopped here and a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

was established. After 1928, a doctor and sheriff were permanently located here. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1964, Helgøy Municipality was merged with the island portions of

to form a new, larger

. (The mainland areas of the old Karlsøy Municipality became part of

Lyngen Municipality Lyngen (; ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lyngseidet. Other notable villages include Furuflaten, Lattervika, Nord- ...

). Prior to the merger, Helgøy had a population of 1,495.

Name

The municipality is named after the island of '' Helgøya'' () since the first

was built there. The first element is which means "

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

" or "

holy Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

". The last element is which means "

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

". Thus the name means or "the holy island". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Helgø''. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Helgøy''.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

had one parish () within the municipality of Helgøy. It was part of the Karlsøy

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

and the Nord-Troms prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland Nord-Hålogaland () is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers the Church of Norway churches in Troms and Finnmark counties as well as in the territory of Svalbard. The diocese is seated in the city of Tromsø at the Tromsø Cathedral, t ...

Geography

The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Soltindan, which was located on the municipal border between Helgøy Municipality and

Government

While it existed, Helgøy Municipality was responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. The municipality is governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the

Hålogaland Court of Appeal The Hålogaland Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Tromsø. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark as well as the island territor ...

Mayors

The

mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

() of Helgøy: *1886-1892: Christian Figenschou *1893-1895: Guttorm Guttormsen Raste *1896-1898: Edvard Raste *1899-1901: Christian Figenschau *1902-1903: Edvard Raste *1904-1907: Hans Raste *1907-1909: Søren Hansen *1910-1913: Hans Raste *1914-1922: Peder Nilsen *1923-1925: Hans Raste *1926-1934: Elias Olsen *1935-1941: Edvard Baardsen *1941-1941: Iwan Figenschou *1941-1943: Matteus Grindberg *1943-1943: Dmitri Figenschow *1943-1943: Nils G. Rasthe *1943-1945: John Olsen *1945-1947: Edvard Baardsen *1948-1963: Konrad Hansen

Municipal council

The

of Helgøy was made up of 15 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

References

External links

*
Weather information for Helgøy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helgoy Karlsøy Former municipalities of Norway 1886 establishments in Norway 1964 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1886 Populated places disestablished in 1964