[#9608] Miscellaneous terms (translation0

[Gjest Richard Hellesen]

Good day--trying to finish up a few translations of terms found in the archive, and I wonder if anyone can help....'inderst.', in a census record referring to someone's work....'søhuset'--is it essentially the same as 'søforendes fattighuus'?....'pleiestifelsen'--is 'nursing home' a close equivalent?....'gravfestet', in a burial record....'borstjener', as an occupation (I think I know what it is, but want to make sure)....Finally, anyone who might be able to help with the translation of the material pertaining to Bergit Hellesen in the article located at Lenke be grateful! Thanks in advance--R. Hellesen

[Gjest Jan Oldervoll]

'Inderst' or innerst in modern Norwegian, is essentially a lodger living in the homw of someone else, but not eating at the table of the host. Generally a 'søhus' is a storage house close to the sea, used for storing fishing equipment or goods taken ashore from a boat. Locally it may be possible to call 'søforendes fattighuus' a 'søhus'. Pleistiftelsen you have. Gravfestet means buried. I never saw the term 'borstjener' and would like to know shere you found it.

[Gjest Knut Bryn]

Perhaps not borstjener, but bordtjener? You will find one single person with that occupation in the 1900 census: Eilert Olsen (b.1873) was bordtjener in the house of Herman Wedel Jarlsberg. I suppose this is a kind of a servant working indoors ('bord'=table, 'tjener'=servant). Herman Wedel Jarlsberg was a man of the very upper class.The web page you found with the name of Bergit Hellesen, is telling the story of the physiotherapists' association in Bergen. The reason why Bergit is mentioned, is that she joined the foundation meeting of this association (1. Sept. 1899). The biographical details in the footnote translates to: Bergit was borned year ? [not known by the author] Education at GOI [short for Dr. A. Wiedes Gym. Orth. Inst. in Stockholm]. Additional information is missing except from the photo showed here which is found in the photo archive of the Library of University in Bergen.

[Gjest Barbara Lose]

I should think 'gravfestet' means the same as 'jordfestning'. I asked about the meaning of that term earlier this year and got some very detailed answers. Maybe you like to read that theme? (Arkivforumet, tema 8696, Gravlegging/Jordfestning)

[Gjest Richard Hellesen]

Thank you all for your very helpful responses. I should correct the spelling of 'borstjener' to 'børstjener'--noted as the occupation of Morten Østgaard in the 1900 census for Drammen (record #5450). (And I retract what I said about maybe knowing what it means...) There are 16 references for 'søhuset' in Burials in Bergen 1816-1886, all of which are in the kirkebok for Årstad St. Jørgen, so perhaps it's meant by that writer to mean the same as 'sykehuset'? I will indeed read the theme on gravlegging/jordfestning--thanks for the reference! And thank you, Knut, for the clarification about Bergit Hellesen--it fits with what (little so far) I know about her life. Thanks again to all.

[Gjest Jan Oldervoll]

Børstjener is a man working at the børs, the stock exchange in Drammen. I tend to agree with you that Søhuset must be 'søforendes fattighuus', the poorhouse for the people of the merchant marine, but I cannot guarantee it. But I am sure someone will corrrect me if I am wrong.

[Gjest Kristian Fjeldsgård]

'søhuset' I think is two things: a store/warehouse to merchandisers; a larger oneor to a fisherman to keep his belongings, nets etc. related to his occupation as a fisherman. A small one.'søforendes fattighuus' - sjøfarendes fattighus - poor sailors home - sjømannshjem - sailors home: Original build by captains/owner to maintain welfare of trusted sailors who didn't have families to take care of them when retiring. A bit more fashionable and convinient to day.

[Gjest Jan Oldervoll]

Kristian is of course right about the meaning of the word 'søhuset'. In a previous message I translated it in the same way. But I do not think that 16 people in Bergen could have lived in an unspecificed 'søhus' when they died. Søhuset must be a house 'everyone' knew about in Bergen at the time. The only house in Bergen I could think of is 'Søfarendes fattighus'.