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Wikipedia / Torvastad Municipality

Torvastad is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. The area is now mostly part of Karmøy Municipality in the traditional district of Haugaland. The administrative centre was the village of Haugesund (from 1838 until 1855), and after that it was the village of Torvastad on the island of Karmøy. Other villages in the municipality included Norheim and Vormedal.

Torvastad Municipality originally encompassed parts of the present-day Haugesund Municipality, Utsira Municipality, and Karmøy Municipality. It included the northwesternmost part of the mainland of Rogaland county plus the northern part of the island of Karmøy and the islands of Utsira, Røvær, Vibrandsøy, and Feøy. It got smaller over the years, and upon its dissolution in 1965, the municipality covered only .

Prior to its dissolution in 1965, the municipality was the 489th largest by area out of the 525 municipalities in Norway. Torvastad Municipality was the 260th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about . The municipality's population density was and its population had increased by 30.9% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The parish of Torvestad was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 February 1855, the village of Haugesund was declared a "ladested" (port of lading). The law said that a ladested could not be part of a rural municipality, so it was separated from Torvastad Municipality to form a municipality of its own. The split left Torvastad Municipality with 3,242 inhabitants.

On 1 November 1881, Torvastad Municipality was divided. Most of the mainland part of Torvastad Municipality (population: 1,665) became the new Skaare Municipality and the rest of Torvastad Municipality (population: 1,918) continued on as a smaller Torvastad Municipality.

On 1 July 1924, the island of Utsira and some small surrounding islands (population: 414) were separated from Torvastad Municipality to form the new Utsira Municipality. This left Torvastad Municipality was left with 2,187 residents.

On 1 January 1965, Torvastad Municipality was dissolved upon recommendations of the Schei Committee and its lands were divided as follows:

the rest of Torvastad Municipality (population: 3,783) was merged with the following areas to form the new Karmøy Municipality:

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Torvastad farm () since the first Torvastad Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the male name . The last element is the plural form of which means "farm" or "location". Thus the name is something like "Torfi's farm" or "Torfi's place".

Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Torvestad. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Torvastad.

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish () within Torvastad Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Torvastad prestegjeld and the Karmsund prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Parish ()

Church name

Location of the church

Year built

Torvastad

Torvastad Church

Torvastad

1880

Churches in Torvastad Municipality

Geography

The municipality encompassed the northern part of the island of Karmøy, plus a small area on the mainland, across the Karmsundet strait. The highest point in the municipality was the tall ridge to the northeast of the village of Vormedal. Haugesund Municipality was located to the north, Avaldsnes Municipality was located to the east and south, and Utsira Municipality was located to the southwest.

Government

While it existed, Torvastad Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Karmsund District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Torvastad Municipality was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor () of Torvastad Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

  • 1838–1840: Nils Jørgensen Vibrandsø

  • 1841–1845: John Bendix Johnsen Brække

  • 1846–1847: Ditlev Møller

  • 1848–1849: Johannes Christian Bøe

  • 1850–1851: John Christian Johnsen Haaland

  • 1852–1852: Hans Andreas Høstad

  • 1853–1881: Haagen Jørgensen Storsteen

  • 1882–1887: Ole Johannesen Storsteen

  • 1888–1891: Christian C. Haaland

  • 1892–1897: Ole Johannesen Storsteen

  • 1898–1898: Christian C. Haaland

  • 1899–1901: Ole Johannesen Storsteen

  • 1902–1907: Christian O. Haaland

  • 1908–1913: Thomas L. Haaland

  • 1914–1916: John Christian B. Hausken

  • 1917–1919: Nils A. Økland

  • 1919–1922: Bendik Stange

  • 1922–1925: Kristian B. Hausken

  • 1925–1928: Thore L. Hausken

  • 1928–1941: Knut Stange

  • 1942–1944: Bendik Hausken

  • 1945–1945: Finn Retzius

  • 1945–1945: Knut Stange

  • 1946–1947: Arnt Stange (Ap)

  • 1947–1958: Lars Håland

  • 1958–1959: Hans Midttun (Ap)

  • 1959–1964: Thomas Stange (V)

See also

References