Faroe Islands Land and Property

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Faroe Islands

Land and Property

Land and Property Records

Land and Property Records [Jordebøkur, Festibøkur, Pantibøkur] identify property ownership, tenure, mortgages, and transfers of property. It is not uncommon to be able to identify and link multiple generations using these records. If the property was a copyhold farm, the land records of the manor can, in many cases, yield information about the tenants as far back as the early 1700s. The earliest records begin in 1684.

These records may contain the following information:

Property records (Jordebøkur)

• Names of land owners
• Dates of deeds
• Descriptions of land and property
• Names of fathers and sometimes of other relatives or heirs
• Dates and modes of land acquisitions (from a parent or grandparent, by dowry, or partage)

Copyholder records (Festibøkur)

• Names of leaseholders
• Descriptions of property
• Names of the previous lessees
• Relationship between parties
• Terms of the lease

Copyhold records can be accessed online at the Faroese National Archives's site Festiprotokollir

Mortgage records (Pantibøkur)

• Name of mortgagee
• Name of mortgagor
• Relationship between parties
• Description of the property
• Encumbrances on property
• Other agreements and contracts involving the property

Records are held by the Faeroe Islands National Archives [Føroya Landsskjalasavn] in Tórshavn.