Finnås Municipality

Finnås Municipality
Finnaas Municipality
Finnås herred
Finnaas herred
Former municipality
Findaas herred  (historic name)
A 1720 map showing "Fundas or Bomel I."
A 1720 map showing "Fundas or Bomel I."
Hordaland within Norway
Hordaland within Norway
Finnås within Hordaland
Finnås within Hordaland
Coordinates: 59°47′34″N 05°10′20″E / 59.79278°N 5.17222°E / 59.79278; 5.17222
CountryNorway
CountyHordaland
DistrictSunnhordland
Established1 Jan 1838
 • Created asFormannskapsdistrikt
Disestablished1 July 1916
 • Succeeded byBremnes, Moster, and Bømlo municipalities
Administrative centreFinnås
Government
 • Mayor (1914–1916)B.O. Meling
Area
 (upon dissolution)
 • Total
231 km2 (89 sq mi)
Highest elevation
473.92 m (1,554.9 ft)
Population
 (1916)
 • Total
5,944
 • Density25.7/km2 (66.6/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-1218

Finnås is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The 231-square-kilometre (89 sq mi) municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1916. The area is now part of the present-day Bømlo Municipality in the traditional district of Sunnhordland in Vestland county. The administrative centre was the village of Mosterhamn.

The Kulleseid Canal is a canal that was built in the 1800s on a small isthmus on the island of Bømlo. It enabled boats to journey between the east and west sides of Bømlo island. Today the channel is surrounded by a small trading center and tourist center, and it is a popular guest harbor.

General information

View of Espevær c. 1900

The parish of Finnaas (later spelled Finnås) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1865, Finnaas Municipality was divided into two parts as follows:

On 1 January 1868, a small part of Finnaas Municipality (population: 10) was transferred to the neighboring Fitje Municipality. On 1 April 1870, the Øklandsgrend area (population: 247) was transferred from Finnaas Municipality to the neighboring Valestrand Municipality.

On 1 July 1916, Finnaas Municipality was dissolved and its lands were divided to create three new (smaller) municipalities as follows:

On 1 January 1963, the three municipalities were merged back together again to for a new, larger Bømlo Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Finnaas farm since the Old Moster Church was built there. The name is relative new name with very little historical record. The first element is finn which is the local name for a type of grass known as Nardus stricta. The last element is ås which means "hill". Thus it means a hill with "finn" grass.

During its time as a municipality, it was always spelled as Findaas or Finnaas. On 21 December 1917 (after the municipality had been dissolved and merged into Bømlo), a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Finnaas with the digraph "aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Finnås, using the letter å instead. Since then, when referring to the old municipality, the new spelling is usually used, but the letter "å" was never used while the municipality existed.

Churches

The Church of Norway had three parishes (sokn) within Finnaas Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Finnaas prestegjeld and the Søndre Sunnhordland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Churches in Finnaas Municipality
Parish (sokn)Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
BremnesBremnes ChurchBremnes1869
Lykling ChapelLykling1912
BømloBømlo ChurchLangevåg1621
MosterMoster ChurchMosterhamn1874
Old Moster ChurchMosterhamnc. 1100

Geography

Originally, the municipality encompassed all of the island of Bømlo, the island of Moster, the small surrounding islands, and the mainland located south of the Bømlafjorden. In 1865, the mainland parts of Finnaas Municipality were removed, leaving a municipality of islands. The highest point in the municipality was the 473.92-metre (1,554.9 ft) tall mountain Siggjo on the island of Bømlo.

Fitjar Municipality was located to the north, Stord Municipality was located to the east, Valestrand Municipality was located to the southeast, Sveio Municipality was located to the south, and the North Sea was located to the west.

Government

While it existed, Finnaas 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 Gulating Court of Appeal.

Mayors

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

  • 1849–1849: Gudmund Eriksen Habbestad
  • 1850–1851: Rev. Kolstad
  • 1852–1855: E. Jacobsen Øklandsvaag
  • 1858–1860: Halvor J. Vornæs
  • 1861–1866: Ole Ingemarsen Gaaseland
  • 1878–1887: Ole M. Søndre-Sille
  • 1888–1901: J. Thorsheim
  • 1902–1904: B.O. Meling
  • 1905–1907: J. Thorsheim
  • 1908–1913: E. Olsen
  • 1914–1916: B.O. Meling

Notable people

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Høgaste fjelltopp i kvar kommune: Bømlo" (in Norwegian). Kartverket. 16 January 2024.
  2. 1 2 Helland, Amund (1921). "Moster herred, Bømmel herred, Bremsnes herred". XII Søndre Bergenhus amt. Anden del. Norges land og folk (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norway: H. Aschehoug & Company. pp. 203–221. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  3. ↑ Thorsnæs, Geir, ed. (29 November 2024). "Finnås". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
  4. ↑ "Kulleseidkanalen". Kulleseidkanalen Gjestehavn. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link)
  6. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1910). Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Bergenhus amt (in Norwegian) (11 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 120–122.
  7. ↑ "Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m". Norsk Lovtidend (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway: Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri: 1000. 1917.
  8. ↑ Den Nye rettskrivning : regler og ordlister (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norge: Den Mallingske Boktrykkeri. 1918.
  9. ↑ Statistisk sentralbyrå (1 January 1951). Norges Sivile, Geistlige, Rettslige og Militære Inndeling 1. Januar 1951 (PDF). Norges Offisielle Statistikk (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norge: H. Aschehoug & Co.
  10. ↑ Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (25 November 2024). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
  11. ↑ "Amtsformandskabs-Forhandlinger". Den Norske Rigstidende (in Norwegian). 16 August 1838. p. 2. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  12. ↑ "Bergen, den 4de Juli". Bergens Stiftstidende (in Norwegian). 5 July 1849. p. 2. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  13. ↑ "Amtsformandskabsmøder for Søndre Bergenhus Amt". Bergens Stiftstidende (in Norwegian). 30 June 1850. p. 3. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  14. ↑ "Søndre Bergenhus Amtsformandskab". Bergenske Blade (in Norwegian). 13 June 1852. p. 4. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  15. ↑ "Bergen, den 17de Juni". Bergensposten (in Norwegian). 18 June 1858. p. 4. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  16. ↑ "14de Juni 1862". Bergensposten (in Norwegian). 20 June 1862. p. 4. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  17. ↑ "Søndre Bergenhus Amtsformandskab". Søndre Bergenhus Folkeblad (in Norwegian). 4 July 1878. p. 2. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  18. ↑ "Søndre Bergenhus Amtsformandskab". Søndre Bergenhus Folkeblad (in Norwegian). 11 July 1889. p. 2. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  19. ↑ "Amtsthinget for Søndre Bergenhus". Bergens Aftenblad (in Norwegian). 4 June 1902. p. 1. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  20. ↑ "Søndre Bergenhus Amtsting". Hordaland Folkeblad (in Norwegian). 24 March 1905. p. 1. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  21. ↑ "Søndre Bergenhus Amtsting". Søndhordland (in Norwegian). 25 March 1908. p. 1. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  22. ↑ "Søndre Bergenhus amtsting". Hordaland Folkeblad (in Norwegian). 25 March 1914. p. 2. Retrieved 1 December 2025.