Göran Ulväng

Associate professor, at the department of Economic History, Uppsala University with a focus on changes in agriculture, buildings, consumption, finances and insurances during the 18th and 19th centuries. Special area: manorial economy and material culture.

Key words: agriculture, household, working organization, buildings, landscape, estates, country houses, farms, economy, consumption, auctions, pawnbrokers, 17th century, 18th century, 19th century.

My research

My interest in historical research was founded in my high school years. For several years I worked in archaeology, but later decided to turn to economic history. I received my PhD in economic history in 2004 at Uppsala University. The topic of my dissertation was changes in buildings and farmhouses at estates, vicarages and farms during the 18th and 19th centuries, in the light of the changes in farming, landscape, household and work organization. The dissertation was published by Gidlund publishing house.

Since then my research has been branched into both historical consumption, credits and insurances, and manorial history. I am also a former editor of the scientific journal Nordic Journal of Settlement History and Built Heritage (Bebyggelsehistorisk tidskrift).

Consumption, credits and insurances

2024-: Member together with PI associate professor Sofia Murhem of the project Fairs in 18th and 19th century Sweden, financed by the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation.

2018 -: Project leader of the project Fire Insurance on the Swedish countryside and the financial revolution. Organisation and Arguments 1734 to 1850, financed by the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation and Brandförsäkringsverkets stiftelse för bebyggelsehistorisk forskning. Coworker is Måns Jansson.

2015 - 2021: Member together with PI associate professor Sofia Murhem of the project The Swedish Church as an institutional lender in rural Sweden 1750-1900, financed by the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation.

2010 - 2015: Member of the project Old Credits. The development of pawn-broking in Sweden in relation to the development of other systems of credit, regulations and the emerging welfare state 1850-1950, financed by the Swedish Research Council and Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation. PI was associate professor Sofia Murhem. This project enrolled two PhD-students, Tony Kenttää and Lisa Ramqvist.

2005 - 2009: Member of the project The forgotten consumption. The role of auctions in relation to the transformation of society in the 18th and 19th century, together with associate professors Sofia Murhem and Kristina Lilja. The project was financed by The Swedish Research Council. The result was published in the monograph Den glömda konsumtionen. Auktionshandeln i Sverige under 1700- och 1800-talen (The forgotten consumption. Auctions in Sweden during the 18th and 19th centuries) at Gidlund publishing house in 2013.

Country houses and estates

My interest for Country houses started in the early 1990´s since when I have published several books and articles on the subject.

2024- , project member together with PI Carolina Uppenberg and Marie Steinrud in the project One’s just reward? Servants’ wages, terms of employment and tangible assets in a changing manorial economy, 1730-1870, financed by Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation.

2020 -, project member together with PI Martin Dackling, Brita Planck and Magnus Bergman in the project Entailed manors in Sweden 1643 - 2020, Origin, Administration and Dissolution, financed by Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation.

2020, project member in the project Country House Museums in Sweden in the 20th century, financed by Stiftelsen Lagersberg.

2016 - 2019 : Project leader together with Ulrich Lange of the project Julita manor, financed by Stiftelsen Lagersberg and Brandförsäkringsverkets stiftelse för bebyggelsehistorisk forskning.

2012 - 2016: Project leader of the project Economy, management and material culture at country houses in 1700 – 1900, financed by Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation.

Database on Swedish manors

Since 2012 I run the project Database on Swedish manors, in which I collect data on estates in Sweden.

The database contain information on the manors’ location (parish, hundred and county), the acreage of the manors and the estates, the owners’ titles, names and surname and their partner’s titles, names and surname, at different dates from the middle ages to present day. This has resulted in around 2,400,000 pieces of information from around 15,300 manors and stately farms in Sweden and Finland. The data is avaible at the searchable homepage (www.svenskaherrgardar.se) were it is possible to make cross searches and download the results into excel files for further calculations. Part of the work has been done within the TORA project , financed by Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and the Swedish National Archives.

Networks

I manage an e-mail list for those interested in research on manors and manorial culture in Sweden. Messages are sent out irregularly with information on new research projects, books, articles, exhibitions etcetera. The list has 1,000 subscribers in Sweden and Scandinavia. If you want to become a member of the e-mail list, please send me an e-mail.

I am also engaged in the Nordic network for studies on castles and country estates and member of the steering group of the European Network for Country House and Estate Research, ENCOUNTER.

Teaching and presentations

During the last 10 years, I have given lecture series and seminars at courses in Economic history such as Globalisering - ett historiskt perspektiv (Globalization from a historical point of view) and Ekonomi och Samhälle (Economy and Society, a historical perspective), as well as courses in Agrarian history at the Section of Agrarian History, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

I give regularly presentations for local historical societies, museums and companies, trying to spread information on agrarian history, economic history, consumption and country houses and manorial culture.

I am an active member of several historical societies, among them Föreningen Gamla Bion i Örsundsbro (which has restored and now run a cinema from the 1920:s, showing movies and arranging concerts), Hagby hembygdsförening, Lagunda hembygdsförening, Upplands fornminnesförening, and Länsforskningsrådet i Uppsala län.