A torp, simply defined, was a small, untaxed farm. A torpare was the man who ran and managed the torp.
A "torp" is the Swedish term for "croft", and crofts had been in existence all over Europe for centuries. Owners of large estates would lease small portions of their land to independent farmers. In exchange for the land lease, the crofter or torpare would agree to spend a certain number of days per year working for the estate owner. This insured that the land owner had enough workers to maintain his own fields so he could turn a profit.
Relatively speaking, by the 1700s there were not that many torp in Sweden, but as the Swedish population exploded in the 1800s, so did the need for many young Swedes to find a place to call home and create some semblance of job security. More young adults than ever before who had come from poor families were surviving childhood. As many of the young men looked to gain independence and start families of their own, they would ask a nearby land owner for permission to build a little house in a remote part of his estate and, in exchange, provide uncompensated daily labor to the owner.
A torp was usually located on the outskirts of an owner's land: at the edge of a forest and/or on land that was not ideal for planting. (After all, why would an estate owner give up any of his prime real estate if he didn't have to?) It could take considerable work for a torpare to prepare a new plot of land for any type of productive planting.
The land owner and the torpare would usually sign a contract which stipulated what was required of each other. When a land owner was fair and equitable, life for the torpare and his family could be tolerable. But the relationship between the owner and the torpare could vary greatly from farm to farm and from village to village. When a land owner made unreasonable demands of a torpare, or when disagreements erupted, life for the torpare and his family could be downright miserable. This is why many families would pick up and move to another farm or village, seeking out a more fair and equitable opportunity.
Since the torpare was legally bound to the land owner by way of contract, if he became ill or incapacitated he would have to provide a substitute to fulfill his contracted work and would have to find a way to compensate his substitute. If this were not possible, his wife would have to step in and perform all of his high-demand duties while she continued to raise, feed, and clothe children and manage the household. Sometimes it became necessary for a half-grown son to step in and fulfill his father's responsibilities.
Farm work corresponded to the seasons, so of course the owner wanted the torpare to work for him on prime seasonal days for planting, harvesting, etc. This left few, if any, prime days the torpare would have for managing his own small farm, forcing him to work odd hours of the day and night to complete his own tasks. Sometimes a torpare and/or his wife had skills which allowed them to work during the off hours as village craftsmen, putting a little money in their pockets. Additionally, the torpare could, if asked or agreed on by the owner, work a few extra days per year for cash payment, but the torpare was usually paid less than the going labor rate at the time.
A torp was inheritable and could be passed down from father to son. A man who had multiple sons obviously couldn't divide the torp between all of them as there would not be enough land to support multiple families. The sons who did not inherit would have to find work elsewhere, laboring on another large farm, or hope that they might be able to contract for a small torp of their own nearby.
The size of a torp was seldom more than a couple of acres, but enough that he could plant some grain and potatoes to feed a family and harvest a bit of hay for an animal or two. This, of course, was dependent on the quality of the land and the soil.
Sometimes the torpare was furnished with a small home and barn by the land owner if a previous tenant relocated, but often, even though he did not own the land upon which they sat, the torpare owned his own buildings. The house was generally very small, consisting of only 1 or 2 rooms. If it had a dirt floor, which they often did, it could be a very unhealthy environment in which to raise a family. Some may have had a sleeping loft in the attic, often accessed by an outside staircase. Whether or not it was painted with the traditional Falu red paint would have been determined by the torpare's ability to pay for it and the time it took to paint and maintain it.
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| A Typical Torp |
Many Swedish couples raised very large families in these tiny, primitive dwellings. More children meant more mouths to feed, but it also provided additional hands and strong back to share the work.
The barn was generally larger than the house and was needed to house the animals and store the grain and equipment.
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| An Old Torp Barn or "Ladugård" |
It was estimated that by 1860 there were 100,000 Swedish torp housing almost a half a million people. By 1910 that number had been reduced to about 50,000, and by 1930 only about 20,000 torp remained, due mostly to swift industrialization and emigration to America. Since, ultimately, the system perpetuated social misery and a power structure ripe for abuse, the torp, as defined here, was outlawed in 1943.
Today, a torp is still very much a thing in Sweden, but with a very different definition. As modern city dwellers experience the stress of high-demand careers and feel a need to connect with their roots, they retreat to their torp or summer house on the weekends or for an extended stay during midsummer. Most of those structures which still exist in the modern day, I would quite confidently assume, have now been equipped with electricity, a flushing toilet, and wifi.
I think the next trip I make to Sweden will have to include a night or two in a torp near where one of my ancestors lived.
Next Post - The Backstuga and Backstugussittare
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