This week’s post deals with a curious object found in the probate inventory of a Swedish minister: an electricity machine. To what uses might such a machine have been put?

In this week’s post, we highlight some of the names found in Swedish 19th century probate inventories. Through names, we can study families’ aspirations and interests, all the while getting inspiration for what we might name our own descendants.

If you died in Sweden after 1734, someone would have to write down everything you owned: your furniture, your debts, your bank balance, even your books. Here’s what these lists can tell us. The detective’s ledger: what probate inventories tell us about ordinary livesImagine you die today. Then, imagine a stranger, three months from now,… Läs mer: Nothing to Hide: The Swedish Art of Cataloguing the Dead

Probate inventories can offer unexpected insights into how people organised and used the space within their homes. One member of the wealthy Piper family maintained a ”Ghost Room” in his castle – but what was kept there, and how might the room have been used?

Inheritance is one of the most powerful mechanisms through which wealth and opportunities are transferred from one generation to the next. Yet despite its importance, inheritance has often been treated as a private family matter rather than as a major force shaping society. What can historians bring to these debates?