In this database you will find information about what transatlantic company the different agents represented. This information will be useful if you only know the name of the agent, because finding the company he represented will help you to narrow the search for the transatlantic ship. This database can be seen as a supplement to the "Digitalarkivet" emigration records. The online database at digitalarkivet in many cases gives you the name of the agent from whom the emigrants bought their tickets, but not the transatlantic ship or name of the company. Whenever you find the name of a ship, you will in many cases find it to be only a feeder ship between Norwegian ports and other countries. The great majority of the transatlantic companies did not make calls at Norwegian ports, and the emigrants had to board the transatlantic ship in departure ports, like Liverpool in England and Hamburg in Germany. You will find more details about the feeder ships in the "100 Years of Emigrant Ships from Norway" - index of Norwegian departures database.
Another thing you will find in this database, is information about in what way the agent was authorized to convey the emigrants. This will often let you know details about the routes they used. All this information will be useful for you when trying to determine the name of the transatlantic ship the emigrants crossed on. When you have found the name of the transatlantic company, and the name of the feeder ship from Norway, and the date of departure from Norway, you might find the name of the corresponding ship in the "Emigrant ship Arrivals" database.
You might also search for the shipping companies, to find information about the routes and fleets. Whether your search for Agents or Shipping Lines, you will find the information linked to each other in the search results. This database is still a working project, so it is by no way complete.
Steps in the searching process:
1. Begin by searching the digitalarkivet emigration records to locate the emigrant's departure from Norway.
2. Identify the name of the "Ship," "Line," "Agent," and the departure date.
3. If you only find the name of the "Agent" (which might be misplaced under another column), search this database for the name to determine the company represented. If you found the company name at the Digitalarkivet, you can skip this step.
4. If you found the name of the ship (sometimes misplaced under the "Line" heading), locate it in the "Index of Norwegian departures 1825-1925" database to determine if it was a direct ship or a feeder. For feeder ships, click on the icon in the "Detail" column to access a full sailing list if available. Then search for the departure data. If you find a navigation icon in the "Connections & information" column, click it to obtain a list of corresponding ships. Then search for a ship matching the information you have about the company. If you see a small green arrow by the ship's name, it indicates a confirmed connection.
5. Obtain a copy of the ship manifest for that specific voyage, which may confirm that the emigrant arrived on that ship.
Icons:
- Leads to additional departure or arrival information - sailing lists
- When you spot this icon on the ship info page, clicking it will take you to the passenger list
- Provides details about the corresponding ships when discovered in the sailing lists for feeder ships
= Confirmed connection
If you know the name if the shipping line, you might find a ship by selecting a line from the drop down menu on the right hand side. That will take you to a page containing a fleet list.
Read our articles about Hunting Passenger Lists
In some cases it is necessary to use the Norwegian characters æ ø and å. If you do not have a Norwegian keyboard or Norwegian keyboard settings it is still possible to type those letters. To type:
æ - press Alt while typing 0230
ø - press Alt while typing 0248
å - press Alt while typing 0229
On some computers you will have to press the keypad numbers on the right side, not the numbers on the top of the keyboard.
The search results, searching for lines:
| Line | Agent | Place | Agent's authorization, Routes & Ships |
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| This column gives you the name of the company the agent was working for. In some cases an agent would represent more than one line. Clicking the name will take you to a page with further information about the line, and a fleet list | This gives the name of the agent, clicking the name will return a table with information about what lines the agent represented and what years he was authorized as the agent of those lines. (Clicking the year on in that table will return a table of Norwegian departures for that year, clicking the name of the company in that table returns a table with information about the authorization, routes and fleet list for that company that specific year) | In what city the agent was based | Clicking the years returns a table with information about the authorization, routes and fleet list for that company that specific year. |
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