Botne

Botne is a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The 85 km2 municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Holmestrand Municipality in the traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre was the village of Botne where the Botne Church is located. Other villages in the municipality included Hillestad and Gullhaug.

History
The parish of Botne was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The initial population of Botne Municipality was about 1,600 residents. In 1942, an area of Botne (population: 148) was transferred into the neighboring town of Holmestrand. In 1947, an area of Botne (population: 8) was transferred to the neighboring Våle Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Botne Municipality (population: 4,656) was merged with the town of Holmestrand (population: 1,956) to form a new, larger Holmestrand Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Botne farm (Botnar) since the first Botne Church was built there. The name is the plural form of which means "bottom", "hollow", or "depression".

Churches
The Church of Norway had two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Botne. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Nord-Jarlsberg prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Tunsberg.

Botne Church (Botne kirke) is a stone church from the 13th century that is dedicated to St. Nicholas. There is rectangular nave and lower and narrower choir. The Renaissance / Baroque altarpiece is from 1664 and consists of four pictures from the gospels. The pulpit is from 1634 with five subjects with evangelists and painted in large fields. The baptismal font is also from the 1600s and has an octagonal basin with painted biblical scenes on four sides.

Government
Botne Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Botne:


 * 1838-1847: Peder Mandrup Tuxen Abel
 * 1848-1856: Hans J. N. Hillestad
 * 1856-1859: Johan H. Ramberg
 * 1860-1861: Anders J. Myhre
 * 1862-1863: Peder P. Ramberg
 * 1864-1865: Johan Henningsen Ramberg
 * 1866-1869: Peder Cappelen Ottesen
 * 1870-1871: Anders Sv. Rønningen
 * 1872-1873: Olaus Chr. Hårjord
 * 1874-1879: Theodor L. Bjerke
 * 1880-1887: Abraham L. Hillestad
 * 1888-1895: Jess D. Koren
 * 1896-1897: Henning P. Løvald
 * 1898-1898: Newton T. Kalleberg
 * 1899-1904: Kristen Skarrebo
 * 1905-1907: Hans Backe
 * 1908-1913: Johan Kiste
 * 1914-1919: Hans Strandenæs (H)
 * 1920-1922: Aksel Jensen Foss
 * 1923-1928: Hans Strandenæs (H)
 * 1929-1934: Halvard Christian Sollie (Bp)
 * 1935-1947: Paul Seljeseth (Ap)
 * 1948-1951: Einar Weltzien (Bp)
 * 1952-1955: Paul Seljeseth (Ap)
 * 1956-1963: Halfdan Kongsten (Ap)

Municipal council
The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Botne was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.