Helgøy Municipality

Helgøy is a former municipality in Troms county, Norway. The 659 km2 island municipality existed from 1886 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located in the western part of the present-day Karlsøy Municipality. The municipality included the islands of Helgøya, Grøtøya, and Nordkvaløya, large parts of the nearby islands of Rebbenesøya, Ringvassøya, Vannøya, and many smaller surrounding islands. The administrative centre was located on the south side of the island of Helgøya in a small village where Helgøy Church is also located.

Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the 659.3 km2 municipality was the 148th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Helgøy Municipality was the 532nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,517. The municipality's population density was 2.3 PD/km2 and its population had decreased by 5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
From ancient times, the parish of Helgøy had existed. On 1 January 1838, municipal self-government law was introduced in Norway (see formannskapsdistrikt law), and the Helgøy parish was made a part of Karlsøy Municipality. Helgøy grew as a trading post under Christian Figenschou, but residents soon became dissatisfied with the municipal government based in Karlsøy.

On 1 September 1886 the parish of Helgøy was separated from Karlsøy Municipality to form a municipality of its own. Helgøy Municipality had an initial population of 828. Despite being separated, the two municipalities still had a common priest, sheriff, and doctor, but all these were residents in Karlsøy. From 1886 to 1892, Christian Figenschou was the mayor of Helgøy. After 1886, residents began developing a local town center on Helgøya island, with Helgøy Church, a rectory, a farm, and flourishing trade. A small village grew up around the church site and a permanent school in the parish was added on Helgøya island. Steam ships regularly stopped here and a post office was established. After 1928, a doctor and sheriff were permanently located here.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Helgøy Municipality was merged with the island portions of Karlsøy Municipality to form a new, larger Karlsøy Municipality. (The mainland areas of the old Karlsøy Municipality became part of Lyngen Municipality). Prior to the merger, Helgøy had a population of 1,495.

Name
The municipality is named after the island of Helgøya (Helgøy) since the first Helgøy Church was built there. The first element is which means "sanctuary" or " holy". The last element is which means "island". Thus the name means den hellige øy or "the holy island". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Helgø. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Helgøy.

Churches
The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Helgøy. It was part of the Karlsøy prestegjeld and the Nord-Troms prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

Geography
The highest point in the municipality was the 1049.3 m tall mountain Soltindan, which was located on the municipal border between Helgøy Municipality and Karlsøy Municipality.

Government
While it existed, Helgøy Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Helgøy:


 * 1886-1892: Christian Figenschou
 * 1893-1895: Guttorm Guttormsen Raste
 * 1896-1898: Edvard Raste
 * 1899-1901: Christian Figenschau
 * 1902-1903: Edvard Raste
 * 1904-1907: Hans Raste
 * 1907-1909: Søren Hansen
 * 1910-1913: Hans Raste
 * 1914-1922: Peder Nilsen
 * 1923-1925: Hans Raste
 * 1926-1934: Elias Olsen
 * 1935-1941: Edvard Baardsen
 * 1941-1941: Iwan Figenschou
 * 1941-1943: Matteus Grindberg
 * 1943-1943: Dmitri Figenschow
 * 1943-1943: Nils G. Rasthe
 * 1943-1945: John Olsen
 * 1945-1947: Edvard Baardsen
 * 1948-1963: Konrad Hansen

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Helgøy was made up of 15 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.