Kjerringøy (municipality)

Kjerringøy is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The 176 km2 municipality existed from 1906 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality included the coastal and island areas around the entrance to the Folda fjord, plus the northern coast of the Mistfjorden to the south of the Folda fjord. About 400 small islands totaling about 11 km2 were part of the municipality. The areas are located in what is now Bodø Municipality and a small part in Steigen Municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Kjerringøy where Kjerringøy Church is located.

History
The municipality of Kjerringøy was established on 1 January 1906 when the old municipality of Nordfold-Kjerringøy was split into Kjerringøy (population: 857) and Nordfold (population: 1,485). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Kjerringøy ceased to exist. Most of Kjerringøy (population: 524) was incorporated into the municipality of Bodin, its neighbor to the south. The Brennsund district north of the Folda fjord (population: 30), was incorporated into Steigen Municipality. Prior to the merger Kjerringøy had a population of 574. Later, on 1 January 1968, Bodin (including most of Kjerringøy) was incorporated into the Bodø Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Kjerringøy farm (Kerlingarøy) since the first Kjerringøy Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of which means "of the old woman", probably meaning that the land was once owned by a widow. The last element is which means "island". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Kjerringø. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Kjerringøy.

Government
While it existed, this 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 elected representatives, which in turn elected a mayor.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Kjerringøy was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors
The mayors of Kjerringøy:


 * 1906–1907: Peder Nilssen-Fjære
 * 1908–1934: Gerhard Kristiansen
 * 1935–1937: Elling Tidemann
 * 1938–1940: Otto Fredriksen
 * 1940–1945: Rolf Johnsen
 * 1945–1947: Otto Fredriksen
 * 1948–1959: Henry Skålsvik
 * 1960–1963: Berby Johansen