Edøy Municipality


Edøy is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1960. It was located in the southern and central parts of the present-day Smøla Municipality. The old municipality originally encompassed all the islands surrounding the Edøyfjorden. This included the islands of Smøla, Tustna, Stabblandet, and the many smaller islands between the larger ones. The island of Edøya lies between the two and that was the center of the old municipality. Over time, parts of Edøy were split off to form other municipalities. At the time it was dissolved, Edøy Municipality was. The Old Edøy Church and later the Edøy Church were the main churches for the municipality.
Prior to its dissolution in 1960, the municipality was the 445th largest by area out of the 743 municipalities in Norway. Edøy Municipality was the 629th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,115. The municipality's population density was and its population had decreased by 4.5% over the previous 5-year period.

General information

The parish of Edø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. A royal resolution of 3 May 1873 directed that the southern Tustern parish be removed from Edøy Municipality to create the new Tustern Municipality effective on 1 January 1874. This left Edøy Municipality with 2,166 inhabitants.
On 1 January 1915, the large Edøy Municipality was split into three to form: Edøy Municipality in the south, Hopen Municipality in the northeast, and Brattvær Municipality in the northwest.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1960, the 1915 partition was reversed, merging Brattvær Municipality, Edøy Municipality, and Hopen Municipality, creating the new Smøla Municipality.

Name

The municipality is named after the old Edøy farm since the Old Edøy Church was built there. The first element is which means "eider", a common type of sea bird for the area. The last element is which means "island". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Edø. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Edøy.

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish within Edøy Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Edøy prestegjeld and the Nordmøre prosti in the Diocese of Nidaros.
Parish Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
EdøyEdøy ChurchStraumen1885
EdøyOld Edøy ChurchEdøya1190

In 2019, archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research using large-scale high-resolution georadar technology, determined that a long Viking ship was buried near the Edøy Church. Traces of a small settlement were also found. They estimate the ship's age as over 1,000 years: from the Merovingian or Viking period. The group planned to conduct additional searches in the area. A similar burial was found previously by NIKU archaeologists in 2018, in Gjellestad.

Geography

The municipality was located on the southern part of the large island of Smøla, along with the surrounding smaller islets and skerries including Kuli and Edøya. Brattvær Municipality was located to the northwest and Hopen Municipality was located to the northeast. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Ramndalshaugen on the small island of Kuli.

Government

While it existed, Edøy Municipality was responsible for primary education, outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Edøy Municipality was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor of Edøy Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:
  • 1838–1842: Halvor Christian Heyerdahl
  • 1843–1844: Jørgen Foss
  • 1845–1848: Paul Ulrik Stabell
  • 1849–1850: Halvor Kulø
  • 1851–1855: Daniel A. Rognskaug
  • 1856–1859: Paul Ulrik Stabell
  • 1860–1863: Sverker Moe
  • 1864–1871: Jonas Halse
  • 1872–1877: Knut Kuløy
  • 1878–1884: Ole Soleim
  • 1885–1892: Iver Paulsen Høsteng
  • 1893–1909: Ole Soleim
  • 1910–1913: Bastian Width
  • 1914–1928: Halvard Knutsen Kuløy
  • 1928–1930: O. Th. Engdal
  • 1931–1937: John Lervik
  • 1938–1941: Johan Gjøstøl
  • 1945–1945: Ola Schjølberg
  • 1946–1947: Olav J. Gjernes
  • 1948–1959: Ove Gjernes