Gallery Samples Stories of our Ancestors | Page 12

After ‘the war’ the islanders went back to fishing and boat building which were both important sources of trade. Many great ships and tankers were built in Sweden, but that trade is now lost to Japan and Korea. The islands of the archipelago vary in size and population and many are now connected with bridges and good roads. They are popular holiday resorts in summer months. We still have relatives living on at least one island, probably more. I haven’t been able to find any stories going further back on Anders Johansson’s predecessors although the chart goes back to the mid-1700s and perhaps could makes some interesting research. What complicates matters is that names are repeated and inherited. Also, the islands referred to are quite small, the families generally large, and one could perhaps assume that there were many intermarriages. 12