ABSTRACT
Gudrun Andersson The three children of Hans Ljung and Birgitta Ahlbeck owed a lot to their parents’ financial care. Hans and Birgitta gave their children marriage portions, further gifts to them and their spouses, and finally passed on the remainder of their property in a joint will. The three new households were created and nurtured by careful provision from the elder marital economy. Hans Ljung, born in 1689, was one of many wealthy merchants in the town of Arboga, in central Sweden. He and Birgitta married in 1710, when Birgitta was 31 and Hans 21.2 From the 1720s onwards they were among the wealthiest families in Arboga, according to the registers of taxpayers. When Hans died in 1753, the inventory shows assets to the considerable value of 98 108 daler.3 During the period 1735-52, he held office as city councillor and in 1752 he was appointed vice mayor, and for some years he was churchwarden in the city church.4 Without doubt, the family belonged to the local elite.
