# Bolsøy

Bolsøy is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The 290-square-kilometre (110 sq mi) municipality of Bolsøy encompassed the area around the Fannefjorden including most of the present-day Molde Municipality, excluding the town of Molde. The municipality also included the Molde Archipelago and the island of Bolsøya. The administrative center of the municipality was located on the island of Bolsøya near the location of the main church for the parish, Bolsøy Church.

## History

The parish of Bolsøy was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). According to the 1835 census, Bolsøy had a population of 2,391. On 1 January 1877, the Sotnakken farm (population: 19) was added to Bolsøy Municipality from Nesset Municipality. In 1915, a part of Bolsøy with 183 inhabitants was transferred to the town of Molde. Again in 1952, another part of Bolsøy (population: 1,913) was transferred to the town of Molde.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Bolsøy Municipality (population: 7,996) ceased to exist when it was merged with the town of Molde (population: 8,239), the northern part of Veøy Municipality (population: 756), and the Mordal area (population: 77) from Nord-Aukra Municipality to form the new Molde Municipality.

### Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the island of Bolsøya (Old Norse: Bylingsøy) since the first Bolsøy Church was built there. The first element comes from the old name for the island. The island's name is uncertain, but it may come from the word boli which means "bull". The last element is øy which means "island". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Bolsø. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Bolsøy.

## Government

During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

### Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Bolsøy was made up of 35 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:
Bolsøy herredsstyre 1960–1963 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 15 |
| | Conservative Party (Høyre) | 3 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 8 |
| | Centre Party (Senterpartiet) | 4 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 5 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 35 |
Bolsøy herredsstyre 1956–1959 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 15 |
| | Conservative Party (Høyre) | 2 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 8 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 5 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 5 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 35 |
Bolsøy herredsstyre 1952–1955 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 13 |
| | Conservative Party (Høyre) | 1 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 8 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 4 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 5 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 1 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 32 |
Bolsøy herredsstyre 1948–1951 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 10 |
| | Conservative Party (Høyre) | 1 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 2 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 0 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 1 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 3 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 6 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 32 |
Bolsøy herredsstyre 1945–1947 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 13 |
| | Conservative Party (Høyre) | 1 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 2 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 8 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 3 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 4 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 1 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 32 |
Bolsøy herredsstyre 1938–1941* :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 13 |
| | Conservative Party (Høyre) | 1 |
| | Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) | 2 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 6 |
| | Joint list of the Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet) and the Liberal Party (Venstre) | 5 |
| | Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister) | 2 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 32 |
| Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945. |||

### Mayors

The mayors of Bolsøy:
* 1838–1840: Hans Jørgen Synnestvedt
* 1841–1843: Løve Sørensen Schevik
* 1844–1845: Lars Knudsen Hungnæs
* 1846–1849: Ebbe Carsten Tønder Astrup
* 1850–1851: Løve Sørensen Schevik
* 1852–1853: Ole Olsen Aarøe
* 1854–1857: Wollert Danckertsen Krohn
* 1858–1860: Petter Anton Møller
* 1860-1860: Ole Olsen Aarøe
* 1861–1875: Thomas Talseth
* 1876–1879: Lars Hungnes
* 1880–1885: Thomas Talseth
* 1886–1907: Lars Hungnes
* 1908–1919: Ole Thorvik
* 1920–1922: Christian Johannessen
* 1923–1928: Knut Kringstad
* 1929–1931: Aslak Hagen
* 1932–1936: Mathias A. Lervik
* 1937–1939: Knut Valved
* 1939–1941: Knut Kringstad
* 1946–1947: Ansgar Berild
* 1948–1951: Gunnar Solli
* 1952–1955: Ansgar Berild
* 1956–1957: Rolf Møller
* 1958–1959: Ingolf L. Pedersen
* 1960–1963: Leif J. Lunder