Polman, Påhlman, von Pohlmann family
The Respected Noblewoman
The social status of Anna Christina Påhlman was personally elevated by Sweden’s Queen Kristina to ensure equality with her brothers.
Anna Christina Polman, ennobled Påhlman and sometimes known by the names Kristina and Kerstin, was the sister of Johan and Gustaf Påhlman. Her brothers and father, Jöran Polman, were military men; she likely grew up and spent her early life at the manor Ugglansryd in Kronoberg, Sweden with her mother Christina Lilliesparre.
The early 1650s were a time of change. On 16 September 1650, Johan and Gustaf were knighted by Queen Kristina, who ruled the Swedish Empire from 1644 until 1654, at Stockholm Castle. The family henceforth adopted the name Påhlman under No. 501.1“Påhlman nr 501”, Adelsvapen-Wiki, https://www.adelsvapen.com/genealogi/Påhlman_nr_501, accessed: 17 March 2022
[…] it is only fair that she is not less than her brothers, her ancestors’ merits, [and] in that case, must be credited.
Kristina, Queen of Sweden, 1652
Photo: Lilljeqvist, Olle (1946), Kulturparken Småland/Smålands museum
Two years later, on 30 October 1652 in Stockholm, the Queen personally directed that Anna Christina and her descendants “must be respected” and included in her brothers’ nobility. In her declaration, translated from Swedish, the Queen said:2“Förklaring att Kristina Påhlman skall respekteras och hållas för adlig person”, Riksregistraturet, 1652, SE/RA/1112.1/B/281, A0038776_00401, http://www.svar.ra.se/image.asp?imageid=A0038776_00401
[…] it is only fair that she is not less than her brothers, her ancestors’ merits, [and] in that case, must be credited. Therefore, we have, of great favour and grace, declared that the sister and all her descendants are with the same dignity and honours as her brothers were understood, and for noble persons respected, equal […] as if they were mentioned and remembered there.
Earlier in 1652, on 28 April, Anna Christina – having by then lost both her parents – bought the manor Väraboda in Ryssby from her aunt Brita Olofsdotter Lilliesparre.3Göran Ulväng, Databasen Sveriges Herrgårdar, www.svenska herrgårdar.se, accessed: 19 May 2023 It would have been a familiar place, not least because of its location by Stensjön lake, diagonally opposite Ugglansryd.
Within the next decade, Anna Christina married Jöns Eriksson Silfwerbrand (No. 508, also knighted in 1650), a regimental quartermaster who would later become a major. This was his second marriage. The couple had at least one daughter named Maria.4“Silfwerbrand nr 508”, Adelsvapen-Wiki, https://www.adelsvapen.com/genealogi/Silfwerbrand_nr_508, accessed: 25 May 2023
In 1664, the ownership of Väraboda shifted briefly back to Brita, before changing hands a few times until it was acquired by Johan Påhlman in 1677. By this time, Anna Christina may have passed away. She is believed to have lived in 1669, but her husband remarried a year later, likely following her death.
Footnotes
- 1“Påhlman nr 501”, Adelsvapen-Wiki, https://www.adelsvapen.com/genealogi/Påhlman_nr_501, accessed: 17 March 2022
- 2“Förklaring att Kristina Påhlman skall respekteras och hållas för adlig person”, Riksregistraturet, 1652, SE/RA/1112.1/B/281, A0038776_00401, http://www.svar.ra.se/image.asp?imageid=A0038776_00401
- 3Göran Ulväng, Databasen Sveriges Herrgårdar, www.svenska herrgårdar.se, accessed: 19 May 2023
- 4“Silfwerbrand nr 508”, Adelsvapen-Wiki, https://www.adelsvapen.com/genealogi/Silfwerbrand_nr_508, accessed: 25 May 2023
