Particularly in rural areas, nineteenth century school funding relied to a significant degree on payments in-kind, such as grains, hay and fuel. In this respect, studies have shown how Swiss teachers were remunerated in grains, wine, firewood and sometimes bread, salt or salmon in 1800, how French mid-nineteenth century teachers occasionally were granted foodstuffs such as eggs, milk and butter, and how German teachers were presented with grains, wine and loaves of bread.
Using a wide range of source materials, including local school district minutes and teacher’s memories, the aim of this paper is to examine the roles of (male) teachers’ families and the local villages in the monetary and non-monetary economy of primary school system of mid-nineteenth century Sweden. Theoretically influenced by the social history of livelihood, and family history, I will analyze the work conducted by teachers’ wives and children to transform in-kind salary into something of value for the teacher and his family. I will also address the efforts of family members, and local villagers to mobilize additional in-kind resources, enabling teachers and their families to make a living our of a meagre teacher salary. Apart from shedding new light on teachers’ salaries, this article will thus also point to the significant roles of the social institutions of family and village, and gender relations, in the funding of nineteenth century school systems.