Hillesøy is a former municipality in Troms county in Norway. The 461 km municipality existed from 1855 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located on both sides of the Malangen fjord in what is now Tromsø Municipality and Senja Municipality. The administrative centre was located at Brensholmen on the western shore of the island of Kvaløya. Brensholmen is also the location of Hillesøy Church, the main church for the municipality. Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the 461.2 km2 municipality was the 214th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Hillesøy Municipality was the 365th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 2,507. The municipality's population density was 5.4 PD/km2 and its population had decreased by 2.6% over the previous 10-year period. Hillesøy Municipality included about 458 km2 of land with 164 km2 on the island of Senja, about 263 km2 on the island of Kvaløya, and about 31 km2 of smaller islands including Hillesøya and Sommarøya. On Senja island, Hillesøy Municipality included the larger villages of Fjordgård, Husøy, and Botnhamn. On Kvaløya island, it included Ersfjordbotn and Brensholmen. The island of Sommarøya is connected to the large island of Kvaløya by the Sommarøy Bridge. Most of the other islands are only accessible by boat.

General information

The parish of Hillesøy (originally spelled Hillesø) was established as a municipality in 1855 when it was separated from the large Lenvik Municipality (or it might have been in 1871–some sources do not concur). The initial population of Hillesøy was around 800 people. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Hillesøy Municipality was dissolved and its lands were divided as follows:

Name

The municipality is named after the old Hillesøy farm on the island of Hillesøya since the first Hillesøy Church was originally built there. The meaning of the name is not entirely clear. The first element of the old name may come from the old Norwegian male name Hildulfr. Another possibility is that the name was originally Hellisøy. If this is the case, then the first element would be derived from the word which means "rock slab" or "cave". The last element of the name is not disputed. The last element is which means "island". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Hillesø. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Hillesøy, to give the name a more Norwegian and less Danish spelling due to Norwegian language reforms.

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Hillesøy. It was part of the Hillesøy prestegjeld and the Trondenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

Geography

The highest point in the municipality was the 942 m tall mountain Keipen on the island of Senja.

Government

While it existed, Hillesøy Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Mayors

The mayors of Hillesøy:

Municipal council

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Hillesøy was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.