Gyldenär, is the surname of an extinct Swedish noble family, enrolled in Riddarhuset [ "House of Nobility" ] with the number of 388.
Founder
The founder of the family was Johan Gyldenär, a major in a Finnish infantry regiment in the Swedish army. He came from Sweden but his father, Conrad Guldener, was from either Germany or the Netherlands. Johan was mentioned by the records for the first time in 1622 when he received Storhoplaks, Mäkkylä and Kilo in the parish of Espoo ( Storhoplaks was then a part of Helsinki rural parish ) in Finland from the Crown. He built the Alberga manor house in the village of Storhoplaks. In 1624, Alberga was created an allodial freehold estate. In 1628 he exchanged Mäkkylä for Träskända village ( now the manor of Järvenperä ) in the same parish. On 16 November 1646 Johan Guldener was ennobled with the name of Gyldenär and introduced in 1650 in the House of Nobility Riddarhuset with the number 388. In 1647, he was a Major in the Viborg ( now Viipuri, Finland ) Infantry Regiment, which was sent to Riga. He was the commander of the Vargskärs fort of Helsingfors ( now Helsinki ) in 1656 and 1658. He retired in 1664 with the rank of Major and the thanks "for his gracious services of many years" [ for sina hulda och långvariga tjänster ]. He died around 1685 at the age of 87 years. His wife was Elin Horn af Kankas, the daughter of the Royal Councilor Arvid Horn af Kankas from Finland ( Family No. 12 in Riddarhuset ) and his second wife, Ingeborg Iwarsdotter Stjernkors ( Family No. 39 ). They had three children.
Daughters
Daughter Ingeborg was married twice – in 1654, to Lieutenant Antonius Creutzhammer ( Family No. 200 ), who died in 1657, and his cousin, Governor Friherre [ Baron ] Arvid Horn af Åminne ( Family No. 2 ) ( 1631 – 1692 ) but they were married without the permission from the King of Sweden so they were hauled to the Hovrätt, the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Sweden, in Åbo ( now Turku, Finland ) for the punishment. Jully Ramsay believed that there was another daughter, Margaretha who married a Livonian noble, Hendrik Bergh, a Captain in the Viborg Cavalry Regiment, and who died before 1705.
Sons
Anrep stated in 1861 that Johan had two sons, who followed him to the military but Ramsay, writing in 1909, believed that they were actually Johan's son and grandson. Johan's son, Arvid, rose through the ranks of the Swedish Army. He began in 1644 as a corporal in his father's old regiment, the Viborg Infantry Regiment, but, by 1655, he was a lieutenant in the Nyland (now Uusimaa, Finland) Cavalry Regiment. He was a major in 1665 and lieutenant colonel in 1669 with the cavalry of Colonel Kock von Crimstein. Then he was lieutenant-colonel in 1672 and colonel in 1677 with the cavalry of Count Leonhard Wittenberg. He finished as the commandant of Varberg in 1689. He died in 1710. He married Gertrud Dorothea Bergh of Livonian nobility but, in 1669, they separated. From her, he wrote that he had "for a long time endured great discomfort, contempt and injury" [ en lång tid bortåt utstått stort besvär, förakt och skada ]. According to Anrep, they had six children but Ramsay counted only five. Anrep wrote three of their four sons followed their father to the military but only one of them, Ernst (Ernst Arvid, according to Ramsay), a captain of infantry, had a wife and children. All his three sons also joined the army, but they all died as childless bachelors, so Arvid's branch became extinct in the male line