and transferred the population elsewhere, and built the royal mansion in Espåby. (Mankby was eventually abandoned and was never repopulated.) The royal mansion housed the king's local plenipotentiary (vogt), and collected royal tax in kind paid by labour on the mansion's farm. The administrative centre Espoon keskus has grown around the church and the Espoo railway station, but the municipality has retained a network-like structure to the modern day. In the 16th century Espoo changed into a parish of many large farmsteads. The war between Sweden and Russia in the late 16th century attracted farmstead owners to found horse steads in hopes of reduced taxation. Horse stead owners were required to uphold a rider in the wars fought by the realm. In the late 17th century the crown had donated lands to noblemen with success in wars, and during a few decades, the lands in Espoo had been dealt to seven noble families. In the early 18th century the Great Northern War and the Great Wrath caused poverty among the people. During this time, many members of the estates in Espoo moved to Sweden. The foundation of Sveaborg in front of Helsinki increased the traffic in Espoo and many officers bought villas in Espoo. Construction of the fortress required transport of bricks from factories in Espoo. In the same century, agricultural novelties such as the potato and various fruits spread from the manor houses to the peasants. Russian rule and early industrialization The Swedish rule in Finland came to an end in 1809, when the Kingdom of Sweden ceded all of its remaining territory in Finland to the Russian Empire after the Finnish War. When the city of Helsinki became the capital of the newly established Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812, it brought novel developments to the neighbouring parish of Espoo. Many government officials as well as members of the growing merchant class bought summer houses from Espoo. Throughout the 19th century, most of Espoo's inhabitants worked in agriculture. The population was around 4,000, while most of the people lived in over 60 small villages. Halfway through the century, almost 90% of the population spoke Swedish as their first language. The wealthy estates and mansions of the parish required maids, farmhands and tenant farmers as their workforce to raise cattle, farm crops and raise vegetables in the kitchen gardens. Fishing was also common in the coastal areas. The Glims