SOCIAL PERCEPTION OF METRIC REGISTERS AS A FORM OF POPULATION REGISTER IN THE 19TH CENTURY BY THE EXAMPLE OF TISHANKA SETTLEMENT IN THE BELGOROD REGION

СОЦИАЛЬНОЕ ВОСПРИЯТИЕ МЕТРИЧЕСКИХ КНИГ КАК ФОРМУ УЧЁТА НАСЕЛЕНИЯ В XIX ВЕКЕ НА ПРИМЕРЕ СЛОБОДЫ ТИШАНКА БЕЛГОРОДСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ

Азарнов Александр Иванович

студент, кафедра возрастной и социальной психологии педагогического института, Белгородский государственный национальный исследовательский университет, (НИУ «БелГУ»), РФ, г. Белгород

Abstract. The article analyzes the way of keeping records of birth rate, mortality, marriage and divorce in Belgorod region before 1917. Consideration of metric books as a factual evaluation of the method of accounting (shortcomings and possible advantages). Historical reference of the phenomenon and its character in the historical period.

The article uses the method of scientific comparison of different data inside the metric book and compiling statistical data, the example of data from metric books is given.

Аннотация. В статье анализируется способ ведения учета рождаемости, смертности, бракосочетания и разводов в Белгородской области до 1917 года. Рассмотрение метрических книг как фактологическая оценка способа учета (недостатки и возможные достоинства). Историческая справка явления и характерность его в историческом периоде.

В статье используется метод научного сравнения разных данных внутри метрической книги и составление статистических данных, приводится пример данных из метрических книг. 

Keywords:  metric books, records, statistics, birth rate, mortality, population reaction, attention.

Ключевые слова: метрические книги, учет, статистика, рождаемость, смертность, население, реакция, внимание.

At present, not all people know that civil registry offices keep records of the following acts: birth, conclusion and dissolution of marriage, adoption, establishment of paternity, change of name and death. And especially not everyone knows that civil registry offices appeared in Russia only in 1917. Till the same since XVII century for the account of the population metric books in which the information remains a subject of researches of many scientists till now were used.

The urgency of the chosen theme of research is caused by that even in the modern computerized society in the history of our country, separate cities, villages and villages there are white spots.

It is clear that it is very difficult to recognize the population of the XIX century, but there is no information about the population even in Soviet times.

The purpose of our work is to analyze the level of growth, decline or marriage in the settlement of Tishanka, Volokonovskiy district of Belgorod region of Russia. and also to assess the demographic situation in Russia.

The Church Metric Book is a register that contains official records of civil status acts as well as other important notes about the life of the population of a particular municipality, such as changes in religion. The Metric Book is a chronological list of events for the year, divided into three main parts:

1) on birth - date of birth and baptism, name and surname, place of residence and religion of parents and godparents, legality and illegality of birth;

2) on marriage - the name, surname, place of residence, nationality, religion of the bride and groom, at what age of marriage, date of marriage, surnames and names of witnesses;

on death - name, surname, place of residence, age of the deceased, date and cause of death, place of burial.

At present, RSTI "State Archives of Belgorod region" has only 4 metric books from Tishanka settlement of St. Nicholas Church from 1881 to 1917. There are only three books in the XIX century. In Tishanka, the Golitsyn landlords, whose farm Tishanka was, together with the villagers in 1868 built a wooden St. Nicholas church, which was closed only in 1930. Consequently, the population record was to be kept in this church, as from 1722 the population record was to be kept in each parish. However, the earliest documents date back to 1881.

Metric Book 73 contains birth records for the years 1881-1883 and 1890-1893. Marriage records for the years 1881-1883 and 1890-1893. On death for the years 1881-1883 and 1890-1893. 345 sheets in total. [3]

Looking at document 73 in more detail, we can see that in 1883 106 children were baptized, 58 of them boys and 48 girls. Unfortunately, we do not know the exact number of children born, as the children who died at birth were not included in the metric books. In 1883, 90 people died, 51 of them men and 39 women. A greater advantage towards men suggests that in 1859 the Tishanka peasants were given personal freedom for large ransom payments and were forced to return these payments. [4]. There were 27 couples married in 1883.

In 1890, 70 children were baptized, of whom 39 were male and 31 female. The number of deaths is 188, which is a huge number for this settlement. The ratio of deaths by sex is almost the same: 92 male and 96 female.  Marriage was concluded among 24 couples.

1891 has partially similar figures: 156 children were born - 93 boys and 63 girls. The number of deaths was one third lower than the previous year - 131 (74 male, 57 female). This year, 30 couples were married.

The year 1892 is represented by the following numbers: 121 baptized children, of whom 64 were boys and 57 were girls. The number of deaths decreased further to an average of 77 (39 and 38 men and women respectively). In 1892, 26 couples were registered as having married.

And, last described year in this metric book, 1893. Data for this year are available in the form of 121 children, of which 62 are boys and 59 are girls. The number of deaths is twice as low - 64 (29 men and 35 women). The number of couples married is 22, which is the lowest number of available data, although the deviation from the average is small.

Metric Book No. 74 contains birth records for the years 1884-1889. Marriage records for the years 1884-1889. On death for the years 1884-1889. Only 295 sheets. [5] In 1884, 113 people were born, 67 of them boys and 46 girls. But 67 people died: 38 men, 29 women. In 1884, 26 couples were married.  In 1885, 99 people were born, 53 of them boys and 46 girls. The number of deaths was given in such numbers - 40 men and 44 women, 84 people in total. There were 27 couples married.  In 1886, 110 persons were born, 60 of them boys and 50 girls. 40 men and 43 women died - 83 people. Only 29 couples were married in 1886.

As we can notice, the year 1890 by the number of deaths and the year 1891 by the number of children born stand out very strongly in this statistics. With an average of 86 deaths in 1890 alone, the number of deaths is twice as high as the average number of deaths in the seven years available. Referring to the statistics of the metric book for that year, it was found that about 50 dead are children under one year old and more than half are children under 5 years old. This suggests that a causative agent of some kind may have appeared in Tishanka, to which children of such a small age have not yet developed immunity as there is no sharp jump in death rates for other ages.

1891, on the contrary, shows another anomaly: after 1890, with so many deaths for a small settlement, the birth rate increases. Surprisingly, not counting the past year, where there are 188 deaths, the number of births in 1891 is the highest among other available data and equals 156. Observed by this year the number of the deceased is also not insignificant - 131 people. Later, in 1892 and 1893, statistics came back to normal. During both years 121 people were born and the number of deaths reached 77 and 64 respectively.

As can be seen from the data in the metric books, during the whole period they cover, the average values for the province are observed. However, there were some events that influenced the birth rate and mortality in certain years. The number of marriages, as can be understood, has not been affected in any way, as the average number of marriages contracted per year has not changed.

The statistics of the metric books allow the researcher to make a retrospective view of the number and composition of the population. Based on the record in the metric book, a metric certificate was issued, which was a legally valid document certifying that the act of birth, marriage or death of the person is recorded in the church book of the parish. With respect to the verification of birth and baptism records, the situation was not always clear. "The birth record bears witness to two different events - a natural birth event and a baptismal rite in the Church. The spiritual authority gives a direct attestation only of the latter, while the birth record is entered into the book based only on the testimony given to it, and the law does not establish the very method of accepting such testimony. Recently, interest in the local history of the population has been particularly increasing, new research directions are being formed, and schools are being developed to study individual regions and cities in Russia. It is obvious that it is the metric books that are the statistical source, which is sufficiently representative and contains a huge potential for research.