Metrical records is a term that is used in Eastern Europe and other areas of Europe to describe church records to document births, marriages and deaths. In other areas of the world, the same type of records is referred as vital records.
The phrase "metrical records" is used in reference to many religions that include Orthodox, Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Lutheran. Naturally, the books for metrical records are called metrical books.
Typically for all religions and denominations, records from metrical books were kept in at least two locations. The original record was kept by the parish or commune and a copy of the original record was stored in the church archives. For Jewish records, the copy was kept in a state office. [1]
The organization within metrical books vary by religion, political entity that controlled the area and the size of the community being documented in the books. Some metrical books possess birth, marriage and death records for a year and another metrical book could only have birth records for a year.[2]
The use of the word metrical records also can be found outside of Europe, especially by church organizations serving the faiths of eastern Europe. For example, the Archdiocese of Canada for the Orthodox Church of America in Quebec refers to its church records as metrical records. [3]
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Where to find metrical records
These records can be found at church archives and archives run by the government. Some of the records have been posted online by archives.
Many archives have descriptions of their fonds (sets of records) for the metrical records online while some archives have searchable databases to find the location of metrical records.
Genealogy enthusiasts also have helped to index metrical records online. The Polish Genealogical Society created the database Geneteka in 2010 to make indexed metrical records from Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania searchable for users. The database continues to be updated. Another notable project is the All Galicia Database, which has more than 800,000 records indexed for the former area Galicia that once was in southwestern Poland and northwestern Ukraine.
Explore more about metrical records
- European birth, marriage and death records on MyHeritage
- Polish Non-metrical Genealogy Sources, webinar by Kinga Urbańska on Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Yandex Archives- Russia's most popular search engine, Yandex, has posted Russian archive records with indexing. The database include metrical records. A web browser translator application such as Google Translate is needed to see the website in English.
- Raduraksti- The National Archives of Latvia has posted metrical records from Latvia and Poland. Registration is required to use the database. The website is in Latvian.
References
- ↑ Practical advice for people planning genealogical investigations, Małgorzata Kośka, 2018, https://agad.gov.pl/genealogia/AGAD-text-trans.pdf
- ↑ Practical advice for people planning genealogical investigations, Małgorzata Kośka, 2018, https://agad.gov.pl/genealogia/AGAD-text-trans.pdf
- ↑ Archival Metrical Records Search, Archdiocese of Canada for the Orthodox Church of America, https://www.archdiocese.ca/archival-metrical-records-search