Old-Polish registers in the parish archives of the archidiocese of Lublin

Abstract

Research based on registers has a long tradition, being relevant to historical demography, genealogy and widely understood social history. Using this type of material is dependent on information on existing resources and their accessibility. When registers are kept in parish archives, scattered records are diffi cult or even impossible to explore. Therefore, it is vital to produce inventories of archives in order to make them available to researchers. The presentation of sources undertaken in the article is preceded by a discussion of admin-istrative divisions and legal regulations relevant to the registration of births, deaths and mar-riages. Earlier attempts at cataloguing sources from the region of Lublin are also recounted. The article lists 58 registers from 58 parishes, presently of the archdiocese of Lublin, which used to be part of the diocese of Cracow before the establishment of the Chełm-Lublin diocese in 1790. The choice of parishes to be investigated was conditioned by geographical factors and by the fact that they had shared the historical affi liation to the Lublin diocese structures. 50 of the parishes investigated were established in the 16th c., four in the 17th c., and one in the 18th c. The group also included two parishes which were formally established after 1795 but which had functioned earlier as subsidiaries, having a resident priest and separate registers. The parish archives in question have 366 registers from before 1795, the oldest coming from the late 16th c. (baptism registers in Czemierniki, Chodel, Łęczna and Piotrawin, and marriage registers in Kazimierz and Lublin).