Russia, Tver Church Books - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection of church records includes births and baptisms, marriages, deaths, and burials performed by priests in the province of Tver' (and surrounding provinces) from 1722-1918.

The Church acted as both a religious and civil agent in recording vital events and church sacraments such as baptism and burial. Peter the Great mandated the keeping of Russian Orthodox books in 1722. The format was standardized in 1724. Printed forms were introduced in 1806. In 1838, a format was introduced that prevailed until the 1930s. The priests made a transcript for the ecclesiastical court (dukhovnaia konsistoriia) having jurisdiction over the parish. This is usually the version that has been preserved. The register covers 70% of the population for early periods, 90% after 1800.

Reading These Records
These records are in Russian. For help reading them see: FamilySearch Learning Center videos:
 * Russia Language and Languages
 * Russian Genealogical Word List
 * Russia Handwriting
 * Reading Russian Documents: The Russian Alphabet
 * Russian Alphabet, Language and Handwriting, part 1
 * Russian Alphabet, Language and Handwriting, part 2

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Baptism
 * Date and place of baptism
 * Name of principal (usually an infant)
 * Age or date of birth of principal
 * Names of parents and their residence
 * Names of godparents
 * Sometimes names of grandparents
 * Witnesses

Marriage
 * Date and place of marriage
 * Name, age and patronymic surname of groom
 * Religion of groom
 * Name, age and patronymic surname of bride
 * Religion of bride
 * Names and signature of witnesses
 * Name of person who performed ceremony

Death/burial
 * Name, age and gender of deceased
 * Date and place of death
 * Cause of death
 * Date and place of burial
 * Name of person who performed burial
 * Name of person who administered confession and communion

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Add any new information to your records
 * If available, check the image for additional information
 * Analyze the entry to see if it provides additional clues to find other records of the person or their family

I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * Try searching by surname only
 * The person may be recorded with an abbreviated or variant form of their name
 * Remember that spelling was generally not standardized until the early part of the 20th century

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in Russia.
 * Russia Record Finder
 * Russia Research Tips and Strategies

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

Россия, Тверь церковные книги Rússia, Tver, Livros da Igreja (Registros Históricos do FamilySearch)