Vilna Gubernia, Russian Empire Genealogy

Guide to Vilna Gubernia, Russian Empire ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, and tax records.

Historical Background
The Vilna Gubernia was established in December of 1795 following the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1801, the gubernia was split into the Vilna gubernia (also referred to as the Lithuanian-Vilna gubernia, especially prior to 1840) and the Grodno gubernia (formerly Slonim). In 1843, the gubernia was divided creating the Kovno gubernia from seven western uyezds. New uyezds were obtained from the Minsk and Grodno gubernii.

Today, most of the former Vilna gubernia is in Belarus, with parts, including the former provincial city, Vilnius, are now in modern-day Lithuania.

Getting Started
'''Before jumping into records for this province, you MUST know the name of the village in which your ancestor lived. If you do not know the town name, one of the best ways to locate it is by research in the country that your ancestor immigrated to.'''

Districts
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Vilna gubernia consisted of seven uyezdi, or districts as shown on the table below.

Online Classes
Russian Handwriting
 * Reading Russian Documents: The Russian Alphabet - Ellie Vance
 * Deciphering the Handwriting and Understanding the Grammar - Ellie Vance