Ukraine Census

Europe Ukraine

Revision Lists
Research use: Excellent source for identifying family groups. Due to the difficulty in using metrical books, the revision list provides the most information for the least amount of effort. The original returns are bound in volumes that are sometimes three to four feet thick, making them very difficult to handle except on microfilm.

Record type: Population enumeration for the purpose of assessing a poll tax and identifying those for conscription into the military.

General: Ten official revisions were conducted through 1859. Revisions were conducted irregularly in intervals ranging from five to twenty years: first (1721-1724) second (1743-1747), third (1761-1767), fourth (1781-1787), fifth (1794-1808), sixth (1811), seventh (1815-1825), eighth (1833-1835), ninth (1850-1852) and tenth (1857-1859). One copy was kept in the county treasury (uezdnoe kaznacheistvo) and the other was sent to the provincial fiscal chamber (gubernskaiia kazennaia palata). Separate lists were kept for the different social classes such as merchants (kupechestvo), townspeople (meshchane) and peasants (krestiane). Revision lists (skazski) are filed and bound by districts and large cities.

Time period: 1721-1859.

Contents: Revision number of household, name, parentage, age, sex, nationality, social rank, relationship to household head, and information about those who left or died between revisions and date of death. Females were not recorded in the first, second, and sixth revisions. The fourth and fifth revisions included information on the parentage of the females but this was dropped as of the sixth revision. Sometimes the lists are accompanied by supporting documentation.

Location: The first three revisions are at the Central Archive of Ancient Acts in Moscow. Revisions four through ten are found in state archives. Sometimes a local copy of revisions 1-3 are found in state archives.

Population coverage: 75% coverage (less for first two because female names were excluded). This record was not compiled for non-taxed classes: the nobility, high officials, clergy, military, and foreigners. Also, many people evaded enumeration.

Reliability: They are not completely reliable because of efforts to evade taxation or conscription by avoiding correct enumeration.