Finding Latvian Archival Records on Ancestry
by Marion E. Werle
Ancestry.com has added three collections from the Latvian State Historical Archives, two of which pertain to Jewish research. This page discusses the newer archival collections (see list below) but excludes the Ancestry Latvia collections that duplicate the JewishGen Latvia Database (clearly marked as coming from JewishGen).
Ancestry has three Latvian archival collections:
Latvia, Jewish Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1864-1921
Latvia Census and Resident Registers, 1854-1897
Latvia Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1854-1939
The latter is a collection of church records, not typically pertinent to Jewish researchers, unless for some reason (which occasionally happens) a town’s Jewish records were misfiled as church, rather than rabbinate records.
Most of the records in this collection are in Russian, but vital records from German-speaking areas of Latvia (e.g. Courland gubernia) may be filled out in German (typically handwritten in old German Kurrentschrift) on the Russian printed forms.
The user’s browser translation feature may be used to translate entries if the researcher doesn’t read Cyrillic, although Ancestry translates the names and selected parts of the summary records automatically.
Getting Started
1. Searching the collections requires a World Explorer or higher Ancestry subscription, or access through Ancestry Library Edition.
2. All records in these Ancestry collections are indexed. The original records reside in the Latvian State Historical Archives, but the online collections in the Archives’ own website (Raduraksti) and on FamilySearch are searchable by volume (location and year) only. Individual records are not indexed.
3. There are many transcription errors. Transcription errors on Ancestry my occur in any collection, and users may enter corrections for the Latvia collection the same as for other records on Ancestry.
4. For Russian records, searches are more accurate if you enter the name in Cyrillic. However you may search with Latin script, although it helps to be creative and try variant spellings.
5. If the search results are in Russian, your browser can translate the list of hits (right click on any whitespace and select the “Translate to English” – or whatever language you speak).
Census Records
“Latvia Census and Resident Registers, 1854-1897” is a database that includes both earlier censuses and the 1897 All Russian Census.
The 1897 census is indexed, although Ancestry does not group the households correctly. A spot check of recent searches shows that Ancestry lists each person as a single household, regardless of the fact that the census record itself shows multiple people enumerated in the same household.
The 1897 census translations in the JewishGen Latvia Database “1897 All-Russia Census — Latvia” have two major problems.
1. Only adult members of the family are included – see the JewishGen database description for the census: “What is in the Database and What is Not.”
2. The JewishGen links to the old Raduraksti website are broken since the website was replaced. It is usually possible to figure out the archival number from the text of the link and locate the record on either the current Raduraksti website or FamilySearch. However, the Archives changed some of the census volume numbering (e.g., creating A and B volumes) and other JewishGen census entries list a volume, but no page number, or are missing archival numbers altogether, making it difficult to locate the originals.
There are some issues with Ancestry’s census search results. For example, in the 1897 All Russian Census, there is a cover page which describes the location of the household being enumerated. On the next page, in the columns for birth, registration, and residence, if the person was born, registered, or resided in the place of enumeration, the word “Здесь,” meaning “here” is used. In the Ancestry search results and document summary, unless the person was born elsewhere, the birthplace is listed as “here,” with no reference as to the actual location. Entire households are indexed, but the household grouping is not listed on the summary page – only the person in the search results shows up.
This is an entry for Manchyk Borukhovitch Skutelski with the English transliteration/translation next to it:
The male gender shows as “man,” the marital status of “zh” for married male, shows as the English letter “J,” and the male head of household is translated as “Boss.” There also appears to be at least one transcription error in the birthplace field (which has since been corrected to “Preili”). There are also eight people in the household, but Ancestry shows only one. Note that the JewishGen database only lists the three adult members of his household. A search in English under “Skutelsky” does not find the record, but it can be found under “Skutelski,” despite the browser transliteration. Creative spelling increases the possibility of better search results.
It is helpful to know Russian or be able to read Cyrillic to decipher the census, but even without good Russian skills, there are genealogical guides that may help. FamilySearch has a Russia “How to” guide, titled “Reading the 1897 Census.” It is a useful resource to understand the layout and terms used in the census records, even for Russian speakers.
Russian Metrical (Vital Record) Books
The main page for Ancestry’s Jewish metrical collection is:
Latvia, Jewish Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1864-1921
The Jewish metrical record collection on Ancestry covers the years 1864-1921, through the early years of Latvian independence. The collection is made up of fourteen parts, each called “Latvian Rabbinate Metrics Books Part xxx.” Multiple volumes are included in each part. The Latvia Research Division has not conducted an exhaustive search of each part of the collection, but a survey of part 001 shows a mix of birth, marriage, and death registers for Aizpute, Liepāja, Piltene, Rēzekne, Ribinški, and Riga. Rather than digitize each volume separately, as FamilySearch has done, Ancestry has chosen to join the individual volumes together into a larger digital “filmstrip,” which they do in many of their collections. Since the collection is indexed, the link takes the user directly to the record. On the home page for the collection, there is also drop-down menu that allows browsing by locality. There are 15 cities and towns listed out of the 29 covered on Raduraksti, indicating that this Ancestry indexed collection is not yet complete, nor do known (later) archival records show up on a search.
The Latvian State Historical Archives holds handwritten index volumes for metrical records (the timespan seems to be through 1920 or so), which appear in the FamilySearch catalog, but have not yet been digitized. Some of these volumes are indexed in the Ancestry collection, providing coverage beyond what is in the JewishGen Latvia Database or FamilySearch, especially for the earliest years of Latvian independence. Coverage of the Ancestry metrical records varies by area, and it also covers some gaps in the current JewishGen collection.
Part 012 of the collection includes some twentieth-century records and index volumes. One of the indexes, Riga marriages, has been translated on JewishGen as “Jewish Marriages in Riga, 1854-1921."
If a record on Ancestry is included in one of the index volumes the entry typically includes the year of the event, the name, and the record number (males in the first column, females in the second for births or deaths). It may already be on JewishGen, or it should be relatively easy to locate the original on Raduraksti or FamilySearch, by record type, year and record number. Original copies may also be requested from the Latvian State Historical Archives (see “Archival Requests” toward the bottom of the page). Be sure to include the pertinent information from the index or a screenshot of the index page. Even if you don’t read Cyrillic, the index volume formats are obvious when you view the record.
The following a sample marriage record is from a register of marriages (not an index) from 1921. Older metrical records are on printed forms with multiple columns, with the left page of the entry in Russian and the right page in Hebrew or Yiddish (records for Dvinsk do not always have the Hebrew page). This 1921 volume is handwritten in Russian with no pre-printed headings. There are two columns, with a paragraph documenting each marriage.
Here is an entry for Lea Rossein and her husband Mozes Braun:
Below are the Ancestry summary records. The one on the left is indexed in Russian, with its browser translation on the right.
Note that the browser translated the bride’s status Девица as “Virgo,” [virgin??] rather than unmarried/girl/maiden.
Most of the metrical records from the nineteenth and early twentieth century follow the familiar two-page format on Raduraksti and FamilySearch. Records from Courland gubernia are sometimes filled out in German on the Russian forms. In the German records, the person’s description (Frau, Jungfrau) is sometimes mistakenly included as part of the name in the Ancestry record summary. Sometimes the Russian patronymic is listed as a first name.
In the Ancestry collection, if a record is from a full metrical volume rather than an index, the year is frequently missing from the record summary because it isn’t repeated in the individual register entries. See the browser-translated example below:
In this example (marriage number 8), the year is not displayed. To find it, go to the record itself, then page back on the digital filmstrip below the image to find the beginning of the volume – even a non-Russian speaker can see that it is for the year 1874 (годъ means “year”).
Paging back another two frames displays the Latvian header record, showing that the archival number is LVVA 5024/2/461, a volume of marriages (L) for 1874, for the city of Liepāja.
The volume cover and header record typically provide the information missing from the Ancestry summary, despite occasional conflicts (e.g., the Russian volume cover for 1894 mistakenly has an archival header record for 1893).
The marriage record above is also found in JewishGen Latvia database. It is always worthwhile checking both JewishGen and Ancestry indexes. There are known gaps in the JewishGen Latvia database, and translations are still in progress.
SOURCING
As with many Ancestry databases, the Latvian records consist of multiple volumes joined into a single file. When working with similar English language collections, the genealogist who wants to learn about the underlying document needs to go into the “filmstrip” at the bottom of the screen, and page back to the beginning of the volume to get complete information about the original source.
The genealogical source information provided by Ancestry for its Latvian collections is incomplete. To see it on the record summary, click the Source tab. This is the only source information for the census entry shown above, for Manchyk Borukhovich Skutelski :
Archives of Latvia; Riga, Latvia; Latvia Census and Residence Registers 1854-1897.
The source information does not list the full name of the archives, i.e., Latvian State Historical Archives [Latvijas Valsts vēstures arhīvs], abbreviated as LVVA, nor does it list the archival number of the volume or a page number.
To determine the missing information, a genealogist requiring a full citation for a census record should note the page number at the top right (page 320-21 for this record), and go back to the beginning of the volume to find the archival information for the film, typically at the beginning, in Latvian:
The header shows the missing archival data. The full archival description is LVVA 2706/1/47. Archival numbers may also be written with hyphens rather than slashes, as FamilySearch does. The location is listed as Daugavpils, the Latvian name for Dvinsk, which was the name of the city at the time of the census, correctly shown in the record summary. With the information about the Ancestry database, the record itself, and its original repository information, a genealogist can construct a more meaningful citation.
For metrical records, Ancestry has pieced together volumes of different types and years into a single file. The summary source information for the Rossin-Braun marriage is:
Latvijas Nacionālais arhīvs; Riga, Latvia; Latvia Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1854-1909.
Again, the process is to page back on the filmstrip to find the beginning of the volume, as described at the end of the previous section, and add the information from the volume cover and the header record to create a complete citation.
For vital records, categories, shown in the Latvian header records after “Lieta” (volume) are Dz (Dzimušie - births), L (Laulātie - marriages), M (Mirušie - deaths), and Šķ (Šķirtie - divorces). The abbreviation “g.” is for gada, which means “year.”
The following page in the Archival Resources section (Raduraksti) of this website shows additional samples of the header records in Latvian and explains more about archival numbers.
Despite its many challenges, Ancestry’s Latvian census and Jewish vital records collection can be useful to the researcher who has exhausted other indexed and non-indexed resources.