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Tracking down your ancestors’ activities in interwar Latvia can be tricky. The official records are not online. Any birth, marriage or death record needs to be obtained from a registry office, either by going in person (cheapest), ordering through an embassy (expensive, or direct from the registry office if you’re lucky) or by asking someone [...] What do you do if you have little to go on when it comes to researching your Latvian ancestors? What if they emigrated in the late 1800s or early 1900s, and the only information that passenger lists or naturalization records provide is that they came from “Latvia” or “Russia”? What do you do then? First, do [...] So now we have come to the end of the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge! I’m happy that I’ve been able to complete the whole challenge. What next, I wonder? So, Ž is for Žandarmērija… “žandarmērija” is the Latvian word for “gendarmerie”. This is typically a branch of military that also provides policing functions. This [...] As promised during M is for Manorial Estate, now we have S is for Social Estate for the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge! While Manorial Estate was all about the countryside, Social Estate is primarily about the cities. Technically, social estate existed in the countryside as well, but there the division was quite clear – [...] But wait, what about Q? Well, the Latvian alphabet doesn’t have a Q, so R is the next letter of the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge! This is only the first letter I’m skipping, and being as I’ve done a lot of extra ones for the extra letters in the Latvian alphabet, I think [...] Let’s continue the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge! The important word of the day is “parish” – and in Latvian, it has a name with a P too – “pagasts”. Now, this refers to civil parishes, rather than religious ones. A religious parish or congregation in Latvian would be called a “draudze”. There are hundreds of [...] I know, I know, it has been a long time since I updated on the Family History through the Alphabet challenge. I was already behind when I joined, now I’m even further behind! But no matter. I will catch up by the end of it! So, without further ado, Here we have O is for Orthography! When [...] Almost caught up on the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge! Today we’re talking about dates, dates and more dates – the topic is New Style vs. Old Style! No, we’re not talking about fashions for an evening out, but rather different calendars. Up until 1918, the Russian Empire used the Julian calendar. Most European countries [...] What’s next in the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge? Germans! Germans and the German language have a long history in Latvia. Ever since the first bishops of Bremen came to Latvian territory in the late 12th century to Christianize the local populations, Germans have been coming to the Baltics. Today, however, they are mostly tourists, [...] Time for the letter C in the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge! C is for Census Census records are key genealogical records in most countries. Latvia is no exception. However, accessing and interpreting Latvian records can be a bit of a challenge. The first census available for Latvia is the 1897 All-Russia Census. This is the only [...] |
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