Vasyk O. Parish registers as the source of Donbass history in the second half of the XIXth - the beginning of the XXth century

The author in the thesis presents the source analysis of parish registers as the source of Donbass history in the second half of the XIX th - the beginning of the XXth century. In the course of the research the state of its scientific development has been determined, considerable array of archive documents has been introduced to the scientific use. The researcher made an overview of the governmental legislative documents of the Russia Empire as far as metrication of Orthodox and non-Orthodox population is concerned. The author reveals differences in parish registers forms represented by various confessions on the territory of Donbass. The forms under analysis are characterized by certain peculiarities fixed in them. Demographic rates of fertility, marriage and mortality have been revealed. The author of the research proves the possibility of using parish registers to create genealogy based on a German-speaking family of the Fishers. According to the data of parish registers five generations of the family above have been identified. Detailed analysis of the sources made it possible to conclude that parish registers is quite a factual source of information which enables to make research in various research work. According to the research parish registers being a source require further investigation in revealing its informative potential not only for Orthodox population but also for the representatives of different beliefs.