The idea of writing down in record books births and marriages was first introduced by the Roman Catholic churches after the Trident Concilium. Deaths only started to be noted after 1614. Parochial record books came into Romanian territories more than two centuries later when the Austrian Emperor Josef the 2nd ordered records to be kept by all parochies of all confessions in Transylvania, including Banat, Crisana, Maramures and Bukovina (see map of 1785). However, some earlier record books could be found. The oldest record books follow:
Ethnic romanians were noted under two confessions: Eastern Greek
or Greek Catholic.
The records were kept by the parochies until 1895 when civil registration was
transffered to the laic authority. First printed record books were found at
the romanians' religion starting with 1790, the israelites 1835 and other religions
since 1857.
Language of the records
Before 1875, the records were kept by each religion in its own language. The
jewish records usually were written with latin characters. After 1875, official
language changed to Magyar. Some romanian names were also transcribed in Magyar.
Contents of the records
Note : although required by the officials, some information is not
always written in the record.
1912 marriage record included (see picture): Groom's/Bride's
name & surname, Age, Religion, Address, Groom's/Bride's parents names &
surnames, Witnesses' names and surnames, Signatures, Other info (i.e. divorce)
1856 Orthodox birth record included: Name of the child, Sex, Parents' names
and surnames, Address (sometimes mother's maiden surname also), Sponsors' Names,
Midwife's name, Other (sometimes indicating death).
Records availability
Records before 1895 at the archives in the major city of each county, post
1895 at the local town halls. Small villages keep these records at the town
halls of the closest administrative village. The 1895 mark in Transylvania is
not a general rule - sometimes town halls keep records stretching back to the
1840s. Only major cities - residence of the county - have indexes.
WALLACHIA & MOLDAVIA
Following the introducing of a modern code of laws, civil registration
started in Wallachia in May 1831 followed by Moldavia in January 1832. Bucovina
started registration in 1785 as part of the Austrian empire. The recordbooks
were kept by each church until 1865 in Wallachia and Moldavia and 1875 in Bucovina.
After 1865, the recordbooks were kept by town halls. There are two type of records:
"statement" and "simple records".
statement records = written statements,
simple records = tabular format, data inscribed in rows.
In general, records before 1865 were simple records, post 1865 statement records.
Language of the records
Records were kept in Romanian, in cyrillic writing until 1865. After 1865,
latin writing was introduced. Foreign names (german, magyar, jewish, etc) were
spelled as they would sound in Romanian.
Contents of the records
Note : although required by the officials, some information is not always
written in the record.
1857 Orthodox birth record included (see picture):
Birth/Baptism date, Name, Sex, Parents' names & occupation (mother's maiden
surname usually not given), Birth place, Sponsors' names
1891 birth record included Name, Religion, Parents' names, Age, Address &
occupation, Witnesses' names, Age, Address & Occupation
1879 marriage record included (see picture): Parents'
names and Age, Address, Occupation,
Records availability
Records before 1895 at the archives in the major city of each county, post 1895
at the local town halls (this is a strict rule). Small villages keep these records
at the town halls of the closest administrative village. Indexes available for
major towns only. Sometimes translation of the cyrillic records is also available
for major towns.
Bucovina was part of the Austrian Empire 1785-1918. Therefore, the same general rules apply as for Transylvania (see above). Romanian records were kept in Cyrillic writing.
1812 Orthodox birth record included (see picture):
Name of the child, Sex, Religion, Father's name and surname and address, Mother's
name, Sponsors' names, address and occupation
1832 Orthodox marriage record included: Bride's and Groom's name, surname, address,
age, Bride's and Groom's name of the father, place of residence
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