Service Lists of Officials from among Nobility Corporations: Search and Verification Problems

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the service records of officials from among the nobility of the Russian Empire. Using the materials of the federal and regional archives, the authors describe the ways to search for them. A continuous analysis of records of the metropolitan and provincial regions revealed the principles of recruitment and considered the reliability of the information contained in them. It is indicated that, regardless of the presence of a modern electronic search engine in archives, heuristic surveys are most effective when addressing materials of a scientific and reference nature, primarily catalogs and inter-field signs. The authors note the problem of indicating the age of officials and the date of the records and describe the methodology for the reconstruction of this information. It is shown that amendments introduced into the records in the course of paperwork reduce the level of confidence in the source and require additional verification involving materials of a clerical nature, statistical materials, and periodicals.