[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] varying dates; penalty for late filing

[AlbertMuth at aol.com]

I'll speak on this issue from my perspective in mid-19th century Central
Poland.

Normally, life events were recorded within a day or so.  This is why, when
studying records in either Polish or Russian, you simply MUST know the 
words for today, yesterday, and the day-before-yesterday.  Otherwise,
the date is given with an ordinal number (today is the twentieth, was, I 
guess!) and an expression meaning "current month" or "past month".

Greater amounts of time between event and date of recording DID 
elapse, but, unfortunately, there is nothing to indicate whether a fee 
for late filing was levied.

Earlier in the 19th century, Germans could record events at the closest 
Catholic parish.  As of the early 1840's, they could not.  Obligatorily, 
events had to be recorded in Lutheran parishes, often at a great 
distance.  It must have been a hardship to travel by buggy even 
10 miles (17 km) one way to report every life event that affected 
the family unit.

One of the slowest parishes, that is, one where people took the longest 
amount of time to record events was Poddebice (NW of Lodz) where 
many, many events are recorded two weeks afterward.  I have no 
explanation to account for why this is so, only that it IS.

Remember, civil registration began early in the 19th century in so many 
European countries due to an initiative of Napoleon.  He saw in it a way to 
keep track of the males who would come of age and thus be eligible for 
military service.  I have heard/read of several people claiming that their
ancestors recorded male births late systematically as a way of getting 
around this requirement, but I find little evidence in the records that 
this was practiced. At least, in the records prior to 1875 in Central Poland.

As military conscription demands increased, I can understand how it
became more important for births to be recorded in a timely way AND
how civil authorities felt the need to fine those who did not comply.
How much was the fine?  Probably steep, hence people felt compelled
to lie about dates of events that simply could not be recorded shortly
after they occurred.

Keep the anecdotal stories coming, folks.  I find this discussion to be
quite informative.

Al Muth