Natalia Pavlovna Gulyaeva,
Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor, Independent Researcher, Divnogorsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Comparison of the Structure of Families of Urban and Rural Residents Based on the Materials of the Confessional Records of the Krasnoyarsk Deanery of 1785
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2026-1-6
The paper analyses similarities and differences in family structure based on the materials of the 1785 confessional records for the Krasnoyarsk district. It compares the inhabitants of the town of Krasnoyarsk, the suburban village of Ovsyanka, and the village of Yukseevo, which was the most distant from the town within the district. In terms of affiliation with social groups, Krasnoyarsk displays the greatest diversity, while Yukseevo shows the least. No correlation between family composition and social status has been identified. The largest share across the entire population is made up of two-generation families, with a significantly smaller share of three-generation families, whose proportion increases with distance from the town. One-generation families are few, and there are only two four-generation families. Among one-generation families, the majority consist of elderly couples. Two-generation families are mainly represented by a married couple or a lone parent with children. The position of a widowed mother as head of the household is either dominant or subordinate. Three-generation families differ from two-generation ones more in the number of members than in any fundamental complication of structure. Among the heads of three-generation families, the share of widowers increases, while the share of widows decreases. At the same time, among parents occupying a subordinate position in the household, men of the oldest generation are noted. Among families with collateral relatives, there are fewer three-generation than two-generation households, but three-generation families display greater diversity. In two-generation families, collateral relatives are predominantly unmarried sisters of the spouses, whereas in three-generation families they are most often representatives of the older generation, uncles or aunts. Both four-generation families are recorded in the town; in one of them, the oldest man occupies the dominant position, while in the other he has a subordinate status. Thus, no fundamental differences in the structure and proportions of family types along the town−suburb−remote village axis have been revealed, although the greatest variety of typesis observed in Krasnoyarsk, is less pronounced in Ovsyanka, and the weakest in Yukseevo.
Publishing: 28/02/2026
The article has been received by the editor on 02/06/2025
How to cite: Gulyaeva N.P. Comparison of the Structure of Families of Urban and Rural Residents Based on the Materials of the Confessional Records of the Krasnoyarsk Deanery of 1785 // Historical Courier, 2026, No. 1 (45), pp. 69−82. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2026/ISTKURIER-2026-1-06.pdf]
Links: Issue 1 2026
Keywords: Krasnoyarskiy zakaz; population; family structure; sex and age structure; confession list; household