Goncharov Yu. M.

Altay State University (Barnaul, Russia)

Families of the Townspeople of Western Siberia

in the Second Half of the 19^th – Beginning of the 20^th Century

Problem. The paper presents itself the attempt to consider social and demographic development of urban family of second half of 19^th-beginning 20^th. In urban environment in this period formed new representations about family, family life and role the woman. There was an intensive process of decomposition old patriarchal family based on an inequality and authority, the changes of the demographic characteristics. Region of research - Western Siberia - represents significant interest by virtue of specify of socio-economic and demographic processes in the period of modernization.

Sources. The significant number of sources was processed: the legislation, archival documents, statistical materials, and memoirs. From the acts the greatest interest for project have the Imperial Digest of Laws (Svod Zakonov) and legislative materials of church. For the analysis of demographic processes in families of the townspeople of Siberia the archival documents of the Siberian and central archives were used. These are the acts of the account of the population: the towns citizenship’s book, lists of merchants, artisans, and officials, metric books, confessions lists, wedded searches, materials one-day urban censuses and All-Russian census of 1897. The large values have various statistical and reference sources, for example “Ekonomicheskoe sostoyanie gorodskih poseleniy Sibiry, “Pamiatnae knigi”, “Obzory guberniy”, “Sibirskie torgovie I promishlennie kalendari” etc. edition. For the investigation of the internal family relations the greatest value is represented with the documents of a personal origin: the memoirs, diaries, letter, travelers notes.

For the analysis of demographic processes in family of the townspeople of Siberia several computer databases was created, which are the aggregated sources accessible to secondary use: «Families of Merchants of Western Siberia of second half of the 19^th – the beginning of the 20^th centuries» (more than 1400 records), «Families of the townspeople of Tobolsk province in 1897» (more than 5100 records), «The Population of Odigitrievskiy ward of Barnaul in 1867–1913» (more than 800 records). In total author of the project uses the data more 850 archival units of storage from 58 funds of 8 central and local archives, and also more than 200 published sources.

Methods. The complex study of urban family assumes use of the various research approaches: historical-legal, historical-demographic, socio-economic, socio-cultural, gender. Perspectives for the analysis of family the information technologies with use created by the author computer databases are. For processing the demographic data the quantitative methods of historical research will be used, in particular, methods statistical (formal-quantitative) analysis: methods of construction of dynamic rows, methods typological, factor's and structural groupings, method of average sizes.

Resalts. At study of demographic processes in family considered change of quantitative structure, internal and generations structure, the age features of marriage of various categories, the characteristics of new demographic model of family which formatted in Russian city in second half of the 19^th– beginning of the 20^th centuries in comparison with similar processes in peasant’s family. The important aspects of research are revealing class and national and religious features of the demographic characteristics of family, for example, specifics of marriage age of nobles, merchants, soldiers; sizes of families of the Jews and old believers in the Siberian cities etc.

The special attention is given to merchant’s family because this one played a great role in producing and reproducing of life, accumulation of property, transmitting of social-psychological ideas. Apart from some factors of contemporary Russia, such as renaissance of enterprising, business practice of last years and contradictory social and demographic processes induce to deep studding of this problem.

The results of analysis for personal structure of merchants in Western Siberia shows the processes of merchants estate’s development in the end of the 19^th – the beginning of the 20^th centuries. These processes where immediately connected with changes in social and legal state of merchants, conditions of development of monetary and commercial relations in Siberian region, hesitations of market conjuncture and processes of popular migrations, the object of which in this period was Siberia in a great measure.

The study of national and confessional structure of heads of merchants families showed that the number of non-Russian employers in Siberia increased during all period in second part of the 19^th –the beginning of the 20^th centuries. The percent of Jewish merchants was most considerable from all. They consist of largest part of merchants estate in some Siberian towns. It is necessary to note that changes occurred among Siberian guilders had the same character in European Russia.

Historical dynamics of merchant families dimension in this period was connected with changes of social, legal and economical conditions of merchants life, that evoked a great wave to this social strata from another estates. New merchants brought with themselves another habits and traditions. The development of specific urban’s manner of life and change of national structure of merchants in Siberia were characteristic features of this strata. These factors determined different tendencies in changing of middle dimensions of family, which took place in the period of capitalism: from one part it was increase during considerable renewal of merchant estate because of another social strata’s (peasantry) and national groups (Jewish), which were characterized by numerous members within , and from another part reduction in the period of stability of personal structure of merchant estate, the rapprochement the manner of life of merchants from different religions.

The diachronic study of matrimonial and aged peculiarity of merchant families demonstrated stability of some patriarchal families tradition in merchant circles, in particular, much late age of married men and great age between husband and wife. From another part the general directory of demographic processes to decomposition of ancient family’s traditions kept that signed by reduction of married couple’s quantity within merchant families and tolerant attitude to repeated marriages in merchant society.

The study of the marriage character of urban families in Siberia showed absolute predominance of one couple family. For example, marriages within merchant estate were characteristic points only for one third of guilders, absolute majority of them married for inhabitants of cities. The process of simplification of family’s structure among merchants of Russian nationality developed much more quickly then among Jewish merchants.

The specific features of Jewish families consist in demographic development of family in this period, which was resisted by national and confessional peculiarities of family’s way of life. Nevertheless the tendency for smoothing of regional and confessional differences and rapprochement of demographic index in all Siberian cities for level of ancient trade centers (for example Tomsc city) was very clear.

Special study of merchant’s way of life showed that aspiration to luxury and splendid manner of life wasn’t typically for Siberian merchants. The orientation for way of life of another estate groups (nobles) in Siberia was expressed in a more little measure then in European Russia.

The popular culture of Siberian merchants in this period didn’t have significant specific of this estate. At the same time there is a strong orientation of the part of guilders, mainly hereditary, only for estate values.

Siberian merchants in 60–90 years of the 19^th century gradually went away from popular habits and traditions, elaborated their own values, rules of behavior and manner of life. At the beginning of the 20^th century, when social-economic processes accelerated in Russia, there was wiping of ancient estate frontiers and values.

The intensive demographic and social processes took place in Siberian urban’s family in the period of capitalism. The main of them were decomposition of ancient way of life and smoothing of regional and confessional differences, which occurred because of development of capitalism in Siberia.

Research of economy of family is based on the analysis of the income level of various groups of the population and definition of buying ability of families of various types on the basis of the prices, existing in that time, for the basic consumer goods. Large attention is given roles the woman in economy of urban family and its change in the investigated period.

The study of the internal family relations assumes of the relations «man – woman», «parents – children» etc. The democratization of the internal family relations in cities was shown in several directions: in change of sights on education of the women, reduction of influence of the parents in children’s choice of the partner on a marriage etc. At study of the internal family relations fruitful the application gender method is represented which will allow analyzing of gender role both social status the man and woman in family.