Describing Place Names in the Kingdom of Poland 1844-1867

When genealogists enter the names of the locations where events in their ancestors’ lives occurred, they are faced with the dilemma of how to enter place names so as to unambiguously identify the locations in both space and time.

In 1844, the Russian Authority reorganized the administrative structure of the Kingdom of Poland, combining and renaming some of the gubernias.

At this time, the Lublin Gubernia increased in size when the existing Lublin Gubernia merged with the Podlasie Gubernia, the Radom Gubernia was created from the combination of the Kielce and Sandomierz Gubernias, and the Warsaw Gubernia was created from the combination of the Kalisz and Masovian Gubernias. In 1844, only five gubernias still existed:

gubernia augustowska (Augustów Gubernia)
gubernia lubelska (Lublin Gubernia) created from the combination of the Lublin and Podlasie Gubernias
gubernia płocka (Płock Gubernia)
gubernia radomska (Radom Gubernia) created from the combination of the Kielce and Sandomierz Gubernias
gubernia warszawska (Warsaw Gubernia) created from the combination of the Kalisz and Masovian Gubernias

Genealogists may specify a place name in the Kingdom of Poland from 1844-1867 as follows:

name of city or village, powiat, gubernia, nation

for example:

Krasne, Przasnysz Powiat, Płock Gubernia, Kingdom of Poland

or, if one prefers to write the place name in Polish:

Krasne, powiat przasnyski, gubernia płocka, Królestwo Polskie

The Kingdom of Poland was also known informally as Congress Poland (Kongresówka). In my own records, I call the nation established by the Congress of Vienna the “Congress Kingdom of Poland” in order to differentiate this nation from the Kingdom of Poland that existed from 1025-1569 and the Kingdom of Poland proposed as a puppet state by the German Empire and Austrian Empire from 1916-1918.

In 1867, after the failed January Uprising that broke out on 22 January 1863, the Kingdom of Poland was officially incorporated into the Russian Empire and became known as the Vistula Land (Kraj Nadwiślański in Polish) of the Russian Empire.

Other articles in this series:

  • Describing Place Names in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 1569-1795
  • Describing Place Names in the Duchy of Warsaw 1807-1815
  • Describing Place Names in the Kingdom of Poland 1815-1816
  • Describing Place Names in the Kingdom of Poland 1816-1837
  • Describing Place Names in the Kingdom of Poland 1837-1844
  • Describing Place Names in the Vistula Land 1867-1915
  • Copyright © 2010 by Stephen J. Danko

    This entry was posted in Daily Journal and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

    3 Responses to Describing Place Names in the Kingdom of Poland 1844-1867

    1. joyce says:

      I have been trying to locate roman catholic churches in the Augustow,Barlow, rutki nowe area early 1800’s to 1900’s especially around 1867 when my grandfather was born in rutki nowe
      but his baptismal record is from barlow koscielny but no church name is given?
      can you help me

      • Steve says:

        Hi Joyce,

        The village of Rutki Nowe is part of the parish in Bargłów Kościelny. The current name and address of the parish church is:

        Parafia Rzymskokatolicka
        p.w. Podwyższenia Krzyża Świętego
        w Bargłowie Kościelnym
        ul. Augustowska 23
        16-320 Bargłów Kościelny

        The website for the parish is http://www.barglow.diecezja.elk.pl/

        In English, the current name of the church is “Elevation of the Cross”.

      • Jimmy G says:

        Joyce, my paternal ancestors are also from Rutki Nowe…glad I found your post and Steve’s answer should be very helpful start. Thanx

    Comments are closed.