Appendix G

Permission for serfs to live in the city

Document of permission, in Russian script, for serfs to live in the city of St. Petersburg — I.N. Bozherianov, Nevskii Prospekt, 1703–1903. Kult’turno-istoricheskii ocherk zhizni S.-Peterburga za dva veka-XVIII i XIX [Nevskii Prospekt, 1703 –1903: A Cultural-Historical Essay on the Life of St. Petersburg for Two Centuries – 18th and 19th]. Jubilee ed. 2 vols. (St. Petersburg: A. I. Vil’borg, 1901–1903), vol. 2, p. 445.

Translation

The bearer of this, my married female serf, Ustin’ia Mikhailovna, daughter of Shevchenko, registered as mine, according to the most recent census of Kursk Province Staropol’sk Region in the hamlet of Peski, is released by me to earn a living by working in the city of St. Petersburg as of the date cited below for one year, i.e., the coming year one thousand eight hundred fifty-four second November, for which period anyone who wishes to have her, Shevchenko, in service, may do so. Her distinguishing features are: height 2 arshiny 2 vershki,1 eyes light blue, hair on her head blonde, age 62. In confirmation of which I have given her this permission with my signature and the affixing of my seal.

Privy Councilor Petr son of Grigorii Butkov

On the stamp is written: “For written permissions for serfs in the capital cities Price 1 ruble 45 kopeks silver.”

Note

1 An arshin = 28 inches; a vershok = 1¾ inches. The female serf was thus just short of five feet tall.