The village constables of Perm uezd (1878-1917): institutional, social and personal aspects

The article covers the issue of the Ural’s police in XIX - XX centuries which is one of the most unstudied issues in Russian history. The author explores specific characteristics of village constable as a representative of Russian police in volost’ who influenced the life of volost’s peasants. The large Perm uezd was divided in 13 constable's parcels after establishing the post of the village constable in 1878; then in 1900 the number of village constables was increased to 18, including private and industrial constables; and in 1906 the number was increased to the amount of volost’s in the uezd (44). The prosopographical analysis of the official lists of village constables (1906-1917) shows that 1/3 of them began their career as ordinary police guards which means that there was an opportunity of making a career in the police guard of Perm uezd. The overwhelming majority of village constables came from families of peasants and/or priests; more then 1/3 of village constables were former non-commissioned officers, and 22% of the village constables were former military clerks. In general, village constables’ qualities and education were much better than police guards’ ones.