In addition to the parish registers, the most practical means of research to study the past of civic families is the archives of the relevant city/town. The city of Budapest (Archives of the City of Budapest; 1052 Budapest, Városház u. 9–11.), Székesfehérvár, as well as Győr and Tatabánya have their own city archives. Archives of other cities are usually integrated with the competent local archives. Of course, research in the National Archives may also prove to be successful. In the first place, the national census returns of 1715, 1720 and 1828 may be taken into account.

Within the collections of the National Archives of Hungary, it is advisable to study the censuses of 1828 (Reference number: N 26, Microfilm collection: boxes B 1–B 282., 8612., 25389–25404.), 1715 (Reference number: N 78, Microfilm collection: boxes 3119–3131.), 1720 (Reference number: N 79, Microfilm collection: boxes 3131–3149., 3154.), and 1785–1787 created during the reign of Joseph II (unfortunately, only the censuses of Győr, Heves, Outer-Szolnok and Zemplén Counties are preserved in the National Archives of Hungary, Microfilm collection: box 7934.). A part of the censuses of 1857 and 1869 are stored in the microfilm collection of the Archives as well. Very incomplete censuses are stored in local archives. In case the related family lived in a market town, or in a village, then the researcher is required to gather information about the landlord of the settlement (e.g. Baja belonged to the Grassalkovich family for a while, Kecskemét to the Koháry family, and Kaposvár to the ducal branch of the Eszterházy family etc.). If the archives of the family in question is stored in the National Archives of Hungary, then the research should be extended over the family archives collections too (mainly Section P, but Sections R and E also contain family records). Regarding that these collections were arranged variously, we recommend researchers to consult with the competent reference staff or the research room supervisor before beginning the research. Furthermore, for those who are interested in the history of civic families, documents of trade guilds, registers of citizens, craftsmen and merchants are essential, too.

More about the peasant families