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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Parish Registers: A Challenge for African Historical Demography |
Authors: | Siiskonen, Harri Taskinen, Anssi Notkola, Veijo |
Year: | 2005 |
Periodical: | History in Africa |
Volume: | 32 |
Pages: | 385-402 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Africa Namibia |
Subjects: | historical sources demographic history Miscellaneous (i.e. Demography, Refugees, Sports) History and Exploration Religion and Witchcraft |
External link: | http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/history_in_africa/v032/32.1siiskonen.pdf |
Abstract: | This paper discusses limitations, pitfalls and opportunities related to sources used in African historical demography. The paper first reviews the conventional sources - population counts, censuses and surveys - and then presents an old but seldom-used group of sources, viz. Christian parish registers. The usability of parish registers is discussed through a concrete research project based on data produced since the late 19th century in the parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN). Parish registers make it possible to use direct methods to analyse population development in African societies as early as the early colonial period. Despite several weaknesses related to their use, parish registers have proved to be more reliable sources for historical demography than the early population counts and censuses. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] |