The British community in the 19th - early 20th century Moscow can be easily described as a true British colony in the heart of Russia. Even though they did not live in a compact way in any particular area of the city, they were still a very distinctive community. The focal point was obviously the Anglican church in Bolshoy Chernyshevsky lane (Stankevicha Street in Soviet times, now Voznesensky Lane), especially when the new church building was built in 1884 - St. Andrew's. At different times there lived up to 1000 British people in Moscow. Not as many as in St.Petersburg, but then, Moscow was not the capital. The backbone of the community were several rich Scottish families who owned all kinds of factories in and around Moscow. From the documents that are left, we can see that they were completely bilingual, both spoke and wrote good Russian and acquired many Russian habits, even though they almost never gave up their British identity and traditions, and rarely married Russians.
This website is my endeavour to systematise the informations that I find in different sources and make it available primarily to the descendants of the pre-revolutionary Moscow British, many of whom are looking for it; but also for anyone who might find it interesting. The primary sources that I use are 1) St. Andrew's registers from 1825 to 1920; 2) Moscow address books form the 19th and early 20th century; 3) graves and old register books from Vvedensky cemetery where foreigners were buried in Moscow before the revolution; 4) archive documents. I should also mention books by Harvey Pitcher; (auto)biographical books by the British people who lived in Moscow and their descendants; and information that is shared with me by the descendants that I'm in correspondence with.
This is a work in progress. If you would like to share any information with me or would like to find out something about your ancestors (like find their graves, their addresses in Moscow, etc), I would be very happy if you contacted me.
This website is my endeavour to systematise the informations that I find in different sources and make it available primarily to the descendants of the pre-revolutionary Moscow British, many of whom are looking for it; but also for anyone who might find it interesting. The primary sources that I use are 1) St. Andrew's registers from 1825 to 1920; 2) Moscow address books form the 19th and early 20th century; 3) graves and old register books from Vvedensky cemetery where foreigners were buried in Moscow before the revolution; 4) archive documents. I should also mention books by Harvey Pitcher; (auto)biographical books by the British people who lived in Moscow and their descendants; and information that is shared with me by the descendants that I'm in correspondence with.
This is a work in progress. If you would like to share any information with me or would like to find out something about your ancestors (like find their graves, their addresses in Moscow, etc), I would be very happy if you contacted me.