Office of Addresses

Categories / City Administration/Police, Prisons
OFFICE OF ADDRESSES (from 1839, Address Dispatch Office), was set up in 1809 with the purpose of registration of workers and hired staff coming to St. Petersburg and also with a purpose of preventing people of "inappropriate conduct" from coming to St. Petersburg. The Office of Addresses was subordinated to the General Police Administration; from 1839 it was located at 3 Theatre Square. The office was comprised of the manager, his helpers, a member of the City Duma, 2 departments and the unit of accounts (the last was entrusted to a treasurer and an accountant and was supervised by a special manager and member of the City Duma). The first department worked with people holding the passport of the Russian empire, the second department was responsible for foreign subjects. Dismissal and appointing of officials was done by the chief policeman; the manager was appointed by the military Governor General. Those arriving to the capital were given an address ticket in the Office of Addresses (instead of a passport), which had to be approved every half a year (from 1839, once a year). The new ticket was given on condition of a favourable report of the employer about the worker. Those who did not have an address ticket were sent away from St. Petersburg. The address ticket fee went to attend to city needs. The system of address tickets created difficulties in looking for a job and caused the outflow of workers because of a great number of formalities. In 1888, address tickets were abolished, and the Address Dispatch Office was closed. The address fee remained; it was paid when registering passports in police offices.

Reference: Высоцкий И. П. Санкт-Петербургская столичная полиция и градоначальство, 1703-1903: Крат. ист. очерк. СПб., 1903. С. 126-128.

Y. N. Kruzhnov. Высоцкий И. П. Санкт-Петербургская столичная полиция и градоначальство, 1703-1903: Крат. ист. очерк. СПб., 1903 City Duma