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Researching family history in France

Researching family history in France. Diana Johnson Mar 2011. Background. France is organised into regions and departments Every town, village, commune etc has a postal code eg Amiens 80000

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Researching family history in France

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  1. Researching family history in France Diana Johnson Mar 2011

  2. Background • France is organised into regions and departments • Every town, village, commune etc has a postal code eg Amiens 80000 • Michelin “Répertoire des communes” provides map references for two different scale maps that cover all of France.

  3. French Regions & Departments Some examples

  4. What family history data is available? • Hard copy local records in “mairies” (town hall) and “Archives departmentales” • No centralised indexing system • IGI Microfilms • Some on line records (Ancestry.com, departmental records eg http://archives.somme.fr/ • Genealogical Societies eg Le cercle généalogique de Picardie • GeneaNet (http://www.geneanet.org/)

  5. Birth of my Great Grandfather • Louis Joseph Delecolle • Born in 1843 in Villers Bocage, Picardie (now Somme), France • Original hand written birth certificate

  6. Approximate translation • The year 1843 thirtieth of March at the hour of 6 in the evening Joseph Michel Delecolle, aged 39 years, a farmer living in Villers-Bocage came before me the official mayor of the civil state of the commune of Villers- Bocage, chief town of the canton in the department of Somme to announce that a male child has been born in this commune in the ‘rue des Bonfleur today at 2 in the morning to him and his wife Josephine Carrette aged 30 years they wish to name him Louis Joseph.

  7. Birth certificate continued • He made this declaration in the presence of Louis Theodore Godard, age 36 years a shopkeeper and Jean Baptiste Prosper Carpentier age 26 a weaver living in Villers-Bocage the father and the witnesses signed the birth certificate with us after it was read.

  8. French BMD records • Church records only until 1792 • Catholic “Registres Paroissiale “(baptisms, marriages and burials) • Sep 1792 local mayors (le maire) responsible for civil registration of births, marriages and deaths. • Had to be notified to town hall (mairie) within 3 days & marriages conducted there

  9. Republican Calendar • Sep 1792 to 31 Dec 1805 (Year I to XIV) • Uses 30 day months that run across months and years of the Gregorian calendar • Need conversion tables to translate • Eg “5 Vendémiaire Year I” is 26 Sep 1792 • Also introduced Decennial tables, an alphabetical annual table on the last pages of each type of register

  10. Some interesting aspects • Women retain their family name for their entire life • In 1579 it was made unlawful to marry without parental consent until the age of majority was reached, which was 30 for men and 25 for women. • Successive Papal edicts increased the amount of information recorded.

  11. By 1736 • Baptismal records • Child’s actual date of birth, parents names in full and names of godparents • Marriage records • Couples full names, ages, occupations, place of domicile, parents full name & place of domicile and names of 4 witnesses • Burial Records (1746) • Name, date and place of death, approximate age or date of birth, occupation and name of spouse (living or dead)

  12. Some examples • Baptism: Jean Baptiste Delecolle 3 May 1704 • Death: George Dominique Delecolle 19 Mar 1804 • Marriage: Michel Dominique Joseph Delecolle to Marie Elizabeth Julie Voiturier 29 Nov 1837 • Other assorted samples

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