Charente-Maritime, France Genealogy

 EuropeFrance Charente-Maritime

Guide to Charente-Maritime, France ancestry, family history, and genealogy:''' birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Prefecture
CONTACT : Address : PREFECTURE Charente-Maritime 38 rue Réaumur CS 70000 17017 LA ROCHELLE CEDEX 1 Tel: 05 46 27 43 00 Fax: 05 46 41 10 30 Email: prefecture@charente-maritime.gouv.fr

Historic Province
"Previously a part of Saintonge and Aunis, Charente-Inférieure was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. On 4 September 1941, it was renamed Charente-Maritime. When first created, the commune of Saintes was assigned as the prefecture of the department (Saintes had previously been the capital of Saintonge). This changed in 1810 when Napoléon passed an imperial decree which moved the prefecture to La Rochelle."--Wikipedia

Boundary Changes
Charente-Maritime and the former provinces composing it (mostly Saintonge and Aunis):

Places/Localities

 * Cantons of the Charente-Maritime department
 * Communes of the Charente-Maritime department
 * Arrondissements of the Charente-Maritime department

Arrondissements

 * Arrondissement of Jonzac, (subprefecture: Jonzac), 112 communes.
 * Arrondissement of Rochefort, (subprefecture: Rochefort), 79 communes.
 * Arrondissement of La Rochelle, (prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department: La Rochelle), 57 communes.
 * Arrondissement of Saintes, (subprefecture: Saintes),107 communes.
 * Arrondissement of Saint-Jean-d'Angély, (subprefecture: Saint-Jean-d'Angély), 114 communes.

Neighboring Departments

 * Gironde
 * Charente
 * Deux-Sèvres
 * Dordogne
 * Vendée

Church Records and Civil Registration
The vast majority of your research will be in church records and civil registration. Fortunately, these records are available online from the archives of each department.

How to Read the Records

 * For more instruction on using these records, see:
 * France Church Records
 * France Civil Registration- Vital Records.
 * Chapter 1: OLD FRENCH RECORDS
 * Chapter 2: PARISH CHRISTENING AND CIVIL BIRTH ENTRIES
 * Marriage Entries Chapter 3: MARRIAGE ENTRIES.

Learning to Read Enough French to Do Genealogy

 * It's easier than you think! You do not have to be fluent in French to use these records, as there is only a limited vocabulary used in them. By learning a few key phrases, you will be able to read them adequately.  Here are some resources for learning to read French records.
 * French Genealogical Word List
 * French Handwriting.


 * There is a three-lesson course in reading French Records:
 * Reading French Handwritten Records Lesson 1: The French Alphabet,
 * French Handwritten Records Lesson 2: Key Words and Phrases
 * Reading French Handwritten Records Lesson 3: Reading French Records

Finding Church Records and Civil Registration Online
Each Department of France has archives that provide digitized images of these records. Here is the address for the Department Archives of Charente-Maritime, where you will find these records.

To search for online copies of parish registers and civil registration, go to http://charente-maritime.fr/CG17/jcms/cg17_47603/les-archives-en-ligne.

Family History Centers
La Rochelle France Family History Center 298 AVENUE JEAN GUITTON LA ROCHELLE 17000 +33 5-4635-1265
 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Websites

 * Geneanet Charente-Maritime Collaborative Indexes
 * WikiGenWeb Charente-Maritime Portal


 * Family History Library Online Records for Charente-Maritime
 * Links to Family History Library holdings for communes of Charente-Maritime
 * To search for online copies of parish registers and civil registration, go to http://charente-maritime.fr/CG17/jcms/cg17_47603/les-archives-en-ligne.