France Getting Started

France Beginners Corner
Back to France Page►

Getting Started
Begin with family and home sources. Look for names, dates, and places on certificates, family Bibles,obituaries,diaries,and similar sources. Interview extended family and close relatives as well as former neighbors--all of which may prove very helpful in gathering as much knowledge about an ancestor as possible. Ask your relatives for any additional information. It is possible that distant relatives may have some family information. Organize the information you find, and record it on pedigree charts and family group records.

It is not enough information to just know that your ancestor came from France; you need to know the exact town or village.

Select a specific relative or ancestor born in France for whom you know at least the name, the town where he or she may have lived in France, and an approximate date when he or she was born there. It is also helpful to know the names of other family members born there.

As you look over your family group records, or pedigree chart, ask yourself "What do I want to find next?"


 * The last person on a specific line of your pedigree chart
 * A missing parent on the family group record
 * A gap between the birth years of the children on a family group record (a wide enough gap that there may be missing children in between siblings)
 * Finding the last children to the parents (during the mother's childbearing years)
 * To find the birth date and place for an individual listed on the family group record without one
 * Locating the marriage date and place for the parents on a family group record