France Genealogy

  Departments Today France is divided into 96 departments plus 4 overseas departments. This number has changed over the years, in 1790 there were 83 and at the height of Napoleon's reign there were as many as 130. Records are kept on the town level, but one needs to know in which department the town is located. Research Tools Finding Records of your Ancestors in France 1792 to 1880 France Letter Writing Guide France Research Outline <a _fcknotitle="true" href="French Archives Online">French Archives Online</a> </li><a _fcknotitle="true" href="French Handwriting">French Handwriting</a> </li><a _fcknotitle="true" href="French Republican Calendar">French Republican Calendar</a> </li><a _fcknotitle="true" href="French Wordlist">French Wordlist</a> </li><a _fcknotitle="true" href="Gallica: The French “Library of Congress”">Gallica: The French “Library of Congress”</a> </li><a href="http://net.lib.byu.edu/fslab/researchoutlines/Europe/France.pdf">Research Guide for France by BYU</a> </li><a href="France Websites">Websites</a> </li></ul> Research Strategies <ul><a href="France - Birth - 1539-1791">Birth records 1539-1791</a> </li><a href="France - Birth - 1792-Present">Birth records 1792-Present</a> </li><a href="France - Death - 1539-1791">Death records 1539-1791</a> </li><a href="France - Death - 1792-Present">Death records 1792-Present</a> </li><a href="France - Marriage - 1539-1791">Marriage records 1539-1791</a> </li><a href="France - Marriage - 1792-Present">Marriage records 1792-Present</a> </li></ul> Help Wanted In order to make this wiki a better research tool, we need your help! Many tasks need to be done. You can help by: Articles that need editing: <ul><a href="French Records Online">French Records Online</a> </li></ul> Featured Content (Your text or images here) Related Content French citizens of Alsace-Lorraine (Haut Rhin, Bas Rhin, Moselle) often speak German. Many people from this area moved to Russia and the Ukraine and are discussed in <a href="Germans from Russia">Germans from Russia</a>. Did you know? <ul>The archives of more than 40 départements (counties) in France and 60 French cities have digitized a wide range of historical records and made them available online. Additional French archives are coming online monthly. Records available often include birth, marriage, and death records, cadastral and other land records, military records, censuses, and more. Click <a href="http://www.geneawiki.com/index.php/Archives_en_ligne#Archives_d.C3.A9partementales">here</a> to see the latest updates. </li>French national censuses are seldom used for primary research by most family historians, and many have not been microfilmed. </li>Some French military records begin as early as the 1500s. Records since the 19th century may include information about an ancestor's military career, such as promotions, places served, pensions, and conduct. In addition, these records may include information about his age, birthplace, residence, occupation, physical description, and family members. </li></ul> FamilySearch HIstorical Record Collections Online collections containing these redords are locatedin <a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/list">FamilySearch.org.</a> Wiki articlte describing these collections are found at: <ul><li><a href="France Births and Baptisms (FamilySearch Historical Records)">France Births and Baptisms (FamilySearch Historical Records)</a> </li><li><a href="France Deaths and Burials (FamilySearch Historical Records)">France Deaths and Burials (FamilySearch Historical Records)</a> </li><li><a href="France Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)">France Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)</a> </li><li><a href="France, Coutance, Parish Church Registers (FamilySearch Historical Records)">France, Coutance, Parich Church Registers (FamilySearch Historical Records)</a> </li><li><a href="France, Protestant Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)">France, Protestant Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)</a> </li><li><a href="France, Quimper et Léon - Parish Registers (FamilySearch Historical Records)">France, Quimper et Léon - Parish Registers (FamilySearch Historical Records)</a> </li></ul>