Allier, France Genealogy

Guide to Allier ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers.

History
Allier is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France. Named after the Allier River, it is one of the original departments created during the French Revolution. It was created from almost all of the former Duchy of Bourbonnaise, as well as the province of Auvergne. Allier borders the departments of Cher, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire, Loire, Puy-de-Dome, and Creuse.

Localities (Communes)
Sources of locality information:
 * FranceGenWeb
 * Locom
 * Wikipedia list of Allier Communes
 * Wikipedia list of former communes

Church Records and Civil Registration (Registres Paroissiaux et Etat civil) Online
The vast majority of your research will be in church records and civil registration. For more information on these records and how to use them, read France Church Records and France Civil Registration. Fortunately, these records are available online from the archives of each department: Here is the website for the Department Archives of Allier, where you will find these records.
 * Allier Departmental Archives

See Using France Online Department Archives for step by step instructions on finding and reading these records.

Online Census Records
Census records can support your search in civil and church records. They can help identify all family members. When families have similar names they help determine which children belong in each family. See France Census.
 * Online census records, Department Archives of Allier

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 handwriting in old French records:
 * Reading French Handwritten Records Lesson 1: The French Alphabet,
 * Reading French Handwritten Records Lesson 2: Key Words and Phrases
 * Reading French Handwritten Records Lesson 3: Reading French Records

These lessons focus on reading church record and civil registration records: Another resource is the French Records Extraction Manual, Full Manual. Much more is covered, but these first four lessons are especially useful.
 * France Church Records
 * France Civil Registration- Vital Records
 * Chapter 1: OLD FRENCH RECORDS
 * Chapter 2: PARISH CHRISTENING AND CIVIL BIRTH ENTRIES
 * Chapter 3: MARRIAGE ENTRIES
 * Chapter 4: OTHER ENTRIES
 * Chapter 5: FRENCH HANDWRITING AND SPELLING

Search Strategy

 * Search for the relative or ancestor you selected. When you find his birth record, search for the births of his brothers and sisters.
 * Next, search for the marriage of his parents. The marriage record will have information that will often help you find the birth records of the parents.
 * You can estimate the ages of the parents and search for their birth records.
 * Search the death registers for all known family members.
 * Repeat this process for both the father and the mother, starting with their birth records, then their siblings' births, then their parents' marriages, and so on.
 * If earlier generations (parents, grandparents, etc.) do not appear in the records, search neighboring parishes.

Genealogical Societies and Help Groups

 * Allier Généalogie 83 avenue des Célestins 03200 Vichy

Websites

 * Tout en Un
 * Memorhom
 * Genea-Bricolo
 * AllierGenWeb
 * Cousins 03
 * French Wordlist
 * Archives Départementales
 * Allier France Genweb
 * Gazetteer for Allier
 * Tout en Un, On this site you can find regional help, including a list of the notaries, records of Protestants (Huguenots), genealogical lists you can join, etc.
 * Ancestry.com has the records for Allier online (Births 1560-1909, Marriages 1568-1913, Deaths 1598-1909)