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and/or easier to access than dealing with small
town halls. More recent records, except for
deaths, will require proof of direct descent from
the individual referenced.
Department archives and town halls should
both have annual and 10-year indexes (tables
decennales) of births, marriages and deaths.
These are usually alphabetical, though some-
times only grouped by fi rst letter of the sur-
name, and marriage records may be indexed
only by the groom’s name.
If the records you need aren’t online, you can
try writing to the local commune’s town hall.
Send a letter in both English and French, along
with a small donation. Note that departmental
archives won’t look up records for you or issue
copies. If you strike out at the town hall level,
consider hiring a local genealogist (see <www.
apgen.org>).
The free FamilySearch site <www.familysearch.
org> has a few searchable collections of French
vital records, mostly mixed with church records.
To fi nd vital records in the site’s Family History
Catalog <www.familysearch.org/search/catalog-
search>, look for “France, [Department], [Com-
mune]—Civil registration,” such as: France,
Nièvre, Achun—Civil registration.
The subscription Ancestry <www.ancestry.
com> site has a number of searchable collections
of French civil and parish vital records, orga-
nized by department. The fi lters you can use to
search vary by collection, from only fi rst and last
name to dates and other family members.
The information in French civil registrations is
well worth the eff ort. Birth records typically give
the birthplace and date, parents’ names and ages
(and sometimes birthplaces), and information
about who submitted the information. Look for
notes in the margin that might include legitimi-
zation (reconnaissance) of births out of wedlock.
Marriage records usually include the date;
names, ages, birthplaces, birth dates and occu-
pations of the groom and bride; names of their
parents (including mothers’ maiden names);
and information about witnesses. Some might
list grandparents, deceased spouses, divorces
and previous marriages. (Note that civil and
church marriage records might be in diff erent
locations, as couples had to be married by civil
authorities fi rst.)
Death records should list the deceased’s name
as well as their place and date of death. Laterrecords might include age, birthplace, occupa-
tion and residence, as well as spouse, parents
and information on witnesses.ALLEZ GO TO THE CHURCH
For vital records before 1792, you can turn
to records of the Roman Catholic Church, to
which the vast majority of French belonged.
The Church started offi cially recording bap-
tisms after a royal decree in the 1500s (though
some date as far back as the 1300s), and later
added marriages and deaths. Most baptismal
records begin with the 1600s, and these and
other church vital records continued even after
civil registration began. Because church records
aren’t subject to the 100-year privacy statute,
they might help you fi nd more recent relatives.
Many pre-1792 church records were moved
to departmental archives, and some depart-
ments are putting these online along with civil
registrations. You can also fi nd church records,
typically mixed in with civil registrations, in
FamilySearch and Ancestry collections. French
church records have been microfi lmed by the
FHL, and you can locate them in the catalog
both by department and commune, such as
“France, Aisne—Church records” and “France,
Aisne, Courbes—Church records.” Make sure to
check both, as those listed by commune are not
also catalogued by department and vice versa.
Note that you don’t need to know the name of
your ancestor’s church to fi nd these microfi lms.
But if you don’t, you may need to scroll through
multiple rolls; each commune typically has sev-
eral churches, and the records are not indexed.
French church records usually deliver skimp-
ier information than civil registrations:Town halls (as well
as department
archives) likely hold
indexes to births,
marriages and
deaths. You may
need to contact the
town hall directly
if the records you
seek aren’t online.