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Catholic Parish Registers in Normandy (France)
of the 17
th
& 18
th
Centuries
Registres paroissiaux en Normandie aux 17
e
et 18
e
siècles
Modern day : Calvados – Eure - Manche – Orne – Seine-Maritime
Cities : Alençon - Bayeux – Caen – Cherbourg-en-Cotentin –
Dieppe - Évreux – Le Havre - Lisieux – Rouen - Saint-Lô - Vernon
Archives départementales de France
Regional Archives of France
https://genealogyensemble.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/archives-
dc3a9partementales-de-france-revision-2018-04-16.pdf
Archives communales de France
Municipal Archives of France
https://genealogyensemble.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/archives-communales-
de-france-2018-09-04-rev.pdf
What to expect while researching online at about 92 Archives départementales
de France - Free Online Searches with free downloads of original Church
Registers or original Civil Registers or original Notarial acts through the web or
smart phones. No memberships required with the exception of one archive and
at the latter, the online research process is also free, once you have completed a
one-page online request.
Note that all online search options posted to these 92 regional archives are in the
French language. As such, if your knowledge of the French language is limited at
best, take the proper steps in order to solve this issue.
First, for those with limited knowledge of France as a country. During the French
Revolution of 1789-1799, administrators of the new Republic of France in 1793
decided that all Civil Registers (Parish Registers prior to 1793) in regard to births,
marriages, deaths would be taken away from Catholic parishes of France and the
task of recording and keeping of documents addressing births, marriages, deaths
would be from 1793 onward the responsibility of the local Mairies (City Halls)
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across France and said documents would be referred to as Registres de l’état
civil.
Catholic baptism records began in many regions of France in 1539, some
regions a few years later. Marriage documents five years later. Death about ten
years after marriage dossiers. In a few Catholic parishes, acts of baptisms have
survived dating back to1334 and 1357 within the region of Saône-et-Loire.
In 2020, in order to access an act of baptism, marriage or death from about 1539
onward, one must determine from which ‘’commune’’ (village, town, township,
city), one’s ancestor originated from. This decision reached in 1793 by the
administrators of the new Republic of France specified that each document in
regard to a birth or marriage or death as indicated above would be recorded by
city halls and kept within the vaults of each city halls. Previously under the Old
Regime under the Kings of France, Parish Registers were kept at the parish and
a second copy of said annual book of baptisms, marriages, deaths kept at the
regional court houses or at the regional Cathollic Diocese Archives. Prior to
1793, Civil Registers in France did not exist.
Subsequently, both Parish Registers from about 1539 to 1793 (Registres
paroissiaux) and Civil Registers from 1793 onward (Registres de l’état civil) were
the responsibility of the newly created départements. In 2020, 95 such
départements. A département is a mini state or mini province.
After the French Revolution, all ‘’départements’’ of France continued the practice
of cataloguing both the Parish Registers (Registres paroissiaux) prior to 1793
and the Civil Registers (Registres de l’état civil) after 1793 by ‘’Communes’’ of
France.
In 2019, the country of France listed 34,967 communes (villages, towns,
townships, cities). In 1790 in France under the Old Regime (Ancien régime),
listed 41,000 communes.
If one does know from which ‘’commune’’ her or his ancestor originated from, the
research process of an original act of baptism, marriage and death during the Old
Regime period prior to 1793 and an act of birth, marriage, death during the
Republic of France period after 1793, is greatly enhanced.
If your ancestor was a French Canadian who had settled in Nouvelle-France
(New France) from 1621 to 1865, you are fortunate in your research process of
about 90% of the pioneer families of Québec and of the Great Lakes Region,
see; https://www.fichierorigine.com/. In regard to the 10%, see a few lines below.
If your ancestor was an Acadian, you are also fortunate in your research process
in regard to about 90% of the pioneer families of ancient Acadie (Acadia) who
had settled within this French colony from 1604 to 1763, see;
http://biblcham.umoncton.ca/cal/. In regard to the 10%, see a few lines below.
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For the North American family lineage researchers with antecedents in France
who are not aware of the name of the commune or département, listed below the
best free online research tool (my opinion) which greatly will enhance your family
lineage research process.
Journal des Femmes – A highly precise online tool addressing all regions of
France in which online databases, ‘’family names’’ which are the most prevalent
within a particular département are listed in order of importance within all 95
départements of France. One only needs to enter the name of the département
of choice. For each family name listed and by simply clicking on the family name
of your ancestor, Journal des Femmes outlines on back-up pages, precisely in
which other départements of France, the family name of your ancestor is most
common and to what extent.
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/
Family lineage searches conducted online in France, the same in most European
countries have impediment.
> Missing years among the Parish Registers prior to 1793
> An ancestor of yours might have resided in a rural region and the child was
never baptized
> The family might have been Protestants or Jewish.
> The family name of the 17
th
and 18
th
centuries, the spelling might be different in
comparison to the spelling in North America in the 21st century for same family.
> The quality of handwriting (penmanship) on parish registers in some cases can
be better described as scribble
> The name of an ancient commune might have changed to another name in
more recent time periods.
> The digitizing process of both acts of Parish Registers and Civil Registers
might not be completed for all communes within a particular modern-day
département.
Archives - Repositories
France Archives
https://francearchives.fr/fr/decouvrir
Basse-Normandie – Lower Normandy
Calvados – Caen – Archives du Calvados – Regional archive
https://archives.calvados.fr/
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Manche – Saint-Lô – Archives de la Manche
https://www.archives-manche.fr/
Orne – Alençon – Archives départementales de l’Orne – Regional archive
https://www.archives-departementales.com/index.php?article63/archives-en-
ligne-de-l-orne-numerisees
Haute-Normandie – Upper Normandy
Eure – Évreux – Archives départementales de l’Eure – Regional archive
http://archives.eure.fr/
Seine-Maritime – Rouen – Archives départementales de la Seine-Maritime –
Regional archive
http://www.archivesdepartementales76.net/
France – Archives municipales en ligne – Online Municipal Archives – 49
municipal archives across France with online dossiers addressing families of the
past.
https://www.archiveenligne.fr/liste-archives-communales/
Archives communales (municipales) d’Alençon – Municipal archive - Orne
http://archives.ville-alencon.fr/
Archives communales (municipales) de Bayeux – Municipal archive - Calvados
https://www.archiveenligne.fr/category/bayeux/
Archives communales (municipales) de Caen – Municipal archive - Calvados
https://archives.calvados.fr/archdesc/b390a9da-aecb-4b76-9fe8-a0fd048d2958
Archives communales (municipales) de Cherbourg-en-Cotentin – Municipal
archive - Manche
https://www.cherbourg.fr/infos-services/culture-et-loisirs/archives-municipales-
1872.html
Archives communales (municipales) de Dieppe – Municipal archive – Seine-
Maritime
https://patrimoine.dieppe.fr/collections/
Archives communales (municipales) d’Évreux – Municipal archive - Eure
https://evreux.fr/mes-demarches/les-archives-municipales/
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Archives communales (municipales) de la Ville du Havre – Municipal archive –
Seine-Maritime
https://archives.lehavre.fr/
Archives communales (municipales) de Lisieux – Municipal archive – Calvados
https://www.archiveenligne.fr/category/lisieux/
https://archives.calvados.fr/archdesc/c0283e63-709a-445a-a6af-957e5c68050a
Archives communales (municipales) de Rouen – Municipal archive – Seine-
Maritime
https://rouen.fr/archives-municipales
Archives communales (municipales) de Saint-Lô – Municipal archive - Manche
https://www.saint-lo.fr/votre-mairie-et-ses-services/vie-municipale/archives-
municipales
Archives communales (municipales) de Vernon – Municipal archive - Eure
http://www.vernon27.fr/la-ville/histoire-de-vernon/archives-municipales/
Genealogy – Généalogie
Calvados – Cercle de Généalogie du Calvados
http://www.cegecal.org/
Eure – Cercle Généalogique de l’Eure
http://eure-genealogie.org/
Manche – Cercle Généalogique de la Manche
http://www.cg50.org/
Orne – Centre Généalogique de l’Orne et du Perche
https://www.orne-perche.org/
Seine-Maritime – Cercle Généalogique Rouen Seine-Maritime
https://cgrsm.org/
Calvados – Filae.com
$$$ https://www.filae.com/archives-calvados/etat-civil-genealogie-calvados-
14.html
Eure – Filae.com
$$$ https://www.filae.com/archives-eure/etat-civil-genealogie-eure-27.html
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Manche – Filae.com
$$$ https://www.filae.com/archives-manche/etat-civil-genealogie-manche-
50.html
Orne – Filae.com
$$$ https://www.filae.com/archives-orne/etat-civil-genealogie-orne-61.html
Seine-Maritime – Filae.com
$$$ https://www.filae.com/archives-seine-maritime/etat-civil-genealogie-seine-
maritime-76.html
History – Histoire
Gallica – BnF – Bibliothèque nationale de France
https://gallica.bnf.fr/
https://gallica.bnf.fr/html/und/presse-et-revues/presse-et-revues
https://gallica.bnf.fr/html/und/presse-et-revues/revues-savantes-par-zones-
geographiques
Normandie – Gallica BnF – Bibliothèque nationale de France – Revues
savantes de la Normandie
https://gallica.bnf.fr/html/und/presse-et-revues/revues-savantes-normandie
Calvados – Gallica BnF – Bibliothèque nationale de France – Revues
savantes du Calvados
https://gallica.bnf.fr/html/und/presse-et-revues/calvados
https://gallica.bnf.fr/html/und/presse-et-revues/revues-savantes-du-calvados
Eure – Gallica BnF – Bibliothèque nationale de France – Revues savantes de
l’Eure
https://gallica.bnf.fr/html/und/france/revues-savantes-de-leure
Manche – Gallica BnF – Bibliothèque nationale de France – Revues savantes
de la Manche
https://gallica.bnf.fr/html/und/presse-et-revues/revues-savantes-de-la-manche
Orne – Gallica BnF – Bibliothèque nationale de France – Revues savantes de
l’Orne
https://gallica.bnf.fr/html/und/france/revues-savantes-de-lorne
Seine-Maritime – Gallica BnF – Bibliothèque nationale de France – Revues
savantes de la Seine-Maritime
https://gallica.bnf.fr/html/und/france/revues-savantes-de-seine-maritime
