Ardèche, France Genealogy

France

Ardèche Department

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

France Wiki Topics
Beginning Research
Research Strategies Record Finder Finding Town of Origin Online Learning
Record Types
Cemeteries Census Church Records Civil Registration Directories Compiled Genealogies Emigration & Immigration Jewish records Family Account Books Feudal Records Heraldry	Hospital Records Military Records Naturalization & Citizenship Newspapers Nobility Notarial Records Obituaries Online Genealogy Records Periodicals Probate Records Religious Records Schools and Education Records
France Background
Biography Church History Cultural Groups French Word List Gazetteers Historical Geography History Huguenots National ID Number - Insee	Languages Maps Naming Customs, French Naming Customs, Basque Social Life & Customs For Further Reading
Local Research Resources
Archives & Libraries Societies FamilySearch Centers

Ardèche Department

France Online Genealogy Records

Ask the Community

History

As a result of the reformation of John Calvin in Geneva, Ardèche was one of the areas which strongly embraced Protestantism partly as a result of missionary activity of 1534. The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 outlawed Protestantism. During the French Revolution, in 1789, with the Declaration of Human Rights, Ardèche Protestants were at last recognized as citizens in their own right, free at last to practice their faith.

Named after the river of the same name, the Ardèche was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790.

Localities (Communes)

• FranceGenWeb
• Locom-France
• Wikipedia
• Wikipedia, former localities

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. Additional instructions and practice activities are available:

• Alsace-Lorraine - Activity, Answer Key
• Alsace-Lorraine: Department Archive Records Online - Instruction
  

Fortunately, these records are available online from the archives of each department:
Here is the website for the Department Archives of Ardèche, where you will find these records.

• Department Archives of Ardèche

See Using France Online Department Archives for step by step instructions on finding and reading these records. For a demonstration of navigating archives websites, watch the video, Using France Department Archives Online.

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 Ardèche

Online Local Databases and Extracted Records

Groups devoted to genealogy have also extracted and/or indexed records for specific localities, time periods, religious groups, etc. Since church records at the departmental archives are generally not indexed, you might find an index here that will speed up your searching.

• FamilySearch Collections:
  • 1536-1897 - France, Protestant Church Records, 1536-1897 at FamilySearch — index and images
  • 1542-1900 - France, Civil Registration, Various Communes, 1542-1900 at FamilySearch — index
• Tout en Un (All in One) Online Databases Check for online databases and records in right column. Check back occasionally to see if new databases have become available.
• Filae, index and images, ($).
• Tout en Un (All in One) Local Databases Here you may find extracted/translated records, record indexes, and other helpful records such as cemetery, land, or military records.
• Geneanet Collaborative Indexes Search by locality (parish or commune).
• Genea-Bricolo
• Cercle Généalogique du Languedoc Databases
• Huguenots des Cévennes
• Huguenots des Vivarais

Microfilm Records of the FamilySearch Library

The church and civil registration records have all been microfilmed. Currently, they are being digitized, and plans are to complete that project by 2020. Check back occasionally to see if your records have become available. In the meantime, some of them might be available at a Family History Center near you. To find a microfilm: Click on Ardèche , find and click on "Places within France, Ardèche," and choose your locality from the list.

Writing for Records

Online records tend to cover only the time before 100 years, due to privacy laws. You can write to civil registration offices and local churches who might honor requests for more recent records of close family members for the purpose of genealogy.

For a civil registration office, address your request to:

Monsieur l'officier de l'état-civil
Mairie de (Town)
(Postal code) (Town)
France

For a parish church:

Monsieur le Curé
(Church --see The Catholic Directory for church name and address)
(Town) (Postal Code) France

For other addresses and for help writing your request in French, use French Letter Writing Guide.

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.
• BYU French Script Tutorial

During the reign of Napoleon, a different calendar was used. You will want to translate the dates written in these records back to normal Julian calendar dates. Charts in this article will help you:

• French Republican Calendar
  

Also, see:

• Alsace-Lorraine: Converting French Republican Calendar Dates - Instruction

These lessons focus on reading church record and civil registration records:

• France Church Records
• France Civil Registration- Vital Records

Another resource is the French Records Extraction Manual. The full manual or individual lesson chapters are downloadable from this webpage. A number of helpful lessons are available here, but the first five lessons are especially useful.

• Chapter 1: Old Records
• Chapter 2: Christening, Marriage, and Other Entries
• Chapter 3: Marriage
• Chapter 4: Other Entries
• Chapter 5: French Handwriting and Spelling

Before 1539, many church records are in Latin. In 1539 French was made the administrative language of France through the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts. As a result, there is only the occasional Latin word or phrase in church records after 1539.

• Key Words and Phrases in Latin Records
• Latin Genealogical Word List
  

Search Strategy

• Begin with the death information of the focus ancestor and locate the death record.
  
• Use the information on that death record to locate the ancestor's marriage record.
  
• Use the information on that marriage record to locate the ancestor's birth record.
  
• Once the birth record is found, search for the focus ancestor's siblings.
  
• Next, search for the marriage of the focus ancestor's parents. The marriage record will have information that often helps locate the birth records of the parents.
  
• 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. It is possible they may have moved or boundaries changed.
  

Genealogical Societies and Help Groups

• Ardèche Wiki GenWeb Associations
• Ardèche Forums
• Association généalogique de la Loire
• Southern Europe Genealogy Research Community

Société des Amateurs de Généalogie de l'Ardèche (SAGA)
Mailing address:
SAGA
BP 3
07210 Chomerac
France
E-mail:bureau@geneardeche.org

• Website

Family History Centers

Introduction to Family History Centers

• Family History Centers (FHCs) are branches of FamilySearch and the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah (United States), located all over the world. Their goal is to provide resources to assist you in the research and study of your genealogy and family history by:
  • Giving personal one-on-one assistance to patrons
  • Providing access to genealogical records through the Internet or microfilm loan program
  • Offering free how-to classes (varies by location)
• There is no cost to visit a Family History Center or FamilySearch Library. They are open to anyone with an interest in genealogical research. They are operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• Partner sites such as Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, FindMyPast.com, and many CD based collections can be searched free of charge.

Finding a Family History Center

Websites

• Tout en Un Ardèche
• GenWeb, ArdèchePortal
• Cousins 07
• Geneanet Surname Search
• France Geneawiki Genealogical Sources includes instructional discussions of various records available.
• French Republican Calendar. This site will help you translate dates used by France from 24 October 1793 to 31 December 1805.
• There are parallel articles also available on the French Language Wiki. Because they are maintained by different authors, links may be added there that do not appear here. Generally, the articles translate automatically to English when accessed.

This website requires a paid subscription for full access. Some subscription websites are available for free at your local FamilySearch Center or Affiliate Library.