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


Church Records and Civil Registration

The vast majority of your research will be in church records and civil registration. Fortunately, these records are available online from the archives of each department.

How to Read the Records

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 French Records:
Reading French Handwritten Records Lesson 1: The French Alphabet,
French Handwritten Records Lesson 2: Key Words and Phrases
Reading French Handwritten Records Lesson 3: Reading French Records

Finding Church Records and Civil Registration Online

Each Department of France has archives that provide digitized images of these records.
Here is the address for the Department Archives of Loiret, where you will find these records.

Places/Localities

Cantons within the Arrondissement of Montargis
  • Châlette-sur-Loing
  • Château-Renard
  • Châtillon-Coligny
  • Châtillon-sur-Loire
  • Courtenay
  • Ferrières-en-Gâtinais
  • Gien
  • Lorris
  • Montargis
Cantons within the Arrondissement of Orléans
  • Artenay
  • Beaugency
  • Châteauneuf-sur-Loire
  • Chécy
  • Cléry-Saint-André
  • La Ferté-Saint-Aubin
  • Fleury-les-Aubrais
  • Ingré
  • Jargeau
  • Meung-sur-Loire
  • Neuville-aux-Bois
  • Olivet
  • Orléans-Bannier
  • Orléans-Bourgogne
  • Orléans-Carmes
  • Orléans-La Source
  • Orléans-Saint-Marc-Argonne
  • Orléans-Saint-Marceau
  • Ouzouer-sur-Loire
  • Patay
  • Saint-Jean-de-Braye
  • Saint-Jean-de-la-Ruelle
  • Saint-Jean-le-Blanc
  • Sully-sur-Loire
Cantons within the Arrondissement of Pithiviers
  • Beaune-la-Rolande
  • Malesherbes
  • Outarville
  • Pithiviers
  • Puiseaux

Online Church Records and Civil RegistrationR

Department Archives of Loiret All parish and civil records from before 1832 held by the Archives Départmentales were burned in the bombing of Orléans in 1940. The only existing copies are the ones held in the communes. The Départment is scanning them and will gradually make them available online, completing this task in 2016.


Family History Centers

Websites