French Handwriting

French alphabet.jpg

Many resources exist that will help you read French records. One of these is the Reading Handwritten Records Series of free online classes available at FamilySearch. It includes tutorials on


Another resource is the French Records Extraction Manual, with this linked Table of Contents. You will be able to practice on actual documents.

FRENCH RECORDS EXTRACTION MANUAL

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

Chapter 6: NAME IDENTIFICATION

Chapter 7: GENDER

Chapter 8: DATES

[[Chapter 9: PUTTING IT ALL INTO PRACTICE]

[[APPENDIX A: FRENCH OCCUPATIONS LIST]

[[APPENDIX B: COMMON ABBREVIATIONS]

[[APPENDIX C: ANSWERS TO SELF-EVALUATION EXERCISES]

[[GLOSSARY]

[[BIOGRAPHY]