French Handwriting
- The website housing these PDF files is currently down for maintenance.
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
Reading French Handwritten Records Lesson 1: The French Alphabet
Reading French Handwritten Records Lesson 2: Key Words and Phrases
Reading French Handwritten Records Lesson 3: Reading French Records.
Another resource is the French Records Extraction Manual, Full Manual. Much more is covered, but these first four lessons are especially useful.
- 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
Section One Section Two Section Three Section Four Section Five Section Six: Answers
Appendix A: French Occupations List
Appendix B: Common Abbreviations