Genealogy Chat

Hi guys,

Does anyone have any tips for searching for overseas births in France, im searching for my ancestors who were born there as British Subjects but cant find a register of their birth in the English BMD records, and they were not in the army or anything, so i do not know how to search for their births.

All help appreciated

Kirsty

Kirsty, if you find out I would be very interested. My Gt grandfather was 'born in France British Subject', I have been banging my head against that particular brick wall for many years. And he was a R Marine and a couple of people of unsuccessfully been able to find his records at Kew.

So, if you find out, please give me a shout. I believe you need to know where in France they are born and I don't.

Ann
glos

Have you looked in the overseas birth index on findmypast? (far from complete, though) To find a birth in France, you have to know the place they were born, as Ann says.

Ann - if you want to pm me the details of your Royal Marine, I'll have a look.

Hi Ann's

Yea there were three of them my great grandfather and his two siblings, on the census it says boulogne in France. I have contacted the tourist office there under the guise that i was going on holiday to do my family tree and asked them where i could trace it so i could try doing it by post but they have bot replied.

I have tried findmypast, but we have no idea why they went to France in the first place, i check consular records and all services records i could find but nothing so i have no clue what to do.

Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated,

thanks Kirsty

P.S. why do you need to know the place of birth as this is something i have not come across so i could be searching in all the wrong places.

Thanks Kirsty

You need to apply to the Mairie (Town Hall) in Boulogne for the cert. You should be able to Google for the address. I've obtained certs from France before, although not Boulogne, and they've all been free! If and when you get it, give me a shout and I'll translate it for you.

The reason you need to know the place where an event happened, is that the details are held locally, rather than centrally, like here.

Kirsty

This is the contact details for the Department Archives (equivilent to our County Records Office)


ARCHIVES DEPARTEMENTALES DU PAS-DE-CALAIS
1 rue du 19 mars 1962
BP 965 Daimville
62031 Arras Cedex

03 21 21 61 90
03 21 21 62 98
[email protected]
http://www.archivespasdecalais.fr

This is the contact details for the Municipal Archives for Boulogne (equiv to the Town Hall or Local Repositry)


ARCHIVES MUNICIPALES DE BOULOGNE-SUR-MER
HOTEL DE VILLE BP 729
11 rue de Bertinghen
62321 BOULOGNE-SUR-MER CEDEX

03 91 90 01 10
03 91 90 01 19
[email protected]

Might be worth contacting them both.

There is also a handy site here with instructions on how best to deal with them:

"How To Request French Genealogy Records by Mail or Post"

http://genealogy.about.com/cs/france/ht/french_records.htm

Hope that helps

Richard

Thanks for all your help guys, will let you know how i get on, and Ann if you don't mind i will definately take you up on the offer to get a translation as i speak very little French.

Thanks again Kirsty

Kirsty, It might be stating the obvious but I would also suggest if you are writing to them, getting it drafted or checked by someone with good French. I have French ancestors and my experience is that often if your French is not spot on they will ignore you, and certainly are unlikely to answer any queries in English. They are funny like that in my experience I was quite often ignored until I got my French down to a tee!

All the best and good luck

Richard