FRANCE: French Birth Certificate

[casalguidi]

Hi UKgirl

I can say that I have seen a number of baptisms ie. Dover, Kent for children of lacemakers in Calais etc. so it could well be that they waited for their return to the UK before baptism

Casalguidi

[GeoffP]

Hi,
I can only suggest that you contact the archives at Le Havre.  It sounds more likely that the child would have been registered in England or at a consulate. If you want to write you can find a copy of a letter in French on the LDS site which can be used for your request.
Sorry but don't know what else to suggest.

Arcives municipales
55, rue du 329°
76620 - Le Havre
Tél : 02 35 54 02 70
 
E-Mail : Archives[AT]ville-lehavre.fr

If you write it is best to send an international reply coupon.
                                          Regards
                                                        Geoff

Moderator Comment: e-mail edited, to avoid spamming and other abuses. Please replace [AT] with @


                                   

[UKgirl]

Hello Casalguidi,

That's fascinating about the Dover baptisms. Where did you see them, and how could you know that they were the children of lacemakers in Calais?

In my case, they were a blacksmith's family. I simply CANNOT fathom what on earth they were doing in Le Havre around 1840!!! And how would they have got there from Manchester? And if "on business", why bother to take the wife ?

The mystery persists......................

UKgirl

[UKgirl]

Thank you, Geoff, for your kind guidance.

Based on the e-mail address that you have given me, I have searched on Yahoo using

"ville-lehavre acte de naissance"

and I found what I think is the homepage for the "Town Hall of Le Havre", and there is a "translate this page" sign next to the Yahoo search results. (Amazingly convenient, don't you think? Thank you, Yahoo!)

Then I scrolled down to:

Birth certificate:ask for a person born in Le Havre (not my wording!)

And when I clicked on that bit, it says "The acts of less than 100 years are preserved at the Service of the Marital status at the Town hall"

I don't know whether you or anyone else knows whether "less than 100 years" applies just to this location, or is this true for the whole of France?

Am I missing something? 100 years only takes us back to 1905-relatively recent for those of us with this maddening "hobby"!!!

UKgirl

[casalguidi]

Hi UKgirl

C of E baptisms from 1812 are/were recorded (in most cases) on printed forms like this http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hockley/register001.jpg

Years ago, I was searching one of the Dover baptism registers when I came across several entries where occupation was lace-maker and abode Calais.

Like you say, Manchester is quite a way from France and "blacksmith"   It is possible that the child was baptised when they returned home if they were C of E perhaps even at the same time as a younger child

Casalguidi

[PrueM]

Hi UK Girl,
I know I'm coming into this a bit late, but it might be worth trying:

http://francegenweb.org/traduction/

I have recently sent an enquiry to them about a marriage in Morlaix - they don't cover all districts, but they have a map to show the ones they do.  They say you might have to wait up to a month for someone to pick up your request.  To make it easy for us, they have an online form that you can fill in, so you don't really need to know any French (apart from working out what the field labels are on the form, and even I could do that    )

Prue

[Emmeline]

Hello Geoff P and others - I sent to Rouen a month ago for the birth certificate I am keen to get. Included a letter I had copied from web-site - filling in all details known- together with self-addressed envelope and international reply  forms but nothing yet. Still hopeful. If nothing arrives I may just try the francegen website.

[UKgirl]

Dear Prue,

Thank you for your suggestion, but if it is true that they only have birth records for 100 years, as I understood from the homepage of the Town Hall, then any further effort to obtain a birth record would be a complete waste of time. (2005-1840=165 years!)

But then, on reading Geoff's message again, perhaps the key word to all this is "archives"....?

UKgirl

[PrueM]

Well my cousin Cal (Cal241) went to France last year and went to the Morlaix Mairie, where she was able to see the original register entries for the births of two of our ancestors, dated within a year or two of 1836!  So perhaps it depends on the particular Mairie?
Prue