Tracing pre-Revolutionary French ancestors

[nong43]

Hello

Does anyone know how to trace French ancestors who lived before the Revolution? I was under the impression that a lot of records were destroyed in 1789.

Martin

[youngtug]

Try Geneanet; https://en.geneanet.org/explore/french-ancestors/post/1-french-genealogical-records/

or; http://www.geneafrance.org/

[nong43]

Merci beaucoup!

EDIT: seems my putative ancestor left too early to show up in subsequent records, at least in the village he came from. Records start in 1546, he left in 1523...

[jayaygee]

Depends where.  Most départements have their parish registers on line and quite a lot of these have been indexed by family history societies and others, or are being indexed directly on the archives' site.  There may also be notarial records.

If the ancestors weren't Catholics it can be more difficult, but there are smaller record sets that can help.

Records have been lost for various reasons: the Revolution, the Commune in Paris, WW1, WW2 and other wars, etc., but the majority survive.  Try http://www.culture.fr/Genealogie to search a variety of databases both pre and post-Revolution some of which are pay-to-view.  Also Généanet as has been mentioned, but you have to check what you find on contributors' trees as always.

Judith

[nong43]

I've had a look on Rouen Généalogie's website (they have research, seemingly, for all communes in Seine-Maritime), but the records in Beaussault start in 1546, and the putative ancestor I'm looking for arrived in England in 1523...

[jayaygee]

You might be lucky enough to find something in the records of the "notaires" in Rouen. The Archives Départementales de la Seine-Maritime have begun to put them on line starting with the pre-1600 records.

Good luck!

Judith

[jayaygee]

Forgot to say other notarial records from outside Rouen are also available.

[joger]

Merci beaucoup!

EDIT: seems my putative ancestor left too early to show up in subsequent records, at least in the village he came from. Records start in 1546, he left in 1523...

Where did he come from?

[nong43]

He was from Beaussault, Normandy.