FRANCE: French Birth Certificate

[patrk]

How do I go about finding the birth certificate of:  Alexander Musart, born 1800, Wormhout, Flanders, France and Lucy Josephine Musart, born 1824, Calais, France?  Help would be appreciated.  Patrick

[jorose]

I've sent off for records older than 100 years, to the local Mairie, and gotten a response (one no-show, he turned up at the village a few miles over).  Generally it takes about six weeks or more, even at times of the year when it is not a holiday - genealogy requests are clearly not a priority!

patrk - your first placename is a bit confusing.  Flanders is a region of Belgium, 'Wormhout' probably means Wormhoudt in the Nord region of France, although perhaps it could be a Belgium placename.

At any rate in this case the LDS hold Wormhoudt civil registration records, plus ten-year indexes:

familysearch #1

There are also records for Calais in the same way, though you might have to be careful - the region is called 'Pas-de-Calais' also, so she might have be born in the area, not the city itself.

For those with British relatives born in the UK, there are also some records held at Kew but also available through the LDS for British nationals in the big French towns - Paris, Calais, Rouen, etc.

familysearch #2
Seems to go back to about 1815.

[patrk]

Actually, Flanders is spread over northern Belgium AND France.  Lille is the major city of French Flanders. Wormhout (or Flemish,Wormhoudt, is ten miles south of Dunkirk).  Those whom I am seeking were French.  Patrick

[UKgirl]

Hello Jorose,

Your information about LDS records is wonderful for those with access to them, but for those of us who are struggling with a French birth, and who live in a country where there are no such LDS libraries to consult, it can feel pretty hopeless trying to get your hands on information.

Nevertheless, I am trying to be optimistic about an e-mail sent to Le Havre, but.............

(If I ever get a reply, I will let you all know!)

UKgirl

[jorose]

UKgirl, the records I posted about are also held at Kew, although that might not be any better for you.  The LDS film references are just for those with access to them, because that might be easier/cheaper than hiring a researcher to go to the National Archives and look things up.  I'm not sure where you are in the UK, but you definitely can get access to those films here - I use the Cambridge LDS branch, it can take six weeks for things to arrive, but it's worth it when they do!

[UKgirl]

Hello jorose,

Thank you for your effort to help, and for your encouraging words, but you may have misread the word "country" for "county".

LDS family history centres/libraries are non-existant in the country where I live.

But Cambridge is a beautiful place, and 6 weeks soon fly by. Not so long to wait to get some answers to all those burning questions. I wish you the best of luck with your own research.

Which reminds me, I read the other day that the LDS are going to put all their filmed parish records on the Internet!
Yippee
But I guess it will take years to complete (or perhaps years even to start !!)

Still, I can dream!!!

UKgirl

[jorose]

Unfortunately I will not be going to Kew probably for many months - not sure when I'll have the time - when I do, I will try to do some lookups for the people on this forum.

[UKgirl]

Hello jorose,

That was a kind thought. Hopefully, some of us may have made some progress in this department by then.

But, the thought and offer is very much appreciated.

Thank you,

UKgirl

[patrk]

Thank you for the extremely helpful information.  The web address you included took me right to the Wormhoudt page and I shall order the relevant microfilms.  I tried to do the same for Calais in the LDS catalogue but I was unsuccessful.  Could you lead me there?  Many thanks.  Patrick