Courtesy of Wikipedia
Flag adopted 15 Feb 1794
This post is part of a series about genealogy in France. You can read the complete series HERE.
- 1791 was the first population census, but it is rare to find a surviving document from that time.
- The majority of towns and cities have their records dating from 1826 or 1831.
- Census held every five years, except during periods of war
- 1871 Census was held in 1872 as a result of the Franco-Prussian War.
- 1916 Census cancelled due to the First World War
- 1941 Census cancelled due to the Second World War
- The information contained within a Census document has evolved over time:
- Surname and first name
- Women might be listed under their maiden name
- Occupation
- Those without an occupations will either have the box empty, or will be filled with sp or sans
- Type of employment (not all)
- owner or employee (name of employer, if relevant)
- Marital status
- Relationship to the head of the household
- Age, or year of birth
- Address (from 1851)
- Nationality and place of birth (not all)
- Surname and first name
- Census for Paris only exist for the following years: 1926,1931, 1936 and 1946
- Electoral rolls exist and can be found at the Paris Archives.
- Date of each census can be found written at the bottom of the last page on the census.
- Census records can be found in the department offices for each region and these are often digitised, and go up until 1936.
- You can do an internet search (Google is probably best) for the name of the town + “archives departementales”
- Not all regions use the same terminology, and these might be found under different names:
- recensement
- denombrement
- recensement de la population
- Most of the census are unindexed, which is OK for a small town or village, but really it is best for you to know where your ancestors lived, the information can be found in birth, marriage and death records.
- Filae does have several indexed census’ – 1872, 1901-1911
- Enumerators frequently used abbreviations:
- d for ditto, a wavy line or id (abbreviation for the Latin word of idem, meaning same)
Julie Goucher ~ Anglers Rest 