The Genealogical community, both on and offline is in the main a friendly one, where sharing knowledge and ideas for research is given freely and frequently.

The internet has shrunk the world to the size of a matchbox, with interactions using social media platforms, or online provisions such as those operated by archives, record societies, local history groups and many, many other formats.

Essentially the genealogical global community is friendly, knowledgeable and welcoming.

This post is a little late, and I am glad it is. I gave a presentation on Tuesday evening, to a genealogical group online, about researching in Europe. I expressed that there had been a great distribution map for France, and having merged into another site, it had vanished. A lady in the online audience was French, and in France, she advised the site was still there….and it is, in French. With a bit of twiddling, by clicking on the French flag, and then selecting the surnames section, I could see the map….again.

It is the little things in life that make all the difference.

The site shows the distribution of the surname, in this case for ORLANDO across France in four time blocks – 1891-1915, 1916 -1940, 1941 – 1965 and 1966-1990. By clicking the buttons under the map, you change the distribution. Each department in France is revealed along with the number of births, when the mouse hovers above the individual region. You can look and see your surname distribution in France HERE

Thanks of course, once again to the lady who provided the link and for the guidance navigating the idiocrasies of the website.

You can download my Researching in France document HERE. I wrote a series on French research which I indexed and you access it HERE.

You might also be interested in my European Ancestors Course HERE