How To Write a French Genealogy Letter

Now that you have read the article on "You Don't Have to Speak French to Research Your French Ancestors" your probably wondering how am I ever going to find my ancestors if I have to write a letter to a foreign country that the language isn't even my own! I can't read or write French!

Not everyone has the time or money to just hop on a plan to France for a genealogical research trip so the next best thing is to write a letter and I'm here to help you.

Now remember from the article "You Don't Have to speak French to Research Your French Ancestors" most departmental archives won't do the research for you but you will have a better response to your request for a look-up if you follow these tip.

1.Your letter must be written in French. You can find free translation website on the Internet that can help you with this.

2.Do not hand write your letter. Handwritten letters can be very hard to read and if an archivist can read the letter it will probably get thrown in the trash, so type your letter and make sure punctuation is correct.

3.Your letter has to have all the details like the full name and date of the event for the individual you are looking for. If you don't know the date of the event, you have to at least narrow it down to within a two year time frame. If you don't have all the details the archivist will just throw the letter in the trash. Their time is extremely busy!

4.You have to provide proof that you are a direct descendent if the records you are looking for are not older than a 100 years. Also include your birth certificate and birth certificates for each ancestor before you in a direct line back to the ancestor you are looking for.

5.You will receive an abbreviated summary if you don't request a full copy of the record. This is called "une copie integrale" meaning full copy. Include this request in every letter you write for birth, death, and marriage records.

6.Always include a self-addressed stamped envelope just like you have done in the past with your own country. You will probably have to go to the post office to get French postage or an IRC, International Reply coupon.

7.Make sure you address your envelope in French to the right place; town hall (La Mairie) or archive (Archives Departmentales) department.

8.Just incase the address you have is wrong, write on the envelope, top left corner, "Faire suivre SVP" (please forward). Also write "Expediteur/Sender" on the back of your envelope just incase it can't be delivered so it will be returned to you.

9.What do you do if you don't know the right address? You just follow these steps: Address the letter to Archives Departmentales next the department name, department's # followed by 000 and the name of the city (Prefecture).

10.What if you are not sure you have the right address for a town hall, all you have to do is write La Mairie then the name of the town, then the department's number and three 000, then the name of the town, France.

Here are some common French words for your letter.

One of my male ancestors - d'un de mes ancetres
One of my female ancestors - d'une de mes anccetres
My great-grandparents - de mes arriere grand-parents
My great-grandfather - de mon arriere grand-pere
My great-grandmother - de mon arriere grand-mere
My grandparents - de mes grands-parents
My grandfather - de mon grand-pere
My grandmother - de ma grand-mere
My parents - de mes parents
My father - de mon pere
My mother - de ma mere
Marriage - mariage
Birth - naissance
Death - deces
Town hall - La Maire - writing to a town hall - Monsieur le Maire Departmetnal
Archives - Archives Departmentales - writing to an archives - Monsieur le Conservateur
Given name and surname - Prenom et nom
Date of birth - Date de naissance
Place of birth - Lieu de naissance
Date of marriage - Date de mariage
Place of marriage - Lieu de mariage
Date of death - Date de deces
Place of death - Lieu de deces