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Ancestors in France

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  • 16-06-2009 4:53pm
    #1
    Alicat
    Registered Users Posts: 10,264 ✭✭✭✭


    I want to check birth records in France for an ancestor who is believed to have been born there.

    Most of the sites are in french and a lot of them request a specific region for the search.

    Any ideas how I can track down this one French relative?? All I have is a name, albeit an unusual one.


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    #2
    markopantelic
    Closed Accounts Posts: 538 ✭✭✭markopantelic


    its a toughie, are you just basing this off a surname? thing is its likely to be a quite distant ancestor perhaps.


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    #3
    pinkypinky
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,625 Mod ✭✭✭✭pinkypinky


    Try searching here - the Rootschat board for Europe.
    http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/board,135.0.html

    People there should know how to point you in the right direction. However, it might be easier to trace backwards. Where did the ancestor first appear in Ireland, etc?

    Genealogy Forum Mod



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    #4
    Alicat
    Registered Users Posts: 10,264 ✭✭✭✭Alicat


    Thanks for the replies.

    Well it was Irish all the way up until this woman appeared out of nowhere, marrying my great (x3) grandfather. They were married in Dublin, two days after Christmas and with no witnesses listed....I'm slightly suspicious :pac: I never found a birth cert or anything relating to her family in the Irish records.

    The French connection only appeared yesterday. I'm registered with Geni.com and was using it to arrange my family tree. I hadn't looked at it in ages but when I was browsing through it yesterday it said they had a "similar profile" registered. I clicked it and up popped this profile with her picture and everything! It's definitely her because it has her husband and the correct names of the children. It was uploaded by a distant and previously unknown relative in New Jersey in the US. She says an uncle of hers told them that this woman was born in France.

    I know stories can change over the years and perhaps it's not completely accurate but I would like to see if I can find anything. The name is definitely not Irish, and doesn't even sound French. It's LANGSTAFF. It's a very English-sounding name but after looking up the history of the surname it wasn't a particularly widespread name either. Most Langstaffs exist(ed) in England or Canada.

    I will try that Roots website!


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