Unlocking French Archives: a guide on how archives are organized and what you may find on MyHeritage

Key points and insights

French research can feel intimidating, with unfamiliar geography, laws, and terminology, but this webinar with French genealogist Marine Soulas breaks it down into a clear, approachable roadmap. Focusing on how archives in France are organized and what is already available on MyHeritage, the session walks through civil and parish registers, military files, censuses, tax and notarial records, and even newspapers. Along the way, real research examples show how these sources work together to identify French ancestors, place them in their communities, and push lineages back before the French Revolution.

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• Civil and parish registers: the backbone of French research
  The webinar explains the shift from parish registers kept by priests (from the 1500s) to civil registration (État civil) beginning in 1792, and how these records can reveal names, occupations, residences, and parents. It also clarifies privacy rules—why most post-1925 civil records are not online—and shows how indexed French collections on MyHeritage, including vital records and the national deaths database, can quickly surface key events, even for the 20th century.

• Thinking “by department”: where records live and what they reveal
  Viewers are introduced to France’s 101 departments and the principle that archives are held where events occurred, not where descendants later lived. The session highlights which departmental record sets are already indexed on MyHeritage—such as selected military conscription cards, censuses from 1872–1936, and Tables of Successions & Absences—and how these indexes can point to richer on-site resources like notarial contracts and estate files.

• Extending research with military, tax, and press sources
  Beyond the usual births, marriages, and deaths, the webinar shows how fiches matricules (military service cards), tax registration tables, and historical newspapers can add depth and unexpected detail. Examples include discovering physical descriptions and regiments for young men, identifying heirs through succession tables, and finding brief news items that capture everyday incidents and tragedies—often the only narratives surviving for otherwise ordinary ancestors.

Genealogists with French roots who want to move beyond guesswork and scattered searches are encouraged to watch the full webinar, where each record type is demonstrated live within MyHeritage and linked back to practical research strategies. Seeing how the presenter navigates indexes, opens original images, and interprets annotations will build confidence for tackling both straightforward and challenging French lines. After viewing, exploring the additional resources in the syllabus—such as the interactive departmental map, links to archive websites, and recommended tools—will help transform this overview into an actionable research plan tailored to individual French families.