Page 18 - index

WRITING TO FRANCE

A Iittlc dd\.cc ma) hr uieful îor contrihurori u~th French anxhtr) and ma)
explain n h) Icttcrr to Fr~ncc ~omciimci go unaniucrcd. tx~mplcs drc tskcn
-
-
-
from the mailbdw of d ucll eitabliihcd wcncal~aical duociaiion in Psrii
Letters are first of al1 sorted into groups: new inquiries, continuations of
searches already done, reports from other searchers, library lists. etc. The new
inquiries can also usually be split into two groups: those writing in or under-
standine French and those not. then into further divisions: 1066 and William
the conqueror's followers, ~uguenots, émigrés, French-Canadians or fairly re-
cent ancestors such as the ancestry of the bride's offoreign servicemen.
Nevenheless, there is nearly always something that cannot be classified at al1
because the writer does not eive enoueh information. It is most im~ortant to
explain thc prohlcm clcarl) Gd id e\rcntia. dct~iih. For insisnfc no1 pst
10 d\k h<lu 10 trnce Marie Catherine Msniii horn in France. but to rd) thdi \he
has been trdced as having married or died, give the year, age (even approxi-
mate). and place, as well as the reason why she is thought to be French or to
have some connection with France. In this particular case, it is also very im-
portant to indicate whether Martin is the Maiden name as this is the name that
would be used in French registration. If at al1 possible the village, town or de-
partment in France should be given as well as the religion if this is known.
Apart from the obvious remark that it is best to type or write legibly and to
include some means of paying for the reply, either International Reply Cou-
pons, French postage stamps or perhaps (but this is rather risky). a small
French banknote left from a recent trip abroad. it is certainly also advisable to
write in reasonable French. If this is impossible use English. Of two recent let-
ters one was in Spanish and the other in Italian and, until someone is found to
translate at least the gist of the letter, it will go unanswered.
Three others will probahly share the same fate because the persan's name
and address still cannot be deciphered after three attempts. For one of ihem
this is rather unfortunate as he (or she) has enclosed documents, which while
giving an idea orthe subject of the search, do not provide a clue to the person's
identity. A few other handwritten envelopes nearly went astray because of the
difference in French-style numbers. When writing to someone living ai 7,17,37
etc. this is no problem if typed out, but the handwritten versions are 74~3~
Letters with the Enelish-stvle seven usuallv eo to No. 1.1 1. or 31 which. unfor-
.
.
~
tunaicly. ma) no! hy in ih;\smc posisl rc&; For mo*i oithr )car ihish ntii s
problem a.; the regu.ar \oners dnd psstmcn knuu the rigni addres, houe\er.
during holidays thev are replaced bv student helpers and letters may iust end
. .
up inihe 'unknown' box.
Five other leiters. although in English, will receive a very late reply for the
simple reason that ihey arrived via French collcagues who although they
understood the inquiry, either know nothing about the particular problem. can
only reply in French or do not want to gel involved in genealogical searching
as they have other responsibilities such as writing books. Six people have writ-
ten 'Io whom it may concern' and used the old address of the association.
While al1 eleven envelopes will receive attention, they were already several
weeks old - in one case several months - when received.
Thi, prtiblem of urong Jddre\\c\ 1, rdthcr di!licult to \ol\c The ,nitirmation
md) corne irom d compleicl) oui of ddte directiir) In idci II I\ \ometime, im