MyHeritage Adds French Record Collection: Nord Civil Marriage Records, 1792–1937

A robust collection of 5.4 million civil records of marriages (1792–1937) in the department of Nord is now available in MyHeritage SuperSearch™. This collection offers a wealth of information for anyone researching their ancestors from this region of France — Nord is currently the most populous department in all of France. It also contains a detailed searchable index that you won’t find on other websites.

Search France, Nord Civil Marriages, 1792–1937 now.

After the French Republic was proclaimed in 1792, government authorities began collecting civil vital records. In this collection — France, Nord Civil Marriages, 1792–1937, you’ll find rich details about the bride, groom, and their families, including the names of the bride and groom, their birth dates, birthplaces, marriage date and location, and the names of the bride’s and groom’s parents — including their mothers’ maiden surnames. Additional information about the death of one or more of the parents, along with witness names and details — often with recorded relationships to the bride and groom — can also be found.

The index that we created for this collection lists information that isn’t available on any other website, such as the estimated birth years of the bride and groom, and the names of their parents.

The collection also includes beautiful scanned images of every record. Because these records are handwritten and are often difficult to read, we highlighted the areas of the document in which the names are mentioned to help users locate them. The scanned images of this collection appear on MyHeritage in a resolution that is higher than that found on some other sources. 

Following the French Revolution and the adoption of the principles of separation of church and state, religious marriages were no longer legally valid and couples wishing to marry were required to do so civilly. Thus, it became common in French culture for religious families to hold two weddings — first the civil ceremony, and later a religious ceremony. 

Civil officials recorded the marriages they performed, usually in a prescribed paragraph format, bound in a book and kept in the registrar’s office.

Examples

The collection includes the marriage record of the parents of Louis Blériot, the French inventor and aviator who made history in 1909 for making the first successful airplane flight across the English Channel.

Louis Blériot in flight over a field, 1909.

Louis Charles Pierre Alexandre Blériot married Clémence Marie Eugénie Candeliez in Cambrai, Nord, Hauts-De-France, France on October 12, 1871.

Marriage record of Louis Blériot and Clémence Candeliez (parents of aviator Louis Blériot), 1871.

The collection also includes the marriage record of the parents of French army and statesman, Charles de Gaulle.

De Gaulle during World War II [Credit: Office of War Information, Overseas Picture Division, 1945].

De Gaulle’s parents — Henri Charles Alexandre De Gaulle and Jeanne Caroline Marie Maillot — married in the city of Lille on July 30, 1886. 

Marriage record of Charles De Gaulle’s Parents, Henri Charles Alexandre De Gaulle, and Jeanne Caroline Marie Maillot, 1886

Summary

Searching this collection in MyHeritage SuperSearch™ is free. MyHeritage users will benefit from Record Matches from this collection. Our Record Matching technology will automatically find relevant historical records revealing new information about their ancestors who appear in these records. A Data or Complete subscription is required to view the records, save them to your family tree, and access Record Matches.

The newly added France, Nord Civil Marriages, 1792–1937 collection is the first in a series of new French collections to be added to SuperSearch™. Stay tuned for the Nord Birth and Death Index collection, which will be coming soon. These exciting new French collections will provide a treasure trove of information for those seeking to learn more about their French heritage and ancestors. 

We hope this collection will expand the horizons of your family history research in France. Let us know what you discover!