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Hi folks,

I was wondering if anyone would know of good ways to find out about French/Spanish/Continental ancestors?

-Paul Rousselle

Go to familysearch.org /Browse location /Europe

P.S. Welcome to the boards.

Hi Paul,

I would also add....google..google...google - you will be amazed at how much advice you can get from googling!


Also, it may be worthwhile putting the names you are researching into the Search Trees box above (in the dark green bar) to see if anyone else on this site has them in their tree. If you find a connection, you can contact the tree owner. Cx

Hi Paul - care to give details - we may be able to help

Ann :-)

Hi folks!

Well, I've two sides of my family, one side Irish/Northern (which, thanks to a cousin, I've lots of information on), the other side French/Spanish, and not really being able to to go there often is the main difficulty.
MY French relatives don't seem to remember the Spanish side much, as I get the feeling my father's grandparents died sometime before he and his siblings were born. They also have a common as hell name - my Grandmother was Garcia (she was born in France of spanish Parents) and my grandfather was Rousselle, which is a pretty common name in France, though with a slightly unusual spelling.

My Grandmother was born in 1924, and I imagine her parents came to France before then, possibly the 1900s-1910s - was there a migration around that time or would it have been a one off? I've looked into that as I thought Franco might have a reason for it, but he was after that time. Garcia is a Basque name, but as it's so wide-spread, it's not really something to go on.

I'm just unsure what a good place to look online, in all honestly.

Hi Paul.
Have similar problems, but further back than you.
Generally speaking, there is no central registry for either French or Spanish BMDs. Each event is logged at the local Town hall where it took place, so you really need to know which town your family came from.
Talk about a needle in a haystack.
Lots of Spanish people fled to France before & during the Civil war, including my husbands father & they tended to stay there for several years after the war was over & in fact, some never returned at all
Marion

can we have the full name of your grandmother - just in ca\se!!!!

Just consulted the OH although the history of his own country is not his strong point.
The era around 1910 was the time of the 1st republic in Spain, but he seems to think that foreigners came here rather than the Spanish leaving.
Would imagine it depended which side you were on.

Well, he name is Emilia Rousselle née Garcia (she married Pierre Émile Edmond Rousselle) and lived her early life in Saint-Quentin, Aisne, France but I don't think she was born there.
My father's unsure also. I'll need to get into contact with some old cousins in France that I haven't seen in years, haha. I kinda wish I'd gotten into this stuff when my grandparents their siblings were still around.
I'll have a look at the history of Spain at the time, thanks for the head's up Wise! :-) I think also when I'm back in France, in about a year's time, I'll see if I can get lifts to those places and look at the locals Mairies.

-Paul