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Maurice de Balmain born 1848 St Joseph Reunion

Maurice de Balmain born 1848 St Joseph Reunion

Posted: 17 Sep 2010 9:10PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: de Balmain
Hi,
I am looking for any records about my ancestor Maurice de Balmain. He was born in St Joseph in 1848. He left Reunion 24 years later and lived in New Caledonia for 8 years, returned to Reunion then immigrated to Australia.

On his Naturalisation papers he does not give either of his parent's names but says his father was a "gentleman".

I would appreciate any help or suggestions of where to look for his birth records.

Thanks
Kate Blackwell

Re: Maurice de Balmain born 1848 St Joseph Reunion

Posted: 18 Sep 2010 6:36PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: BLAMAIN, BALMAN, BALMANN
Hello Kate,

I suppose your Maurice BALMA(I)N is the same as the one mentioned here: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/FRENCH-SURNAME... ? You might try contacting him to see if he found out more since then. ;)

The BALMAN (BALMANN / BALMAIN / BALMANE) surname is well known on La Reunion Island, see these pages (you'll find more on geneanet.org, try all spellings):
. http://s169033694.onlinehome.fr/2010/08/04/louis-francois-de...
. http://www.cgb-reunion.org/rfo07html/BALMANE%20et%20de%20BAL...
. http://gw4.geneanet.org/index.php3?b=olivierauthier&lang...

General infos about the "Ile de la Réunion" (previously "Ile Bourbon") and its history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9union

Now, "La Réunion" being one of the French overseas departements (called DOM-TOM for short), its microfilmed archives are available both locally (at the Departemental Archives Center of La Reunion in Sainte-Clotilde) and on mainland France (at the ANOM = "Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer" in Aix-en-Provence, and at the CARAN = "Centre d'Accueil et de Recherche des Archives Nationales" in Paris).

Unfortunately, they can't be found yet on-line (digitisation still on-going) and the centers do not reply to genealogical requests by mail. However, these archives were microfilmed by the LDS, so if you're living near a LDS center (http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhc/frameset_fhc.asp) you can try doing the research yourself by ordering a copy of the microfilm there. You'll find the references for La Reunion towns here: http://www.cgb-reunion.org/mormons.htm

Alternatively, you might want to join this yahoo group: http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/GENBOURBON/ and post your question there.

Finally, you can also use one of these 2 free genealogical mutual aid services, they will just ask you to pay for stamps and photocopy fees if you want a paper copy:

Le Fil d'Ariane : http://www.entraide-genealogique.net/index_outre_mer.php (wait till the La Reunion departement (974) is dark blue, otherwise it's unavailable)

FranceGenWeb : http://www.francegenweb.org/~entraide/accueil_france.php (same, but the color expected is green)

The services are available right now, but read carefully the explanations for use first (on-line translator: http://translate.google.com/#fr|en|).

And a last link for the road: http://genealogy.about.com/od/france/a/french_ancestry.htm -> A Beginner's Guide to Researching Your French Ancestry

Hope all of this is useful and good luck!

Regards,
Amandine

Re: Maurice de Balmain born 1848 St Joseph Reunion

Posted: 18 Sep 2010 10:21PM GMT
Classification: Query
Hi Amandine,

Wow ! Thanks so much for all that information. It gives me a great place to start.

I have to brush up my French (which is terrible) and get reading.

Thanks again,

Kate
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