Hello,
Claire & Roger BRAVARD apparently still live in Espelette. You'll find them in the French phone book:
http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/pagesblanchesI've also found mention of Edouard DARRÉ in several documents/books concerning the colonial administration. In particular in this one (
http://webs.ono.com/juanfandos/adsprefs.htm) it is said he was the administrator of several regions of Africa and attached to his name are dates that are most likely his birth and death:
Édouard Darré (b 8 Jan 1887 - d 12 Jul 1960)
Unfortunately the most useful informations - the places - are not given so it's a dead-end for now.
However, your grandmother's family was easier to track! One of your second cousin has published her family tree (her email is at the bottom of the page):
http://www.nathalie-constantin.com/CONSTANTIN/Mon_premier_do...She's the daughter of Eliane Anne-Jeannine ABADIE who herself is the first cousin of your father and Claire BRAVARD (née ABADIE).
Your grandmother, Laurentine Madeleine ABADIE, was the daugther of Antoine ABADIE (1865-?) and Marie Jeanne BARON (1866-1954). She had 6 siblings, among them Lucien Marius (1896-1961), father of Claire, and Jean-Edmond, father of Eliane.
I don't know if you speak French but it seems Claire told Eliane very interesting bits of information about the Abadies family members:
http://www.nathalie-constantin.com/CONSTANTIN/Mon_premier_do...About Laurentine (Laure): « Raymond's mother, the "belle amongst the belles", brunette with big eyes, elegant, at 20 years old, working in hotels in Biarritz, she married Edouard DARRÉ a very distinguished man. He worked as Administrator of the Colonies, and was one of the founders of Côte d'Ivoire and Abidjan. Diplomatic receptions but also visits to the bush, she was the queen when she arrived somewhere. As they were away at the colonies, my (Claire's) parents partly raised Raymond in Baïgorry. »
These data are not well formatted however so there are some incorrect characters and dates are often missing years. Still we learn there that Laurentine died in 1966 in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, and was born about 1900 (July 22, ?) in Pouzac, which is the little town just above Bagnères-de-Bigorre and the ancestral place of her family.
Your cousin also put her data on geneanet so you can also browse it there, though with the same problems:
http://gw3.geneanet.org/nathconstantin2?lang=en&pz=audre... Lucien Marius received the Legion of Honor decoration (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_of_Honour) for his actions during WWII (he was part of the Resistance, physically and financially, lead a prison revolt when arrested by Gestapo and liberated prisonners, etc.). His file is available on line:
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/leonore_fr?ACTION=...Now to get further, you'll need to request a copy of Laurentine full birth certificate (copie intégrale de l'acte de naissance) from Pouzac town hall. On it will be indicated the place & date of her marriage, which in turn will give you her husband's exact date & place of birth, as well as his parents names. It's possible she married in Pouzac, so you should also ask them in your letter to check if they have this marriage about 1920 in their registers.
- A model letter:
http://genealogy.about.com/library/blfrenchletter.htm- How to request French certificates:
http://genealogy.about.com/cs/france/ht/french_records.htm- To buy French stamps on-line (to pay for photocopies):
https://www.montimbrenligne.laposte.fr/Accueil/IndexPouzac town hall address:
Mairie de Pouzac
1 rue de la Mairie
65200 POUZAC
France
You can also request a copy of her death certificate in Paris directly on-line:
https://teleservices.paris.fr/etatcivil//jsp/site/RunStandal...There, I hope you'll find this useful and let me know if you need more help.
Regards,
Amandine