I read somewhere a while back that parish records from Finisterre would be on-line sometime this year, in line with the other departements of Brittany . Is this correct ?

Yes, but it's not written in stone (pardon the pun), just a tentative date given in 2010 for those waiting. It's just indicated "Un site internet des Archives départementales sera bientôt mis en ligne." (= A website for the Departmental Archives will soon be put on-line) on the Finistère website: http://www.cg29.fr/Le-Conseil-general-et-vous/Culture-et-loi...

Here are some regularly updated informations:
- list of Departemental archives websites: http://fr.geneawiki.com/index.php/Archives_en_ligne
- same for Municipal Archives : http://fr.geneawiki.com/index.php/Archives_municipales_en_li...
- another one (click-able map): http://geneinfos.typepad.fr/geneinfos/nouvelle_carte.html

Meanwhile, 2 Finistère towns have already put their own set of archives (by law, they were written in duplicate) on-line:

- Brest : http://archives.mairie-brest.fr/4DCGI/Web_RegistresLance/ILU...

- Roscoff : ftp://194.51.220.58/
The bandwitch is voluntarily limited to 10 simultaneous accesses for this one, so it's better to download the file during the night (french time of course).

Bonnes recherches !
Amandine

Merci ! . do you know if the Brest ones contain records for Gouesnou (now part of Brest, I think )?

You're welcome. ;)

I'm sorry but no, while Gouesnou belongs to a sort of urban entity centered on Brest (inter-communality), it was never merged with it and thus still has its own administration, town hall and archives. So you won't find them on the Brest Archives website.

What are you looking for? You might find some informations on geneanet.org (the biggest French genealogy database) and other such general websites. You'll find many links on my message here (scroll down if necessary): http://boards.ancestry.com/localities.weurope.france.general...

Also, there is a big genealogical association for Finistère that has already indexed all Gouesnou vital records for the period 1687/1905: http://recif.cgf.asso.fr/cgf.php

Click on the RECIF database links (Naissances = births, Mariages = marriages, Décès = deaths).

You can limit the search area:
- L'ensemble des paroisses et communes du Finistère = all towns in Finistère (not allowed during afternoon, too bandwitch consuming and you'll get a pop-up warning each time you use it)
- L'ensemble des paroisses et communes d'un Canton ou Pays = all towns of a canton or province (Gouesnou is in the canton of Brest)
- Une Paroisse ou Commune précise = a specific parish or town

- année min/max = year from/to

- Je clique sur la Paroisse choisie = I click on the chosen parish/town

nom / prénom = name / first name
enfant / mère / père = child / mother / father
parrain / marraine = godmother / godfather
époux / épouse / conjoint précédent = husband / wife / previous spouse

- Recherche sur les noms et prénoms tels que je les ai écrits = use exact spelling for names and first names
- Recherche aussi sur les variantes orthographiques (les jokers sont inopérants) = include the alternate spellings (no joker can be used)

- jokers: ? replace any letter and * any group of letters
They can't be used for the godparents or with the variant spellings choice. Either the name or first name must be of at least 2 letters, without joker.

- Lancer la recherche / effacer les paramètres = start searching / erase the form

You won't get the complete results without a membership or points for the Geneabank system (see explanations on http://www.geneabank.org/) to which they belong, but it still can give interesting leads and the exact years.

Hope that helps a little, good luck!
Amandine

Thank you again. Its just given me a big lead. Its for the last remaining unknown 4 x g-grandparents of my children (their mother is Breton).
The information required is the parents of Marie Yvonne Lainez , who married Jean Gabriel Le Guen (It is known he died in Gouesnou in 1874, hence the only lead) . It is suggested by the website you offered that a marriage took place in 1859 in Ploudalmezeau . Is Lainez a common Breton name ? - my wife says it sounds more Spanish !

No, it's a typically French name, the spelling is just a little unusual as it's more frequently found as LAINÉ, LAÎNÉ (see: http://www.geneanet.org/nom-de-famille/lainez) but it is pronounced the same way and will probably turn back to that spelling though time. It originally comes from the term "l'aîné" (= the elder) and was given as a nickname to the eldest son of a family.

As for Jean Gabriel LE GUEN, what is the source of your information? He doesn't seem indexed among RECIF Gouesnou deaths records. The marriage however is between Jean* LE GUEN and Marie* LAINEZ and occured in 1859 in the village of Plourin Ploudalmézeau (which belongs in the canton of Ploudalmézeau, they don't give you the exact place in the results for marriage, just the canton name) so it could very well be the one you're looking for.

Don't know if there is a connection, but check this family tree: http://gw5.geneanet.org/rer21?b=rer21&lang=en&p=anne...

Do you have more informations about Jean Gabriel or Marie Yvonne?

Thank you again. The information I've got is that given to me by my mother-in-law, who did some work on her family some years ago. I'm not familiar with French sources, so I'm unsure of where she got her information. It might be 'Le Lien' (spelling ok ?), which she subscribes to.

Her g-grandmother was called Marie-Francoise Le Guen
(20/05/1860 , Gouesnou - 17/11/1939 , Le Drennec)

M-F LG was the daughter of Jean Gabriel Le Guen ( ? - 09/11/1874 Gouesnou ? ) and Marie Yvonne Lainez ( ? - ? )

Jean Gabriel Le Guen was the son of Guillaume Le Guen ( 1806 Gouesnou - ? )

Ok, that clarifies things. 'Le Lien' is the magazine published every quarter by that same association, the Centre Généalogique du Finistère: http://www.cgf.asso.fr/users/cgfutil/Pages%20htm/lelien.htm

If your mother-in-law subscribes to it, she is probably (or was at one point) a member. You should ask her because, for an additional fee, she'll have a complete access to the database content.

Anyway, it makes the information very reliable and I just realised not ALL of Gouesnou vital records were already indexed as I originally thought. The time period given is just the extreme dates, but there are gaps!

When you limit the search to one town, a new button appears: "Voir les années informatisées pour une paroisse" = "See the computerized years for a parish/town". Choose the town then click on it and it will show you the number of records indexed by year (just for the type of record chosen: births, marriages or deaths of course).

For Gouesnou, the available periods are:
- births : 1687-1805 and 1902-1905
- marriages : 1687-1905
- deaths : 1687-1792, 1809-1836 and 1901-1905
with the same incomplete/missing years for all types: 1687, 1693, 1695, 1706, 1710, 1715, 1717, 1725, 1736.

So that's why Jean-Gabriel LE GUEN birth & death can't appear, as well as Marie-Françoise's birth.

To get further, you'll have first to request a full copy of Jean-Gabriel LE GUEN death certificate to get the names of his parents and at least an approximate birth date. You have several ways of doing that:

1) Write directly to the town hall. As it's more than 75 years old, you don't need justifications to get a full copy.

- Here are some tips and a model letter: http://genealogy.about.com/cs/france/ht/french_records.htm

- and here you can buy printable French stamps from La Poste (to pay for photocopies and put on the return envelop): https://www.montimbrenligne.laposte.fr/Accueil/Selection_Ang... (click the EN link at the top right if it's in French)

- Town hall address:

Mairie de Gouesnou
Service de l'Etat-Civil
Place des fusillés
29850 GOUESNOU

2) Use the help of one of the general mutual-aid communities:

- France GenWeb: http://www.francegenweb.org/~entraide/accueil_france.php
A free benevolent genealogical mutual aid service to get a copy of a certificate you can't find on-line for events over 100 years ago (green means the departement (#29 for Finistère) is available)

- Le Fil d'Ariane: http://www.entraide-genealogique.net/index_france.php
Another free benevolent genealogical mutual aid service (this time the expected color is dark blue)

/!\ read carefully the explanations for BOTH websites before sending your request, there are some restrictions (use http://translate.google.fr/#fr|en| if necessary).

- G'ENTRAIDE : http://www.gentraide.net/
A rather new French community board/website full of seasoned benevolents, where you'll find help and be able to ask for a certificate copy for many departements. You'll have to register to see the Forum messages.

3) Ask if someone may get it for you on the CGF forum (it's open to everyone, member or not): http://www.cgf-forum.fr/
Again, read the explanations and help pages before posting. ;)

You can also ask there for the marriage between Marie Yvonne LAINEZ & Jean Gabriel LE GUEN, they might have the certificate already.

***

Best wishes,
Amandine

Thank you very much - only just noticed your last posting !

Finally got round to putting a posting on the CGF forum this morning , and had a reply within half an hour giving all the required ancestors ! . Thank you for your help - it was the last gap in my childrens' 4 x g-grandparents. I've had a look for the family on 'Geneanet' , but nothing more so far .
I'd be grateful to know (i) What information exactly is contained in French Birth, marriage and Death ' Actes'.
French records seem far more easy to access than the Welsh ones I'm used to.
(ii) How does one buy 'credits' for CGF , and what do they cost ?