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Genealogy Cheat Sheet - All genealogical resources for your genealogy in Haute-Garonne: archives, civil status, history, useful sites…
©️Wikimedia - Claude Villetaneuse
Updated: July 16, 2024
The Haute-Garonne department is located at the heart of the Occitanie region. It stretches from the foothills of the Pyrenees in the south to the hills of the Lauragais in the north.
The Haute-Garonne department was created during the French Revolution in 1790. Until 1808, it included the arrondissement of Castelsarrasin, before it became part of the Tarn-et-Garonne department. The Haute-Garonne department is bordered by theAriège, theAude, the Tarn, the Tarn-et-Garonne, the Gers and the Hautes-Pyrénées, as well as Spain.
Geographically, Haute-Garonne is crossed by the Garonne river, which gives it its name. The department is characterized by a variety of landscapes, from the Pyrenean mountains to the plains of Toulouse, passing through the hills of Comminges and Volvestre.
Historically, the region has been inhabited since prehistory, as evidenced by the decorated caves of Marsoulas and Gargas. In the Gallo-Roman era, Toulouse (Tolosa) became an important city, a status it maintained in the Middle Ages as the capital of the County of Toulouse.
Haute-Garonne is distinguished by its cultural and historical specificities. The Occitan language, still present in some rural areas, was long the vernacular language of the territory. The department also played an important role in the history of Catharism and the Albigensian Crusades in the 13th century.
The economic history of the department was marked by woad in the 16th century, then by the development of aeronautics in the 20th century, influencing population movements and demographic evolution.
Visit the Departmental Archives of Haute-Garonne:
📞11 boulevard Griffoul-Dorval, 31400 Toulouse
Contact the Departmental Archives of Haute-Garonne:
📧 05 34 32 50 00
Browse the digitized and online archives to search for your ancestors:
The department of Haute-Garonne and the Occitanie region have experienced significant migrations and population movements:
Antiquity: The Volques Tectosages (Celtic people) settle in the territory around the 3rd century BC before Roman colonization from the 2nd century BC, when Tolosa becomes an important city with about 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants in the 1st century AD.
Middle Ages: In the 5th century, about 100,000 Visigoths settle across Aquitaine. Toulouse will develop as the capital of the county, and its population reaches about 30,000 inhabitants by the 13th century. Finally, the population movements linked to the Albigensian Crusades (1209-1229) result in the displacement of about 10,000 to 15,000 people in the region.
Renaissance and Modern Period: In the 16th century, the department experiences immigration of Italian artisans and merchants attracted by the pastel trade. After the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685), about 4,000 to 5,000 Protestants leave the Toulouse region.
19th Century: The population of Toulouse grows from 50,000 to 150,000 inhabitants between 1800 and 1900. Immigration from Spain and Italy for agricultural work leads to the settlement of about 10,000 people between 1850 and 1900.
20th Century: In 1939, Haute-Garonne experiences a massive arrival of Spanish refugees fleeing the civil war (about 40,000 people). In the 1950s-1960s, about 15,000 Italians and Portuguese settle in the department. Also, following the repatriation of French people from Algeria, 20,000 people settle in Haute-Garonne in 1962. Finally, from the 1960s-1970s, about 30,000 Maghrebis settle in the department.
For more information:
On Gallica: the books, the press and the manuscripts to learn everything about the Haute-Garonne department
Happy researching!
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