Genealogy in Lot-et-Garonne (47): Find Your Ancestors

Genealogy Cheat Sheet - We provide all the useful and free genealogical resources for your research in Lot-et-Garonne

Genealogy in Lot-et-Garonne (47): Find Your Ancestors

©️Wikimedia - Claude Villetaneuse

updated: February 12, 2026


Lot-et-Garonne is a department in the Southwest of France, at the heart of the region New Aquitaine. Its prefecture is Agen. It is bordered by the departments of Lot, of Tarn-et-Garonne, of Gers, of the Landes, of the Gironde and of the Dordogne.


Created during the French Revolution in 1790, the department is a historical mosaic: it gathers a large part of the former province of Guyenne, but also pieces of the Gascogne and of the Quercy.


Land of orchards and fertile valleys, the 'garden of France' is famous for its Agen prunes, tobacco, and medieval bastides, witnesses to the centuries-long struggles between the crowns of France and England.


 

📜 The Archives of Lot-et-Garonne


The Departmental Archives of Lot-et-Garonne


Visit the Departmental Archives of Lot-et-Garonne:

📍 3 place de Verdun, 47000 Agen


Contact the Departmental Archives of Lot-et-Garonne:

📞  05 53 69 42 67

📧  Send an email


Browse the online departmental archives to search for your ancestors: 



 

Online Records

 

Unusual Records 

  • Notes on the winter of 1709, ban on the church and cemetery of Mérens, drought of 1785, and others on the J. Marchal's website.


 

🌍 Migrations in Lot-et-Garonne


  • 17th and 18th centuries : sUnder the Ancien Régime, the economy was focused on the Garonne, a major trade axis. Like in other regions of Southwest France, inhabitants of Lot-et-Garonne (Agenais, Marmandais) embarked from Bordeaux for the Antilles (Saint-Domingue in particular) or Canada, often as indentured servants (the "36 months").


  • 19th century : the 19th century is marked by stability, then demographic decline linked to the phylloxera crisis that devastated the vineyards. A mass exodus of young rural people to Bordeaux and, later, to Paris is observed. To compensate for the lack of labor on farms, seasonal workers from the Gers, the Landes or the Dordogne gradually settled permanently in the Garonne valley.


  • 20th century : it is in the 20th century that Lot-et-Garonne becomes a true agricultural "melting pot". Italian immigration (1920s) is the most notable flow. Fleeing fascism or poverty, thousands of Italians (Veneto, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna) settled to take over abandoned farms. In 1926, they already represented a significant portion of the department's foreign population. The Retirada brought many Republican Spanish refugees. Many stayed to work in construction or agriculture after World War II. The department hosted several transit and resettlement camps for Harki families, notably in Bias and Sainte-Livrade-sur-Lot. The latter town also welcomed repatriates from Indochina (the CAFI camp), creating a unique Asian community in a rural setting. Finally, recruited for the needs of intensive agriculture and the agri-food industry, Maghreb and Portuguese migrants settled mainly around Agen, Marmande, and Villeneuve-sur-Lot.


For more information:

 


🌾 Lot-et-Garonne in Images


Videos

 

Old Images and Postcards

 

Old Maps of the Department

  • From Cassini's Villages to Today's Municipalities: the department of Lot-et-Garonne
  • On Old Maps Online: the old maps of the department
  • On Gallica: the old maps of the Lot-et-Garonne

 


📄 The History of Lot-et-Garonne


 

On Gallica: the books, the newspapers and the manuscripts to learn everything about the Lot-et-Garonne department


 

🗺️ Genealogy Sites in Lot-et-Garonne


Genealogy Circles and Associations in Lot-et-Garonne

 

Accounts to Follow on Social Media

  

Happy researching !


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