Genealogy in Gard (30): Useful Resources
Genealogy Cheat Sheet - Find your ancestors in Gard with this genealogy cheat sheet: archives, online records, maps and postcards, useful websites...
©️Wikimedia - Claude Villetaneuse
Updated: February 16, 2026
Located in the Occitanie region, between the Massif Central, the Rhône Valley, and the Mediterranean Sea, the Gard takes its name from its eponymous river (the Gardon). Its prefecture is Nîmes, the "French Rome," famous for its exceptional Roman monuments. Created during the French Revolution in 1790, the department was formed from part of the former province of Languedoc. It is now bordered by the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Ardèche, Vaucluse, Hérault, Aveyron and Lozère.
Gard stands out for its strong identity, marked by a geographical duality between the vineyards of the south and the relief of the Cévennes in the northwest. Historically, it is a land of religious contrasts: the department was one of the major centers of Protestantism in France, which deeply shaped its social and administrative history (notably with the registers of the Desert). It is also a territory of bullfighting traditions and Provençal culture, where the textile industry (Nîmes denim) and mining (Alès) long shaped the lives of Gard's ancestors.
📜 Departmental Archives in Gard
Departmental Archives in Gard: Find Your Ancestors
The Departmental Archives of Gard were created during the French Revolution by the law of 5 Brumaire Year V (26 October 1796).
Visit the Departmental Archives of Gard:
📍 365 rue du Forez, 30000 Nîmes
Contact the Departmental Archives of Gard:
📞 04 66 05 05 10
📧 courrier-internet@gard.fr
Digitized Archives at the Heart of the Departmental Archives of Gard
Browse the digitized archives available online to search for your ancestors:
- Parish and Civil Registration Records
- Military Service Records
- Population Census Lists
- Registration Tables
- Department of Gard Directories (1802-2007)
- Iconography
- Newspapers (before 1944)
- Cultural Publications of the Archives
- Prefectoral Archives of World War II (1930-1957)
- Napoleonic Cadastre
- Updated Cadastre
- Mortgages
- Registration Tables
- Compoix and Municipal Deliberations
- Departmental Deliberations (1789-1940)
- General Statistics on the Communes of Gard: Questionnaires (1838)
- Cahiers de Doléances
- Maps and Plans
- Topographical Dictionary of the Department of Gard
Municipal Archives in Gard: Digitized Archives of Nîmes
The municipal archives of Nîmes have made some of their archives available online:
Online Records
- On FranceGenWeb: « Miscellaneous Acts » - Marriages - Marriages of Migrants - Marriages of Migrants from Gard - Notaries - Protestants
Unusual Records
- A child gift, midwives and statistics, the river that carries all the mills and much more on the J. Marchal's website.
- Unusual Testimonies in the Archives of Gard
🗺 Migrations in Gard
The Gard department and the Occitanie region have experienced several waves of migration that shaped their cultural landscape:
- In the Middle Ages: the region experienced significant population movements due to barbarian invasions and religious wars. The Visigoths, Franks, and Saracens left their mark on the region.
- From the 16th to the 18th centuries: the region experienced strong demographic growth linked to immigration from neighboring regions such as Provence and Languedoc. At the same time, French Protestants fled to Gard to escape religious persecution.
- In the 19th century: Gard is marked by the massacre of Italians in Aigues-Mortes. In 1893, the city of Aigues-Mortes experienced strong economic activity linked to salt production. Local companies employed many foreign workers, mostly Italians, to perform the hardest tasks. Working conditions were difficult and wages were low – tensions emerged between immigrant workers and the city's residents. On August 17, 1893, a fight broke out between Italian workers and residents of Aigues-Mortes. The situation quickly escalated into armed clashes that lasted several hours, resulting in the deaths of nine Italians and many injuries.
- In the 20th century: Spanish refugees settled in the department during the Spanish Civil War.
To learn more about migrations in Gard:
- Les migrations en Languedoc Méditerranéen fin XIXe, début XXe siècle
- Deux siècles d’immigration en Languedoc-Roussillon
- Massacre des Italiens d’Aigues-Mortes
🏞️ Gard in Images
Videos
- First French nuclear power plant – 1955
- Bullfighting in Nîmes– 1956
- The Marcoule atomic center– 1956
- Collioure, Gard and the French Riviera - 1960
- Start of the school year at Avignon University– 1963
- Inauguration of the automatic telephone in Saint-Gilles- 1966
- Electric fishing for stocking in Gard- 1966
- Landscapes of the countryside and the concluses of Lussan- 1970
- Nîmes- 1970
- A snowy winter in Gard - 1978
- Gard: brandade (salt cod purée)- 1978
- From Gard to the Thames– 1979
Old images and postcards
- On Gallica: the Gard in images
- On Clochers de France: the belfries of Gard in images
- On Memorial GenWeb: postcards of the war memorials
- Collections of old postcards from Gard
- Old postcards from Gard
- Postcards of Rochefort-du-Gard
Old maps of the department
- From Cassini villages to today's communes: the department of Gard
- On Old Maps Online: the old maps of the department
- On Gallica: the old maps of the Gard
📄 The History of the Gard Department
- High School of the Gard Department
- From Rumors to Words that Kill: Rumors and Violence in the Gard in 1815.
- Troubles and Unrest in the Gard Department in 1815
- Gard and Stations: The Railway Era (1830-1880)
- The Trappists of Gard
- Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Gard, 1838-1839
- Statistics of the Gard Department
- Revolutionary Memories and Traditions: Gard, 1848-1851
- Some Democratic First Names in Vaunage (Gard) in 1849
- The Truth About the Gard Department
On Gallica: the books, the press and the manuscripts to learn everything about the Gard Department.
🗺️ Genealogy sites in Gard
Genealogy Circles and Associations in Gard
- Union of Genealogists in Gard
- Genealogy Circle in Uzès and Gard
- Aigoual-Cévennes Genealogists Association
- Association of Researchers and Genealogists of the Cévennes
- Historical Genealogical Union of Occitanie
Genealogy Blogs in Gard
On Facebook
Happy researching!
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