Genealogy in Creuse: Find Your Ancestors
Genealogy Cheat Sheet - Find numerous free resources to trace your family tree and discover your ancestors in the 23
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Updated: May 7, 2024
The Creuse department is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, in the central-west of France. It gets its name from the Creuse river that flows through it. It is bordered by the departments of Corrèze, Haute-Vienne, Allier, the Puy-de-Dôme, the Cher and the Indre.
The Creuse department was created in 1790 during the French Revolution.
📜 Archives in the Creuse Department
Departmental Archives of Creuse
Visit the Departmental Archives of Creuse:
📍30 rue Franklin Roosevelt, 23000 Guéret
Contact the Departmental Archives of Creuse:
📞 05 44 30 26 50
Digitized Archives of the Departmental Archives of Creuse
Browse the online collections of the AD of Creuse to search for your ancestors:
- Parish registers and civil status records
- Conscription records, name-based and index-based search
- Conscription records, search by draft class
- World War I
- World War II
- Notary records and minutes
- Image library
- Heritage and Territory
- Cadastre
- Population census lists
- Mortgage indicators, tables, directories, and transcripts
- Tables of act control and registration
- Regional press
- Deliberations
- Correspondence of Martin Nadaud
- Assistance for foundlings, abandoned, and orphaned children
- Prison registers
Online Records
- On FranceGenWeb: „ Miscellaneous records „, the marriages, the migrant marriages, the migrant marriages from Creuse and the notaries
- Actes23
- Genealogical research in Saint Sulpice le Guérétois
Unusual Records
- Major damages, death of an unknown person near Jarnages and others on theJ. Marchal's website
🏠 Migrations in Creuse
- In the Gallo-Roman era: the region was inhabited by the Lémovices, a Gallic people who left traces of their presence in cities like Guéret or Aubusson.
- In the Middle Ages: the region experienced barbarian invasions and was the scene of many battles during the Hundred Years' War. The region is marked by the presence of the Templars who built castles and churches in the area.
- From the 16th century: the region experienced an economic boom thanks to the production of Aubusson tapestries, which were exported worldwide. The department of Creuse also saw significant rural migration to cities, and even to Paris.
- In the 19th century: the region saw significant rural migration to developing industrial cities like Limoges and Paris. Agricultural workers left the countryside to work in textile factories, coal mines, and railways.
We speak of the "Masons of Creuse" to describe these skilled workers from the department who migrated en masse to Paris and other French cities to work in the construction industry. They were masons, stonecutters, carpenters, or building craftsmen and were recruited by entrepreneurs to work on major projects such as Haussmannian buildings, train stations, and public monuments. Life for the Masons of Creuse was not easy. They worked long hours in difficult and dangerous conditions and were often victims of exploitation and discrimination by entrepreneurs and bosses.
- After World War II: the department saw a wave of immigration with workers from North Africa, Spain, and Portugal coming to work in factories and farms.
Learn more:
- The Masons of Creuse. Memory and Myth
- "The Masons of Creuse". From Origins to the End of the 18th Century
- The Migration of the "Creuse Masons" Before the 19th Century
- Presence of the Souths in Limousin
- 1963-1982: The Transfer of Réunionese Children
📸 Creuse in Images
Videos
- Welcome to Creuse for children from devastated cities – 1943
- Scouts on vacation along the Creuse – 1951
- Lake of Vassivière in Creuse – 1959
- Buying a tractor in Guéret – 1959
- Dutch Army maneuvers at La Courtine – 1959
- Heart problem in Creuse – 1972
- Impressionistic flyover of a department – Creuse – 1976
- Living in Aubusson – 1981
Old Photos and Postcards
- On Gallica: Creuse in images
- On Clochers de France: the belfries of Creuse in images
- On Memorial GenWeb: postcards of the monuments to the fallen
- On CPArama: collection of postcards from Creuse
- On Genealogy23: old postcards from Creuse
Old Maps of the Department
- From Cassini’s villages to today’s communes: the department of Creuse
- On Old Maps Online: old maps of the department
- On Gallica: old maps of Creuse
📆 The History of Creuse
- On the division of common lands in the department of Creuse – 1831
- The Masons of Creuse – 1859
- Considerations on the year 1861 in Creuse - 1862
- Study of the coal basins of Creuse – 1868
- The vitrified forts in Creuse - 1868
- The sources of the history of Limousin (Creuse, Haute-Vienne, Corrèze) - 1895
- 1848 in Creuse - 1949
- Small churches of Creuse - 1935
- Graves in Creuse – 1938
- Migrant farms in Creuse - 1976
- The festivals of Creuse - 1990
On Gallica: the books, the press and the manuscripts to learn everything about the department of Creuse
🏠 The 50 Most Common Surnames in Creuse
Top 10 Surnames in Creuse:
- MOREAU
- MARTIN
- PETIT
- GIRAUD
- TIXIER
- VINCENT
- DURAND
- THOMAS
- BERNARD
- GUILLOT
The other 40 most popular surnames in the department (according to INSEE records)
- FAURE
- BRUNET
- BERGER
- PEYROT
- AUCLAIR
- LAURENT
- MEUNIER
- SIMONET
- BONNET
- LAVAUD
- DUMAS
- CHAPUT
- PHILIPPON
- LEFORT
- MALTERRE
- DUBREUIL
- MICHAUD
- VILLATTE
- DELARBRE
- COUTURIER
- GUILLON
- PICAUD
- MONTAGNE
- PAROT
- COUTY
- NADAUD
- CAILLAUD
- PRADEAU
- ROUGERON
- LAGRANGE
- LEBLANC
- REDON
- PASTY
- GERBAUD
- RIGAUD
- LEGRAND
- PENOT
- ROUSSEAU
- AUPETIT
- BOYER
🖥️ Genealogy Websites in Creuse
Genealogy Circles and Associations in Creuse
Genealogy Blogs in Creuse
Happy researching!
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