Maritime Records and Genealogy: Find Your Seafaring Ancestors

Genealogy Cheat Sheet - Many free online resources allow you to trace your seafaring ancestors; we've compiled them for you!

©️Cartorum

Updated: November 14, 2024

Are you looking for an ancestor who worked at sea? A military sailor, a fisherman?  We guide you through the Maritime Archives.

💡 Good to know:

In 1669, Colbert decided to list all available men among seafarers - in classes. It was only from 1795 that one began to speak of "maritime registration" to designate these men who could be mobilized at sea (it was abolished in 1952). These men, aged 18 to 50, had to register at the maritime registration office.

Maritime registration consists of two interesting registers: 

- Matriculation registers

- Crew lists, by ship and destination

How to Find an Ancestor in Maritime Registration?

To facilitate your research, you will first need to know your ancestor's year of birth and place of residence. 

This information will help you determine the district and union to which your ancestor belonged. 

Visit the websites of the Departmental Archives of the coastal departments to search for maritime registration funds: 

Calvados Departmental Archives

- Admiralty and Maritime Registration - status of what is preserved and what is available online

Corse Departmental Archives

- Maritime Registrants

Côtes d'Armor Departmental Archives

- Help sheet for researching a sailor

Loire-Atlantique Departmental Archives

- Maritime Registrants: Chronological search or Name-based search

- Ship Matriculation

- Ship's Logs

- Captains' Sea Reports

- Crew Lists: Chronological search or Search by ship

Morbihan Departmental Archives

- Maritime Registration Funds

Seine-Maritime Departmental Archives

- Maritime Registration

Vendée Departmental Archives

- Maritime Registration of Vendée districts kept at the Historical Service of Defense in Rochefort

Additional Sources for Maritime Archives

L'Arche Museum and Archives 

- Missing and Deceased Sailors (mid-19th to mid-20th century)

France Archives - National Archives Portal

- Sources related to the sea: people, activities, planning and environment

French Lines

- Archives of French Lines & Companies

Memory of Men - Ministry of the Armed Forces

- French East India Companies: Archives of the port of Lorient, Ship outfittings, Crews and passengers, Nautical charts

Historical Service of Defense

- I am looking for... Navy personnel

Volunteer Sites Dedicated to the History of Sailors

- Le Havre Disarmament

- Net Marine: Genealogical research guide "Navy"

- Genealogy Guide: Searching for your ancestors at sea

- Jean Jacques Salein's Website: Privateers

- Memorial of Navy Officers

- National Memorial of Sailors Who Died for France

- Lives in the Royal Navy

- Facebook Group: GeneaMarine & GeneOutreMer

Happy researching!

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