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Discover the best resources to do your genealogy and create a free family tree.
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Genealogy is a passion that connects each of us to our roots. Good news: it is perfectly possible to start (or resume) your research without spending a penny. Online archives, collaborative tools, volunteer assistance, or even free services provided by Geneafinder: there are many resources to build your free family tree step by step.
In this article, we review the best leads to advance in your family research, without any cost.
The first step to trace your family history is to consult the departmental archives, accessible online or on site for free. Each department provides a portal where you can consult civil registry records (births, marriages, deaths) and parish records, censuses, or military records.
These documents form the basis of any genealogical research and help you lay the first stones of your family tree.
Good to know: paid genealogy sites offer access to databases made from free archives (transcriptions, indexing). These databases help you save time, as you just need to type a name to find an ancestor, whereas manual research in records requires more patience (but also more fun!).
If certain documents are not yet digitized and accessible online, you can request them directly from the town hall. Thanks to the site service-public.fr, the procedure is entirely free for birth, marriage, and death certificates (subject to authorization based on kinship).
This is a simple and official solution to complete missing information.
Note that not all town halls are accessible via the service-public website, but you can contact them via email, mail, or phone for your document request.
In genealogy, solidarity plays an essential role. Many genealogy associations allow genealogists to share their passion and best practices. A simple annual membership to the association in your research region can help you get started easily.
Additionally, the network Fil d’Ariane groups volunteers who offer to conduct research on your behalf in records that you cannot easily access (not available online, only available on-site at departmental archives far from you...). A valuable, entirely free help that often helps to unblock dead ends!
Many cultural sites also offer free access to historical documents rich in information:
Gallica (BnF) : old newspapers, almanacs, rare books.
Mémoire des hommes : military information about soldiers, French resistance fighters...
Regional heritage portals : postcards, old photos, local archives.
These resources bring your genealogy to life by providing historical and cultural context to your discoveries.
Tip: are you researching a specific department? Geneafinder's cheat sheets can help you! They bring together all the free sites for your genealogy (archives, association sites...) and provide context for your research (migrations, department history, images, and videos...).
Once your first discoveries are made, it is time to organize them in a free family tree. With Geneafinder, you can create your tree online with no limit on the number of people and start structuring your research.
The simple interface allows you to add your ancestors, their life events, and easily visualize your family branches in a colorful tree.
Tip: Geneafinder provides 23 downloadable templates for free. Individual or family sheets, trees to fill out, trackers, and other research tools... There's something for everyone!
In addition to the family tree, Geneafinder offers several free services. Our research tools will help you save time in your archive research:
A multi-database search engine to explore millions of genealogical and cultural data. You type a name, and we search for it for you in over 25 different databases. This helps discover new research leads!
A missing date estimator to search registers optimally. We calculate the most likely research period for you to find birth, marriage, and death records for your ancestors.
These practical tools complement access to archives and facilitate the work of any beginner or experienced genealogist.
The free genealogy is now within everyone's reach. Between online archives, volunteer assistance, heritage sites, and Geneafinder's tools, you have everything you need to build and enrich your family tree for free.
And if you want to go even further, Geneafinder also offers advanced features in the Premium version, such as the multimedia gallery or the Souvenirs newsletter, to give a new dimension to your research.
👍 Start your free family tree on Geneafinder today