Genealogy in the DROM-COM and former colonies

Genealogy cheat sheet - Find your ancestors and trace your genealogy through numerous archives and resources

©️Manioc

updated: January 8, 2025

France's colonial past has left traces on more than thirty territories, across all continents and oceans. From North America to the Pacific, from the Antilles to Africa and from the 16th to the 20th century, many French people marked these territories with their presence and French culture overseas – your ancestors might have been part of it.

📜 The National Archives of Overseas (ANOM)

The National Archives of Overseas (ANOM), located in Aix-en-Provence, preserve documents related to French colonial history and overseas territories. They offer online access to many collections:

• Vital records since the 17th century
• Military registration records up to the class of 1921
• Database of convicts sent to the penal colony between 1851 and 1953
• Ulysses image database

The National Archives of Overseas website allows you to facilitate your searches through a nominative database of individuals and families (all those mentioned in the archives) and a geographical database (historical information and geolocation).

Territories to find in the overseas archives

Departments and Regions of Overseas

Consult our cheat sheets dedicated to the Departments and Regions of Overseas:

• Guadeloupe
• French Guiana
• Martinique
• Mayotte
• Reunion Island

Collectivities of Overseas

Find in the heart of ANOM information about the Collectivities of Overseas: 

• French Polynesia (Austral Islands, Windward Islands, Gambier Islands, Marquesas Islands, Tuamotu)
• Saint Barthélemy
• Saint Pierre and Miquelon
• Wallis and Futuna

Former territories

Also find at the National Archives of Overseas collections concerning former territories:

• Algeria – 1830-1962

• Equatorial Africa (Gabon, Congo, Chad and Oubangui Chari) – 1910-1960

• West Africa (Senegal, French Sudan (Mali), French Guinea, Ivory Coast, Dahomey, Upper Volta, Mauritania and Niger) - 1895-1960

• Cambodia - 1863-1954 

• Canada (Quebec and New France) - 1608 to 1763 

• Comoros (Mayotte Island, Anjouan, Grande Comore and Mohéli) – 1843-1975

• French Somaliland – 1862-1977

• Egypt – 1798-1801

• Isle of France (Mauritius) – 1715-1810

• French India and French East India Company – 1649-1954

• French Indochina - 1887-1954

• Laos – 1813-1954

• Louisiana - 1682-1803

• Madagascar -  1896-1959

• Saint Domingue (Haiti) and Leeward Islands -  1659-1804

• Saint Lucia -  1642-1814

• Seychelles – 1781-1814

• Chad – 1900-1940

As well as other settlement territories:

• Cape of Good Hope –  in 1688, nearly 240 Huguenots joined the Dutch settlers
• China (Shanghai, Tianjin, Hankou, Canton) – 1849-1949

• New Hebrides -  1906-1980 – Franco-British condominium

🌴 Videos, articles, and free books

INA Videos

• Beach scenes in French Algeria - 1934
• Life in French Algeria – 1934
• Exhibition "the colonial influence on the decor of French life" - 1944
• French Black Africa – 1944
• Malagasy separatists on their knees before France – 1947
• Madagascar today - 1954
• Cameroon today – 1957
• Oil in Gabon – 1957
• Official ceremony – 1958
• French army vehicle in Algeria – 1960
• French army patrol in Algeria – 1960
• Opening of the Community Olympics – 1960
• O poor Virginie – Mauritius Island – 1963
• Independence of Mauritius Island – testimony of a French-speaking Mauritanian - 1967
• Independence of Mauritius Island – testimonials - 1967
• The Caribbean in Dominica – 1976
• Guadeloupe: visit to Saint Martin Island – 1976
• Mayotte attached to France – 1976
• Djibouti, independence – 1977
• The eruption of Mount Pelée in 1902 – 1982
• Status of Mayotte: Historical and Interview with Georges Lemoine – 1984
• Historical New Caledonia – 1988
• Overseas: Francophone space – 1991
• Gabon: discovery, colonization – 1993

Free books and articles

• Ancient archives of French colonies at the National Archives
• Mixed-race in the former French colonies
• Algeria and French colonies
• Memory for French colonies
• Instructions for French colonies
• Statistical notices on French colonies
• History of the Antilles and French, Spanish, English, Danish, and Swedish colonies
• French colonies: geography, history, products, administration, and trade
• French colonies: geography, history, statistics
• History of French colonies: establishment in India, Madagascar, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Senegal
• History of French colonies: Antilles, Bourbon Island, French Guiana
• History of French colonies and French settlements in America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania from their founding to the present day
• Abolition of slavery in French colonies, proposals by M. Passy

🗂️ Useful websites for your research

• GeneaFrance – Research for the DOM-TOM
• Genealogy and history of the Caribbean
• Martinican Association for Family History Research
• Celtic Circle of Noumea
• Genealogical Circle of Bourbon (Reunion Island)
• Genealogy Algeria Morocco Tunisia
• Frontenac-Americas Association - Genealogy in France, the Antilles, and New France
• National Archives: research sheet
  
  

Happy research!

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