Genealogy in Ille-et-Vilaine (35): tips for finding your ancestors

Genealogy cheat sheet - Departmental archives, online records, vintage postcards, and other resources for your genealogy in Brittany

Genealogy in Ille-et-Vilaine (35): tips for finding your ancestors

©️Wikimedia - Claude Villetaneuse

Updated: May 30, 2024


The Ille-et-Vilaine department is located in the Brittany region, in the northwest of France. Bordered by the English Channel to the north, it is bordered by the departments of Morbihan, the Côtes-d'Armor, of the Manche, of the Mayenne, of the Maine-et-Loire, and of the Loire-Atlantique. Its administrative capital is Rennes. 


The Ille-et-Vilaine department was created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790, and includes former Catholic dioceses such as Rennes, Dol-de-Bretagne and Saint-Malo, as well as Protestant communities, particularly around Vitré since the 16th century.


Rich in remarkable historical and cultural heritage, Ille-et-Vilaine has been shaped by its Gallo-Roman and Breton past. Several remains bear witness to this dual influence, such as the Gallo-Roman ruins of Rieux or the megalithic alignments of Rennes and its surroundings, recalling the presence of the Celtic tribes Riedones and Namnètes. 


In the Middle Ages, the Duchy of Brittany, which included the current department, experienced a prosperous period marked by the construction of fortified cities like Vitré or Fougères. The Breton language became rooted in this region bordering the rest of Brittany. 


Today, Ille-et-Vilaine preserves this heritage through its culinary traditions (galettes, crêpes, cider), its traditional costumes, and its Celtic dances and music.



📁 Ille-et-Vilaine Archives


Ille-et-Vilaine Departmental Archives



Visit the Ille-et-Vilaine Departmental Archives:

📍  1 rue Jacques-Léonard, 35000 Rennes


Contact the Ille-et-Vilaine Departmental Archives:

☎  02 99 02 40 00

📧  Contact AD 35



Browse the digitized archives of the Ille-et-Vilaine Departmental Archives to find your ancestors: 



Rennes Municipal Archives


The city of Rennes has its own archive website. Browse the digitized archives to find information: 



Online records




Unusual records




🗺️ Migrations in Ille-et-Vilaine


The important places that attracted new inhabitants for  commerce, military life, administration, or to escape  poverty.


  • In the time of Anne of Brittany (15th century), Rennes was an important administrative, judicial, and military center that attracted nobles and merchants from all over Brittany. During the Hundred Years' War against the English (between 1337 and 1453), Normans took refuge in Rennes.
    The Citroën factory installed on the outskirts of Rennes in 1960 attracted many farmers who were struggling to make a living from their land.


  • With the discovery of the Americas, Saint-Malo developed its maritime trade on the Atlantic and later on other oceans of the world, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Merchants brought fabrics produced in inland Brittany. Ships embarked men without money. In the 17th century, some ships were armed to engage in privateering against the English and Dutch who sailed in the Channel. Cod fishing also developed there.


  • Fabric also made the wealth of Vitré, where merchants benefited from favorable treaties to trade especially with the Spain. Vitré was also a garrison town and a stronghold of the Protestant religion that suffered the religious wars at the end of the 16th century. 


  • In Fougères, thanks to its forest, sandy terrain, and the fern rich in soda, the glass industry developed from the 17th century with the arrival of Italian glassmasters. Fougères also developed the shoe industry in the 19th and 20th centuries after the braided slipper and the wooden clog.


  • On the Vilaine, Redon  benefited from its strategic position in the transport of goods on the Vilaine, from the Atlantic to Rennes. A large port and industrial activity developed there from the 16th century in textiles and mechanics, which attracted many workers.


  • In the second half of the 19th century, demographic growth and lack of land pushed many Bretons to emigrate to neighboring regions, the Normandy, the Vendée, Anjou, but also to the Paris region (Seine, Seine-et-Oise).


For more information: 



📸 Ille-et-Vilaine in Pictures


The Videos




Old Images and Postcards




Old Maps of the Department




📄 History of Ille-et-Vilaine


And a lot ofother articles.

On Gallica: the books, the press and the manuscripts to learn everything about the department of Ille-et-Vilaine



🗺️ Genealogy sites in Ille-et-Vilaine


Genealogy circles and associations in Ille-et-Vilaine or nearby



Genealogy blogs in Ille-et-Vilaine


Accounts to follow on social media



Happy researching! 


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