Grandad died in Paris - how can I find info? Please help..

[tessyb]

Can anyone help please. My Grandad died in Paris in 1934. How can I find information and a burial site - no records appear to exist in UK. Desperate to find this as my mum is 83 and last saw her Dad in 1930. Thanks so much.....

[scatty mare]

Hi, apparently France has a 100 year privacy law so you won't be able to search for your Grandad's death record online. See here: http://genealogy.about.com/od/france/a/french_ ancestry_3.htm The last paragraph explains how to go about applying for copies of civil records by post and there's a model letter here: http://genealogy.about.com/library/blfrenchlet ter.htm I'm not sure how you would find his burial site though, sorry.

[dot.hawkes]

Do you have any information as to why he was in paris? What was he doing there? was he perhaps in the army or a nercenary that went to fight in the Spanish civil war? i know many did travel thru Paris. Why do you think he died in paris and not anywhere else in france? There are 3 huge civic cemetaries in paris that have good registers to locate 20th century burials,
(i found info on them in wikipaedia)
Montmartre Cemetery
The Montmartre or North Cemetery, almost as vast and as famous as P�re Lachaise, was created in 1798, closed down and then reopened in 1831. Many illustrious personalities such as Alfred de Vigny, Stendhal, Offenbach and Degas are buried here.
20 Avenue Rachel
75018 Paris
M�tro: Blanche

Montparnasse Cemetery
The Montparnasse or South cemetery is a vast pentagon-shaped area covering 18 hectares. Created in 1824, it is the third largest cemetery after P�re Lachaise and Montmartre, and although not as picturesque as the former, it boasts a number of prestigious tombs. Famous people such as Charles Baudelaire, Eug�ne Ionesco, Guy de Maupassant, Camille Saint-Sa�ns are buried here.
3 Boulevard Edgar Quinet
75014 Paris
M�tro: Raspail

P�re Lachaise Cemetery
Of the twenty cemeteries in Paris, P�re-Lachaise is the most famous. Opened in 1804, it now has around 70,000 plots and receives some two million visitors a year from all over the world. Over its 44 hectares and with its 5,300 trees, P�re-Lachaise is also the biggest park in Paris. Beyond its primary function, this famous Romantic-inspired necropolis, designed by Brongniart, with the passage of time has become an open-air museum and a pantheon garden. Hundreds of famous artists, scientists and politicians are buried here and visitors can admire the many tombs built by well-known architects, adorned with statues and medallions sculpted by Bartholdi, Rude, Falgui�re and David d'Angers.

13:58 Mon 06th Aug 2007

[dot.hawkes]

As said, you would need to have as much info as to district as you can: (from the site listed earlier:)
The local registrar's office is basically your only resource if you are searching for records which are less than 100 years old. These records are confidential and will only be sent to direct descendants. To support such cases you will need to provide birth certificates for yourself and each of the ancestors above you in a direct line to the individual for which you are requesting the record. It is also recommended that you provide a simple family tree diagram showing your relationship to the individual, which will help the registrar in checking that you have provided all of the necessary supporting documents.

What I would do is email the British Embassy and ask them if they can tell you the names of the Civil registration districts in Paris, I know that sounds like wasting their time but i have used Embassies before and nthey are usually very polite and helpful. Explain what you are looking for and give them as much info as possible, if they can give you the names and adresses of the district offices then you can just enquire with each office to eliminate possiblities.
British Embassy Paris
Consular Section
16 rue d'Anjou
75008 Paris
Tel. [phone]
Fax. [phone]