The French Genealogy Blog - A Restatement

 

With a new year beginning, now would seem to be a good time for a restatement, we believe, of just what The French Genealogy Blog is. And of what it is not. We like to think of ourselves as something of the intrepid exploratrix of another era. We are discovering the -- in this case genealogical -- treasures of one culture and reporting on them to another. We are not always sure of just where our excursions will take us; we try to report only on what may be useful to our Dear Readers in their own research.

We are pleased and gratified to have now so many Readers, some of whom are also Subscribers (you can subscribe by entering your e-mail in the box for that purpose on the upper right of this page). We are extremely flattered by and interested in the many e-mails we receive from you, Dear Readers, though we often think that some of your stories and accounts would be of interest to other Readers, and we urge you to consider putting those, at least, in the "comments" section at the foot of each post.

However, we have also received some very peculiar e-mails and comments. These are not the usual scurrilous jibes, the spam, the robot-jabs, etc. that assault every such endeavor as ours (rather like a cloud of pestilential insects would have plagued our rôle model exploratrix of yesteryear). No, these are messages that contain or are based upon bafflement, befuddlement, and rank confusion. Thus our restatement.

• The French Genealogy Blog (henceforward in this post, the FGB) is a blog. It is not a website, and thus does not contain a forum nor any of the other little functions or pages one finds on a website, though we think we do pretty well in providing quite a lot of information.
• The FGB does not represent an organisation or group, neither a club nor an association. It is the creation and mouthpiece of us alone. Our use of the editorial first person plural would seem to have caused this confusion. For those who think we are many, kindly note, we are but one; it is our opinions that are legion.
• The FGB is free to all who manage to stumble across it, though donations via Paypal will be accepted with the online equivalent of a graciously dipped curtsy (see the Tronc in the column on the left).
• Our sincere thanks to those of you who have asked that we employ you. Malheureusement, we have already an adequate number of porters and bearers for our vast train of valises, bags, hat boxes and hampers.
• We do, indeed, accept guest posts and welcome submissions. However, they must be on the stated subject of the FGB, hence French Genealogy; they will be edited, if necessary; and there will be no remuneration (see above and deduce).
• We appreciate that so many of you enjoy our photos. Yes, we take nearly all ourself. Some come from old books, of long-expired copyright. As to our own, yes, they are copyright protected. Yes, they can be reused, upon our giving written permission. There is no charge (again, we refer you to the Tronc!). Reusing them without our permission is rather low.
• It is also rather low to copy-paste or otherwise purloin our work and place it onto other sites, fora, blogs, newsletters, etc. Please do not do that any more. According to what every child is taught in every school, that is called plagiarism and it is not nice. You will be expelled.
• Our every effort is to report on resources that are accessible from afar, as most of our Belovèd Readers are not in France and rarely have the opportunity to travel to the Hexagone to work in the archives. Nevertheless, we think it may behoove some of you for us to report on the resources housed in facilities in the country and on how to access and use them.

During this coming year, we hope to accomplish many things here on The French Genealogy Blog, among them:

• More reports on Departmental Archives in the regions beyond Paris, e.g. the rest of France
• The heavens willing, a fine gift come the FGB's fourth birthday in April
• A report or two on the regional facilities of the Service Historique de la Défense

Then again, as a rereading of Candide is long overdue, we may spend more time with cabbages, the noxious things. As ever, we are honoured to receive your suggestions as to topics for posts.

Now, let us dauntlessly and with clarity sally forth into 2013 and see what we may see.

© 2013 Anne Morddel

French Genealogy

Comments

[prudence]

I did "stumble" upon your blog & I thank you for it...I removed myself from ex-pat status in France lately & the withdrawal, return to USA is heartbreak...but what cannot be cured must be endured. I am searching for Huguenot forebears, especially those who went to Ireland (the name Constance is very prevalent in my family) and I am Prudence...thanks for all your hard-work and interesting insights! Hope you continue your good work...I have been in Herault for the past 30 years:now Connecticut!

[Anne]

Cathy,

Thank you for your suggestions. I fear that they involve travel, but perhaps the oppportunity will come.

[Anne]

Laura,

That is very kind of you and we are most honoured to be nominated for this illustrious award. Nevertheless, we must decline it for the tasks involved with acceptance are onerous and tend to lead away from our topic of choice, being French Genealogy.

[Cathy]

Anne,
Thank you for all your work. It is appreciated!
May I suggest future postings regarding Huguenot records in France? I would be interested in records for Strasbourg and Nancy.
Thank you.

[Laura]

Congratulations! I’ve nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award. For the rules and my 11 questions of you, please visit my blog post at http://where2look4ancestors.com/2013/01/06/award-winner-who-me/