This, in most areas of France, enables present-day genealogists to trace their families back into the 18th Century from such records, rather than church records. The system of administrative Departments was created on 15 January 1790 and the Decree of the National Assembly of 20 September 1792 created civil registration in France. The 'greffier' can supply copies, although the copy kept in the local Mairie may have marginal notes upon it that are of more assistance to the genealogist. This habit of making marginal notes began to be prohibited towards the end of the last century but it was only by a law of 13 January 1989 that the writing of comments on the Register held at the 'Greffe Tribunal de Grand Instance' was made illegal. Most of the birth records before 1897 give only the date and place of birth of the person concerned and the surnames, first names, ages and places of residence of the parents, although additional information, such as the occupations of the parents, may also be given, as in the example presented here.
Marriage records give the surnames, first names and residences of the parents.
The death record usually contains the parents' surnames, the place and date of birth of the deceased, and the surname and first names of the deceased's spouse, whether still living or not. A disadvantage with the French system is that there is no central registry, and for ancestors who moved around it can sometimes be difficult to locate their origins, although, having the birthplace of the deceased on their death record helps. One advantage, having located the right commune, are the ten-year tables, organised alphabetically and chronologically, that each commune maintains of these records. These have been maintained since 1792, initially from annual tables prepared in the first fifteen days of January at the commune level. Copies of all these ten-year tables are deposited in the Departmental offices for Civil Registration and after 100 years these are transferred to the 'Archives Departementales' under the 'Series M' where they can be consulted.