Hello -- (Once again, listers, I find that I must apologize for the length of this post. So sorry.) On 27 Feb, Louise <LouiseinDayton@webtv.net> posted about a URL she had been given (ie. http://www.genealogy.tm.fr/acte.htm) where she could apparently get info about her FUGARD/FEUGARDE surname in France. This site, in French only, apparently lists records between 1539-1891. I am making the following comments not only for Louise, who does not speak French and who asked for some input, but for anyone else who might be interested in accessing this site. Louise (and others), I had a quick look at this site -- it claims to have access to over 25 million records ("actes"). But it seems to me, from the admittedly very cursory look that I had -- and I could be wrong in my interpretation -- that the actual access to the records themselves is not available unless one pays fees (look for the word "tarif") to something called Minitel in France. However, here's what you can do on the site before you get to the part about fees. On the Home Page, you type in the surname you are interested in (you must use no accents, but spaces, apostrophes and hyphens are permitted). Then click on the "Valider" button which is on the right. You will then be presented with a list of numbered "départements" (regions) where the surname occurs and you will also be shown the number of records in which that name appears. Click on the number of a particular département and you will get another list, telling you the following -- * where each particular record is kept (column headed: Sources) * what type of record it is, ie. birth, marriage, death (column headed: Types d'Actes) * how many records there are in which the surname is mentioned (column headed: Nombre d'actes) * a reference number/word which appears to be for the purpose of accessing the actual information through Minitel (column headed: Accés Minitel). For example, when I typed in the name FUGARD, I got the following information, in French (to which I have added details in English so it is more easily understood) -- 1) One record at Cercle Généalogique et Héraldique du Bourbonnais. Type of record: Acte(s) de mariage, nom de l'épouse (marriage record, name of wife). 2) One record at Salon Généalogique de Vichy et du Centre. Type of record: Acte(s) de mariage, nom de l'épouse (marriage record, name of wife). 3) One record at Salon Généalogique de Vichy et du Centre. Type of record: Acte(s) de mariage, nom de l'époux (marriage record, name of husband). 4) Three records at Salon Généalogique de Vichy et du Centre. Type of record: Acte(s) de naissance, nom du sujet (birth, name of that person). 5) One record at Salon Généalogique de Vichy et du Centre. Type of record: Acte(s) de décès, nom du défunt (death record, name of deceased). 6) One record at Cercle Généalogique de Rouen. Type of record: Acte(s) de mariage, nom de l'époux (marriage record, name of husband). Notice that no dates are mentioned in this informations so these records could be any time between 1539 and 1891. In all above cases, in the column which is headed "Accés Minitel", the reference given was 3617 GENEALOGY which I think you must use in order to actually get the contents of these records but -- I think -- only after joining Minitel. This is as far as I investigated this site so I know nothing further (about costs, etc). I also typed in the FEUGARDE spelling and I got the following statement telling me that there were no records in their dateabase for this name -- ie. "Le nom Feugarde n'est pas référencé dans notre base." So, be aware that this appears to be a "fee for service" site. Only you can judge whether or not this is worthwhile. Also be aware that there are many free sites which you can use to try to access information. It might be a good idea to try them first. For example, the list website (at http://www.island.net/~andreav/index.html) details such free sites under the heading Search Engines which is in the Beyond the Basics section. I hope this has answered some questions. If not, let me know. Or ask for clarification on the list -- maybe other subscribers have comments about this? Andrea