Victims of persecution, Huguenots were difficult to identify, locate and trace between 1685 (revocation of the Edict of Nantes) and the French Revolution. Yet they are present in our trees, not just in the Cévennes and Poitou, but in many other regions of France. How can we find them when we can't rely on traditional parish records - baptisms, marriages and burials? This short guide to Protestant genealogy provides administrative and geographical leads, advice and methodological indications for different periods, in France and abroad, from the sixteenth century to the present day, to help you search for and find your Protestant ancestors.

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While the availability of a wide range of sources online has greatly facilitated genealogy, the sheer number of sources, their dispersal, classification and interpretation can be perplexing for even the most experienced researcher.

Some research is further complicated by the historical, political, geographical and social context: this is the case for non-Catholics in France, particularly Protestants, a religious minority who for a long time had to live in hiding or go into exile to keep their faith. Victims of persecution, these Huguenots were difficult to identify, locate and trace between 1685 (revocation of the Edict of Nantes) and the French Revolution. Yet they can be found in our trees, not just in the Cévennes and Poitou, but in many other regions of France. How can we find them when we can't rely on traditional parish records - baptisms, marriages and burials?

This short guide to Protestant genealogy provides administrative and geographical leads, advice and methodological indications according to the period, in France and abroad, from the sixteenth century to the present day, for searching for and finding Protestant ancestors.

The author of the book, Justine Berlière

• The author, Justine Berlière, archivist and paleographer, head curator of heritage, is director of the Corrèze departmental archives. Her thesis on The police in Paris during the Age of Enlightenment: the commissioners of the Louvre district in the second half of the 18th century was published by the École des Chartes. She has also co-written a genealogical thriller, Le Silence des maquis, which recalls, among other things, Louis XIV's repression of Protestants and their exile.