GUIDANCE NOTE IN THE ARCHIVES RELATING TO PENAL COLONIES
FOR GENEALOGICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH
This note makes it possible to show the starting point for research on people condemned
to forced labour, deportation or transportation for life. For general research, refer to the Guide
des archives judiciaires et pénitentiaires (Guide to legal and penitentiary archives) by J-C
Farcy.
This aide memoire is brief and is only designed to direct the most usual requests to the
competent institutions. It is recommended that you approach the archives departments cited to
arrange your visit (find where they are and understand the methods of access to documents)
but consultation and archive searches are up to the requester.
FR ANOM COLH 5097: Anthropometric sheet
Research concerning judgement:
-
the procedure dossiers belong to the tribunal collections: they are deposited in the
Departmental Archives of the place of conviction, and in the Archive Centres belonging to
the Service historique de la Défense (or for the most recent, generally after the First World
War, in the Dépôt central des archives de la justice militaire, 54 rue de la Guignière,
BP 214, 36300 Le Blanc, France).
NB: The departments have not always kept these documents which may be discarded during the
filing of archive collections when they no longer fall within the period of use. It should also be noted
that the archives of the tribunals of decolonised countries (including Algeria) have remained in
place.
Research concerning sentences served in penal colonies
The following are concerned: sentences of “forced labour”, “transportation”, “deportation” or
“transportation for life”.
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Until the middle of the 19th Century:
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–
The galleys: The Service historique de la Défense in Toulon keeps the numbers of the
galleys from Marseilles. The numbers of galleys from Le Ponant (Atlantic ports and those
of Northern France) Have disappeared.
The port prisons (Brest, Rochefort, Toulon, Le Havre [quickly transferred to Cherbourg],
Lorient and even, in the Napoleon era, Antwerp, Nice, Genoa, La Spezia, Civitavecchia)
received criminals sentenced to “forced labour”. The sentence of “forced labour” had
succeeded sentencing to the “galleys” which was no longer pronounced.
The archives of these prisons belong to the Ministry of Defence. They are kept in the
Service historique de la Défense at Vincennes (Fonds du ministère de la Marine, Subseries DD5) and in the archive departments of the military ports (Series O).
The researcher will find several numbers and descriptions from the XVIIIth Century in the
series, Marine D/5 (galley slaves) and lists (sometimes small dossiers) which concern
convicts who were freed, escaped or died, as well as the legal surveillance in Series F/7
(General police) of the Archives nationales – Paris site [NB: which will move to the
Pierrefitte site]
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–
Two prisons operated at Nice and Villefranche during the “Sarde” period (1814-1854): the
Service historique de la défense in Toulon keeps the archives on these establishments
(Series R)
From the middle of the 19th to the middle of the 20th Century
–
The penal colonies (essentially the establishments in Guyana and New Caledonia) were
created in 1851 and extended over the period 1851 to 1952. These concerned sentences
to “forced labour”, “transportation”, “deportation”1 or “transportation for life”2. In particular,
they include documents relating to people deported following the Commune of 1871
(Caution: there are no documents on people sentenced to banishment). The archives of
these establishments are kept at the Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer (Fonds du
ministère des Colonies, Series H).
–
The penal colonies in Algeria
Following the 1848 revolution and then the coup in 1851, political opponents were
deported to Algeria. The archives of these penitentiaries have been partly destroyed.
The collection currently kept at the Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer (Collection of the
Government General of Algeria, Sub-series 10G: Collection of the Prefecture of Oran)
are thus very incomplete. On the other hand the researcher will find information on a
deported person in the requests for compensation kept at the Archives nationales –
Paris site [NB: which will move to the Pierrefitte site]: Series F/15 Hospices et secours,
the published inventory for which, La Troisième République et la mémoire du coup
d'État de Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, contains a nominal list of convicted people).
1 Deportation is a sentence applied to a political crime. It was applied from 1871 with those who took part in
Communes.
2 Transportation for life involved perpetual deportation to the penal colonies. It was pronounced after 1885 in addition
to the main sentence in the case of habitual offenders.
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Algeria (and to a lesser extent other French territories in North Africa) was also the
territory for French Army penal colonies (disciplinary battalions, penal
establishments) the archives for which are kept at the Service historique de la
Défense (Fonds de la Guerre et de l'armée de Terre).
The penitentiaries in Corsica: the archives are kept in the Archives départementales
(Series Y).
Addresses
Service historique de la Défense
Château de Vincennes
Avenue de Paris
94306 Vincennes cedex, France
Tel. +33 (0)1 41 93 43 90
Website: www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/
Military ports
–
Bureau courrier régional marine de Brest
Service historique de la Défense
CC 46
29240 Brest cedex 9, France
Tel. +33 (0)2 98 22 05 39
Website: http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/Le-SHD-a-Brest.html
– Bureau courrier régional marine de Cherbourg
[NB: Cherbourg does not have prison archives but there are archives of military tribunals]
Service historique de la Défense
Echelon de Cherbourg
57, rue de l'Abbaye
CC 314
50115 Cherbourg Octeville Cedex, France
Tel. +33 (0)2 33 92 65 07
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/Le-SHD-a-Cherbourg.html
- Service historique de la Défense - Rochefort
4 rue du Port
17300 Rochefort, France
Tel. +33 (0)5 46 87 74 90
Website: http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/Le-SHD-a-Rochefort.html
- Service historique de la Défense - Toulon
Passage de la Corderie
BP 45
83800 Toulon Cedex 9, France
Tel. +33 (0)4 94 02 08 13
Website: www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/Le-SHD-a-Toulon.html
Dépôt central des archives de la justice militaire
54, rue de la Guignière
BP 214
36300 Le Blanc, France
Tel. +33 (0)2 54 37 48 55
Website: http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/Depot-central-des-archivesde-la.html
Archives nationales – Paris site
CARAN
11, rue des Quatre Fils, 75003 Paris, France
Tel. +33 (0)1 40 27 64 19 Fax. +33 (0)1 40 27 66 28
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/chan/index.html
Archives nationales d'outre-mer
Archives nationales d'outre-mer
29 chemin du moulin de Testas
13090 Aix-en-Provence, France
Tel. +33 (0)4.42.93.38.50 – Fax.+33 (0)4.42.93.38.89
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/anom/fr/
Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer: Public entrance
Archives départementales de Corse
Archives départementales de la Corse-du-Sud
Rue François Pietri - Les Salines
B.P. 414
20183 Ajaccio Cedex, France
Tel. +33 (0)4 95 29 14 26 – Fax. +33 (0)4 95 29 12 14
Website: http://www.cg-corsedusud.fr/patrimoine-et-culture/archives-departementales/
Archives départementales de la Haute-Corse
Hôtel du Département
Rond-point du Maréchal Leclerc
20405 Bastia Cedex, France
Tel. +33 (0)4 95 55 55 77 – Fax. +33 (0)4 95 55 57 93
Website: http://www.cg2b.fr/cg2b/cgi-bin/pages/index.pl?idarbo=642&lang=fr
E-mail: [email protected]
Guidance note in the archives relating to penal colonies
Author: E. BOZZI
Last update: March 2012