Departmental records of the Meeting

The departmental records of the Meeting are the service of the general advice of the Réunion in charge with the conservation, the increase, and the availability of the public of the public records and private produced on the territory of the Overseas department French of the Réunion (since the first settlement of the island until our days).

The department is in France the selected territorial level for the conservation of the public records and private, in order to spare a suitable access to the files for the public and the institutions users. This jurisdiction ratione loci is registered in the law:

- general Code of the territorial collectivities, Title II Provisions specific to certain local public services, Chapter Ier (Culture sections of the territorial collectivities, Section 1 (Files), L1421-1 with L1421-3 http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/VisuArticleCode?commun=&code=&h0=CGCTERRL.rcv&h1=1&h3=36

- Code of the inheritance, Delivers II Files: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnCode?code=CPATRIML.rcv

The expression " Files départementales" indicate also the building where the files are preserved and can be consulted (4, rue Marcel Pagnol, 97490, Champ Fleuri Holy-Clotilde)

History

Entrusted a long time to the guard of the colonial inspector for the analysis and the control of expense of the colony, the files réunionnaises were made up in departmental service of files in 1946, during the erection of the colony in department of overseas. The first conservative named at their head is Yves Pérotin, palaeographer, graduate of the École of the charters, which structure the institution and writes starting from its experiment réunionnaise the first handbook of archivistic tropical in French.

; Principal dates

1946 : Creation of the departmental records of the Meeting, near the prefect of the department. Handing-over of the old files formerly entrusted to the colonial inspector.
1974 : Inauguration of the building of the departmental records in Saint-Denis, street Hippolyte-Foucque, near the university of the Meeting, currently property of the CROUS.
1986 : Decentralization of the departmental records, which pass under the supervision of the department. With the departmental libraries of loan, it is about the only case of cultural decentralization recorded at the time: these two services come to constitute obligatory competences of the cultural matter departments (public reading and conservation of the public records and private). The director of the departmental records preserves the exercise of the missions of State (scientific and technical control on the public records of the State and the local colelctivities in all the department).
September 10th 2001: Opening to the public of the new building of the departmental records with Field-Flowered (Saint-Denis), built of 1999 to 2000.

; List directors

Yves Pérotin †
Andre Scherer †
Michel Chabin (-1979)
Marie-Claude Buxtorf (1979-1984)
Annie Lafforgue (1984- July 1989)
Benoit Julien (July 1989 - July 2001)
Nadine Rouayroux (since December 16th, 2001)

Funds of files and documents preserved

General information

Including/understanding the files of the services of the Company of the Indies established in the island Bourbon (until 1764), those of the royal administrations until the Revolution (intendance, governor, notaries, courts, etc,), those of the revolutionary and imperial administrations, those of the various councils and institutions of the colony (of which very important funds of the governor of the Meeting until 1946), and the funds of files of the public administrations until our days, the funds of the departmental records of the Meeting have a historical interest going largely beyond the geographical framework of the department chief town of area which constitutes its jurisdiction ratione loci.

The Departmental records of the Meeting also preserve many funds of private archives (family archives, sugar companies, Rotary, Banque of the Meeting, Railroad of the Meeting, etc), a historical and administrative library (Meeting and Indian Ocean), collections of press of reference (periodicals published with the Meeting) and rich person collections iconographic (Meeting, Indian Ocean, coast of Africa, Suez Canal, Messageries maritime, New Caledonia).

Principal funds

The files and documents of files are not classified by subject, but distributed according to the of classification of the Departmental records tallies, in different series according to their source (principle of the respect of the funds of files) or from their support. The framework of classification of the departmental records is a tool of major of work: it allows at the same time to distribute the files by large in coherent units and to formulate the official reference which will carry documents and files (C°+ number of limps for the funds of the Company of the Indies; 4 J 1 for the first bundle of the funds Joseph Hubert, and.). This framework of classification is applied in all the departmental services of files and provides a convenient reference mark to the public. It consists of named subdivisions " séries" (e.g. series M: Files of the governor and his services) and " under-séries" (e.g. Under-series 1 M: General administration of the colony)

Public records former to 1946

a: without object (series nonmade up) . See C° series.
b: without object (series nonmade up) . See C° series.
BL (nonlawful series): Legal files, essentiellements procedures in bulk (XVIIe-19th century)
C°: Funds of the Company of the Indies, 1665-1767
C: Funds of the Royal period, 1767-1789
D: without object (series nonmade up)
E: Feudality, communes, middle-class, families, notaries
3rd: Minutes and solicitors records, XVII - XIX century (all periods)
4th: Registers of civil statue
F: without object (series nonmade up)
G: without object (series nonmade up)
H: without object (series nonmade up)
K: Laws and acts of the central capacity, 1789-1947, decrees and decisions of the governors, files of the councils, 1815-1947
L: Revolution, Empire, English Mode, 1789-1815
M: Funds of the Governor of the Meeting (general administration and economy, 1815-1946)
NR: Administration and colonial accountancy
O: Communal administration and accountancy, local status, gifts and legacy
P: Finances. Register. Stations. Finance companies
Q: Fields. Recording. Mortgages
R: Military businesses, organizations of time of war
S: Public works, railroad, ports, maritime inscription
T: State education
U: Jurisdictions (1815-1958). N.B. Only Court of Bankruptcy and Court of Appeal of Saint-Denis
V: Worships (1815-1946)
X: Hospital administration, welfare offices, assistance and social welfare
Y: Prison authorities
Z: without object (series nonmade up)

Public records after 1946

W: Continuous series accommodating the public records of any source after 1946 (or 1958 for the legal documents of the series U). The intruments of research placed at the disposal of the public are presented by producing administration of the files . A state of the payments by administration is also placed at the disposal of the public and regularly updated as new documetns enters to the Departmental records (about fifty entries per annum, approximately 300 meters linear of files).

Public records deposited

EDt : Communal records deposited with the departmental records of the Meeting
HDt: without object (series nonmade up)

Files of private origin

J: Funds and isolated parts (in the order from acquisitions, 1 J), various private funds (in the order of arrival, 2 J and following), in particular:
2 J: Funds J.B. Richard (Malagasy businesses, 1862-1863, 1883 and 1895-1896)
3 J: Collection Gilles François Crestien, notary of Saint-Paul, local scholar (of which Funds Emile Grimaud, caricaturist, XIXe).
4 J: Funds Joseph Hubert, botanist and naturalist (1747-1825)
5 J: Funds of the chemical engineer Joseph Martial Wetzell (Arras, 1794-Saint-Denis, 1857)
6 J: Funds Emile Trouette, historian
7 J: Funds Marius and Ary Leblond (files; editions dimensioned in LEB)
8 J: Collection of the memories and theses nonprinted of students given to the Departmental records of the Meeting
9 J: Historical documentation given to the Department of the Meeting by Association for the development of the museums of overseas (ADEMOM)
10 J: Funds of the notaries of Mauritius
11 J: Funds of the French Company of sugar refinery (CFS), heiress of the colonial Building and loan association (years 30-1977)
12 J: Funds Marius Rubellin (1863-1940), introducer of the cinematograph to the Meeting (1889, 1897-1898)
13 J: Funds Pipon Adam, business firm of Mauritius
14 J: Funds of the League réunionnaise of football
15 J: Zadvat Funds, company of trade
16 J: Funds Marcel Bourgeret, legal expert (XXe)
17 J: Funds of the Memorial of the Meeting (file of edition of the Memorial).
18 J: Funds of the SEGEFOM, company of public works to the Meeting
19 J: Funds Jean Pear tree (" Oral files réunionnaises")
20 J: Collection of the monographs of the Teacher training school
21 J: Collection of the monographs of companies (memories of training courses of students of the National college of business)
22 J: Funds Venner de Sigoyer (files Bernardy de Sigoyer, connects 6th child of Pierre Amable de Bernardy de Sigoyer)
23 J: Funds of the solicitor Sauger
24 J: Funds of the maritime Transport (delegation réunionnaise), years 1860-1970.
26 J: Funds Jean Joseph and Amédée Patu de Rosemond, first illutrateurs of the Island Bourbon, (1798-1844)
27 J: Funds of the architect réunionnais Jean Bossu (cabinet of the Meeting: réunionnaises achievements), 20th century
28 J: Funds of the architect Jacques Zahar
29 J: Collection of photocopies (definitively closed Under-series)
30 J: Funds Emile Hugot (1904-1993), engineer of the central School, creative of the company of the Sugar refineries of Bourbon.
31 J: vacant Coast
33 J: Funds of the Rotary drill
34 J: Funds of the insurances Mancini
35 J: Collection of the commercial leaflets distributed in the letter-boxes (June 1998 - December 2001)

Series per kind of support

Fi : Illustrated and assimilated documents entered by extraordinary way. Put in line during 2008 within the historical framework of lIconothèque of the Indian Ocean (2008):

Library

BIB : Administrative and historical library of the departmental records
LEB: Funds Marius and Ary Leblond (original editions)
GB: Large booklets
PB: Small booklets
PER: Periodicals réunionnais, (since 1794)

Funds preserved elsewhere

Are not preserved at the departmental records of the Meeting:

files of the central administrations relating to the colony then at the department of the Meeting , preserved primarily at the Public records of overseas (Aix-en-Provence), but also at the Historical center of the Public records (Paris) and at the diplomatic Files of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Paris, Nantes);
files of the armed forces stationed with the Meeting , except for the registers numbers of military recruitment for the Meeting and the old French colonies of the Indian Ocean (Madagascar, Reunion, the Comoros), poured each year by the Center of the national service of the barracks Lambert, on behalf of the central Office of the military administrative files (Pau);
files of the area Meeting (autonomous service of files);
files of the communes of the Meeting (municipal services of files, except communal records deposited in the past with the Departmental records) and establishment inter-commune;
files of the notarial studies of less than one hundred years of age (preserved in the studies, poured after expiry of the one hundred years deadline);
files of the courts of less than twenty-five years of age (preserved at the seat of the jurisdictions, before payment with the Departmental records).
files of the diocese and the parishes of the Meeting

Services

The departmental records of the Meeting have the role of:

to collect : to collect the files produced by the administrations and the services of the State in the island, the notaries, the companies, associations and the private individuals (public records and deprived); more than 300 meters of new files enter each year to the Departmental records of the Meeting
to preserve : to protect the files under all their forms (all supports) entrusted to their guard to transmit this inheritance to the future generations;
to classify, identify and order : ensure the identification, the ordering and the description of the documents of files by producing instruments of research to easily find information and the documents;
to communicate : to manage a room of reading of forty-eight places to allow the consultation of the files (free consultation, on individual inscription); to ensure administrative research and histories which are addressed to them by the private individuals and the administrations; to carry out the reproductions of documents for the public (respect of the rules of conservation and consultation, of the right of the intellectual property). NB: the services of public records are not held to carry out genealogical research for the public.
to promote : to propose documents, exposures, courses for the school ones; to take part in the cultural events (days of the Inheritance) and in the companies of census of sources (e.g.: Guide of the sources of the draft négrière, slavery and their abolitions , April 2007; Base of data BORA-PHOTOS, December 2007; Guide sources of research in social sciences, December 2007);
to control and advise : to take care that the administrations, the communities, associations and the private individuals réunionnais protect and safeguard the inheritance which represents their files (assistance and council, scientific and technical control).

Sources

Andre Scherer, Guide of the files of the Meeting , Impr. Cazal, Saint-Denis (the Meeting), 1974. 84 p.

N.B. : Still of topicality and sometimes even irreplaceable on certain aspects of the history institutional of the Bourbon island and Reunion, this guide is not up to date any more in what relate to the presentation of the funds of files and preserved resources.

Departmental records of the Meeting. of research (available in room of reading)

The researcher will refer usefully to the instruments of research available in room of reading to know the funds acquired and classified since 1974.

Ministry for the Culture and the Francophonie, Directory of the services of files in France: The Meeting (974)

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