Dépôt des papiers publics des colonies. Recensements, rôles et états de réfugiés, fois et hommages, titres de concessions
Item
Country
FR
Name of institution (English)
National Overseas Archives
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
fra
Contact information: postal address
29 Chemin du Moulin de Testa, 13090 Aix-en-Provence
Contact information: phone number
0033 442933850
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
anom.aix@culture.gouv.fr
Reference number
5 DPPC
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Repository of Colonial Public Papers: Censuses, rolls, refugees, tributes, titles of concessions
Title (official language of the state)
Dépôt des papiers publics des colonies. Recensements, rôles et états de réfugiés, fois et hommages, titres de concessions
Language of title
fra
Creator / accumulator
Dépôt des papiers publics des colonies
Date(s)
1664/1881
Language(s)
fra
Extent
6 linear metres (67 storage units)
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
This series of the Dépôt des papiers publics des colonies fonds comprises censuses, lists of residents, titles of concessions and tributes and other demographic and administrative information regarding French colonies. One of its units (5 DPPC 53) is a list of Jews established in Martinique, both inhabitants and merchants, which was attached to a letter from Jean-Baptiste Patoulet, intendant of Martinique, on December 26, 1680. This list is organised by family and includes surnames and first names of heads of families, their wives and children, and their respective ages. Other census and lists regarding Martinique and other French colonial territories such as Guadeloupe, Saint-Domingue, or Saint-Kitts may also contain references to Sephardic Jews and conversos.
Archival history
The origins of the Navy archives are still little known. A historical note written in 1879 by Octave de Branges, then assistant curator of the Archives, alleged that Colbert created the Dépôt de la Marine in 1680, but there is no documentary evidence to support this assumption. According to tradition, the archives were originally located in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. In 1699, Jérôme de Pontchartrain (1674-1747), the Navy minister, installed the Dépôt de la Marine in a building in Place des Victories, in Paris. It was at this time that the Dépôt de la Marine started operating more systematically.
Pierre Clairambault must be considered the founder and first organiser of the archives. In 1699, he found the archives completely disorganised, and several pieces were missing. The following years were dedicated to the organisation and inventorying of the fonds. From 1740, by the hand of the archivist François-Maurice Lafîllard, the archives underwent a radical reclassification. The reorganisation of the documents followed a "blind" alphabetical order, with no attention to subjects, provenances, or matters, which was later the target of strong criticism. His successor, Laurent Truguet, tried to reverse Lafîllard's work and, in 1755, proposed a reorganisation by dividing the archives into ten divisions or series. A part of this new classification was indeed adopted, and it is still reflected in some series to the present.
At the beginning of 1763, the Archives de la Marine left Paris and went to Versailles to occupy the Hôtel de la Guerre et de la Marine building. The new archivist, Jean-Charles Horque d'Hamecourt, respected the classification adopted by Truguet, merely adding an additional division for the papers received from the Bureau des Fonds.
In 1781, the Archives de la Marine gained a new service, the Dépôt des chartes de las colonies, organised by an edict of June 1776. This institution was intended to preserve in France a duplicate of all public papers established in the colonies, such as parish records, notarial minutes, population census, etc.
The transfer of the Ministry of the Navy after the Revolution was not followed by the archives, which remained in Versailles. However, the archives' organisation and management were modified at the end of 1791, with a division into two offices: one for the Navy, headed by Antoine Villet, and the other for the Colonies, headed by Claude Deluzines.
In 1812, Nicolas- Charles Stévenot (1750-1822) replaced Deluzines and was responsible for a new classification of both the Navy and the Colonial Archives: the first divided into ten series (Personnel; Matériel; Fonds; Contentieux; Campagnes; Missions particulières; Invalides et prisonniers; Ordonnances et arrêts; Mémoires généraux; and Objets
divers), and the second into nine series (Personnel; Matériel; Fonds; Campagnes; Concessions, commerce et domaine; Ordonnances et arrêts; Contentieux; Mémoires généraux; Colonies en général; and Objets divers). The Dépôt des papiers publics des Colonies continued to be a particular fonds.
The archives returned to Paris in 1837 and were housed in a building in the courtyard of the rue Royale. The Commission des Archives, established in 1849, was responsible for designing a new method for classifying collections. Following the recommendations of this commission, the documents were divided into seven categories corresponding to the main divisions of the Département de la Marine et des Colonies: Personnel (currently corresponding to C and CC), Matériel (D and DD), Colonies, Comptabilité (E and EE), Invalides (F and FF), Service général (B and BB), and Dépôt des papiers publics des Colonies.
Pierre Clairambault must be considered the founder and first organiser of the archives. In 1699, he found the archives completely disorganised, and several pieces were missing. The following years were dedicated to the organisation and inventorying of the fonds. From 1740, by the hand of the archivist François-Maurice Lafîllard, the archives underwent a radical reclassification. The reorganisation of the documents followed a "blind" alphabetical order, with no attention to subjects, provenances, or matters, which was later the target of strong criticism. His successor, Laurent Truguet, tried to reverse Lafîllard's work and, in 1755, proposed a reorganisation by dividing the archives into ten divisions or series. A part of this new classification was indeed adopted, and it is still reflected in some series to the present.
At the beginning of 1763, the Archives de la Marine left Paris and went to Versailles to occupy the Hôtel de la Guerre et de la Marine building. The new archivist, Jean-Charles Horque d'Hamecourt, respected the classification adopted by Truguet, merely adding an additional division for the papers received from the Bureau des Fonds.
In 1781, the Archives de la Marine gained a new service, the Dépôt des chartes de las colonies, organised by an edict of June 1776. This institution was intended to preserve in France a duplicate of all public papers established in the colonies, such as parish records, notarial minutes, population census, etc.
The transfer of the Ministry of the Navy after the Revolution was not followed by the archives, which remained in Versailles. However, the archives' organisation and management were modified at the end of 1791, with a division into two offices: one for the Navy, headed by Antoine Villet, and the other for the Colonies, headed by Claude Deluzines.
In 1812, Nicolas- Charles Stévenot (1750-1822) replaced Deluzines and was responsible for a new classification of both the Navy and the Colonial Archives: the first divided into ten series (Personnel; Matériel; Fonds; Contentieux; Campagnes; Missions particulières; Invalides et prisonniers; Ordonnances et arrêts; Mémoires généraux; and Objets
divers), and the second into nine series (Personnel; Matériel; Fonds; Campagnes; Concessions, commerce et domaine; Ordonnances et arrêts; Contentieux; Mémoires généraux; Colonies en général; and Objets divers). The Dépôt des papiers publics des Colonies continued to be a particular fonds.
The archives returned to Paris in 1837 and were housed in a building in the courtyard of the rue Royale. The Commission des Archives, established in 1849, was responsible for designing a new method for classifying collections. Following the recommendations of this commission, the documents were divided into seven categories corresponding to the main divisions of the Département de la Marine et des Colonies: Personnel (currently corresponding to C and CC), Matériel (D and DD), Colonies, Comptabilité (E and EE), Invalides (F and FF), Service général (B and BB), and Dépôt des papiers publics des Colonies.
Administrative / Biographical history
The Dépôt des papiers publics des colonies, commonly known as DPPC, was created in June 1776 by royal edict, to preserve, at the level of the central administration, authenticated copies and duplicate minutes of "papiers publics" (public papers) drawn up in the French colonial territories. These papers were those that could guarantee the rights of individuals and the security of the State and included parish registers, papers from the judicial clerks' offices, censuses, notarial minutes, and the lists of passengers drawn upon arrival or departure from the colonies. The duplicates had to be handed over to the clerk's office of the intendance in the first months of the year following their establishment, accompanied by summary tables. The clerk was then to pack them up and send them to France by ship.
The edict of 1776 was to have a retroactive effect, but not all the previous acts were copied. The Dépôt remained in Versailles until 1837 when it was transferred to the Ministère de la Marine et des Colonies (Ministry of the Navy and Colonies) on rue Royale. It then moved to rue Oudinot in 1910, when the Ministry of Colonies moved to the former Noviciat des Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes (Novitiate of the Brothers of the Christian Schools). While the colonial archives have undergone many vicissitudes, the integrity of the DPPC has always been respected. An important modification was made by a decree on April 21, 1912, which abolished the sending of duplicate minutes of notarial acts, mortgage registrations, and court rulings and judgments. Only civil status registers continued to be copied and sent to France.
The edict of 1776 was to have a retroactive effect, but not all the previous acts were copied. The Dépôt remained in Versailles until 1837 when it was transferred to the Ministère de la Marine et des Colonies (Ministry of the Navy and Colonies) on rue Royale. It then moved to rue Oudinot in 1910, when the Ministry of Colonies moved to the former Noviciat des Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes (Novitiate of the Brothers of the Christian Schools). While the colonial archives have undergone many vicissitudes, the integrity of the DPPC has always been respected. An important modification was made by a decree on April 21, 1912, which abolished the sending of duplicate minutes of notarial acts, mortgage registrations, and court rulings and judgments. Only civil status registers continued to be copied and sent to France.
Access points: locations
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The series is arranged geographically by colonial territories.
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2023
Linked resources
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| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer | Collections (official language of the state) |