Departmental archives of Seine-Maritime

The Archives of Seine-Maritime is an archival repository in the department of Seine-Maritime, Normandy, France. History The law of the 5th brumaire an V (26 October 1796) imposed the gathering of archives in the capital city of each department and stands as the foundation act of the Department archives in France. In the department of Seine-Inférieure (now Seine-Maritime) it took almost a century to create a unique repository. As late as 1825 public archives were scattered in different sites in Rouen. The acquisition of a building located near the Préfecture eventually made the task of reunification possible. Under the impulse of Charles de Beaurepaire, Head of archives from 1851 to 1905, the building was enlarged in 1856 and 1896.