Huguenots of Spitalfields Strangers' Newsletter - Issue 9
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 Issue 9 - Summer 2015 The Huguenot Summer Festival is well underway with over 3,600 people attending walks, talks and events to date. With the Huguenot Exhibition at Boughton House, the Huguenot Museum welcoming visitors in Rochester and the excellent editorial about the Huguenots in the media, interest in these remarkable people who transformed this country is growing. We loved reading your comments on your Festival highlights – here are a few we have received: handling Princess Diana’s wedding dress material, playing skittles with Will Palin at the Old Naval College in Greenwich, meeting the new Bishop of Kensington, seeing Spitalfields silk close-up, meeting the Gentle Author, being taken around the silk factory in Sudbury with Julius Walters, walking in Mount Nod Huguenot cemetery in Wandsworth, paying my first visit to a Livery Hall (Apothecaries), being captivated by Mary Shoester’s talk,
Dates for your Diary The Spitalfields Traders’ Market has advised us that Huguenot Day on Saturday 12th September has been cancelled. Open Day at Sandy’s Row Synagogue from 12 – 3pm Sunday 6th September. There will be regular talks during the day, cost £4. This building was once a Huguenot Chapel built in 1766 and known as L'Eglise de l'Artillerie (more usually called L'Artillerie) as it was built on open land once used for the exercise of artillery in the sixteenth century. Festival Soirée Thursday 17th September at 6pm-8.30pm ‘The Cries of London’ will also feature in Spitalfields Winter Festival. For information and dates visit Spitalfields Music. Talk at St Alfege in Greenwich on Thursday 24th September at 2.30pm 'Meet the Huguenots' Boughton House There Huguenot Museum A glass of wine and Johnny Depp for £10 - a Festival bargain! Join us at the Water Poet in Folgate Street to see Chocolat, the film selected for the 2015 Festival, on 12th September at 6.30pm. Pay at the door or to reserve a seat book via EventBrite. In addition to Johnny, we have been told that other Huguenot actors include Robert Redford, Judy Garland, Laurence Olivier, David Garrick, Jon Pertwee, John le Mesurier, Charlize Theron, and Julia Sawalha. The latest Huguenot to be outed is actor Derek Jacobi, who is the personality to be featured on the BBC’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ on 27th August. There are a few tickets left for the International Conference ‘Huguenot Networks in Europe 1550 – 1600: the impact of a minority’ on 10th -11th September being held at Europa House, 32 Smith Square, SW1P 3EU. Details from conference@huguenotsociety.org Wednesday 16th September at 1.30pm Huguenots sailed into Southampton and some then made their way to Winchester. There are two events: Huguenot Silver at Winchester Cathedral at 11am on Tuesday 22nd September with curator Jo Bartholomew and Huguenot Hero, Henri Portal at the Hampshire Records Office on Thursday 24th September at 1.15pm. For tickets and details click the above links. Norwich has embraced Huguenot Summer brilliantly with walks, talks and events highlighting their skills, homes and culture. There is one event left in the Festival Stories of Refugees told through their letters read by historian Dr. Alistair Duke on Friday 4th September at 10.30am at Strangers’ Hall, Norwich. Book via museums@norfolk.gov.uk or call 01603 495897 or 493625. The Forgotten Huguenots of Colchester with Andrew Philipps and Charlie de Wet, Tuesday 8th September at 7.30pm, Lion Walk United Reformed Church, Lion Walk, Colchester CO1 1LX. Tickets £4, no booking necessary. For more information click here. As it was their faith that brought the Huguenots to our country, it seems fitting that the last event on our festival schedule is to take place at Christ Church, Spitalfields, where so many of them would have worshipped. The Revd. Andy Rider invites you to join our regular Sunday family service here on 27th September at 10.30am. Walks The City of London: with guide Tim Kidd on Saturday 15th August at 11am. Meet by the Duke of Wellingtons’ statue outside the Royal Exchange. Nearest underground station is Bank on the Central Line. Click here for tickets and information. The Huguenots in Wandsworth: with guide Tim Kidd on Saturday 22nd August at 11am. Meet outside the Huguenot Rendezvous Café, 10 Huguenot Place SW18 2EN. Click here for tickets and information. The Huguenots in Greenwich: with guide Kate Boyle on Saturday 19th September at 10.30am. Meet outside Discover Greenwich Visitor Centre, Cutty Sark Gardens SE10 9LW. We will end the tour at the Fan Museum. Entry is free as it is Open House Weekend. Click here for tickets and information. The Huguenots in Clerkenwell: with guide David Evans on Wednesday 16th and Saturday 26th September at 11am. Meet outside Farringdon Station. Click here for tickets and information. For all Festival Walks it is possible to just turn up and pay £10 on the day – or to reserve a place visit EventBrite. Historian Jo Kirkham has created and printed a map of a Huguenot walk in Rye highlighting locations of special interest. The Huguenot Walking Map costs £1 and can be obtained from the East Street Museum in Rye via their email info@ryemuseum.co.uk We were told… that the width of cloth was the span of three hands, that silk was woven with the reverse side facing the weaver, that it took weeks for the weaver, with the help of a Drawboy, to set up the loom with a new pattern and four months to weave, that weavers were only allowed to make four dresses of the same pattern, that weavers hired their loom which cost around 3 or 4pence a week or 20 shillings to purchase. If you have any other interesting snippets to add do let us know. Dutch Registers Guided Huguenot Walks in France
Christ Church Concerts Many of the Festival events are free but speakers and venues need to be paid for. If you enjoyed any of the many free events, please consider making a donation via Virgin Money Giving on our website or by clicking here. We have an educational resource project ready to be launched in primary schools but we need funds to pay for an education officer to implement the programme. Thank you to: |
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The views and opinions expressed in these article are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Huguenots of Spitalfields charity. Please contact info@huguenotsofspitalfields.org with your comments, views and contributions or requests for previous issues of the Strangers' Newsletter. The charity is currently lead by volunteers so do bear with us if there is a delay in the reply to your message. Huguenots of Spitalfields is a registered charity (Number: 1151801). For more information visit http://www.huguenotsofspitalfields.org/ |
travelling to Norwich to hear about the inspirational Harriet Martineau, finding out that Devil’s Point in Plymouth was once called Duval’s Point, praying in the Huguenot Chapel, Canterbury, where once my ancestors worshipped, gaining an understanding of Louis XlV’s health and mindset, being mesmerized by so many stunning fabrics that emerged out of Richard Humphries’ bottomless bag, meeting Alex Sainsbury and seeing the glorious plaster work at Raven Row, recognising my ancestors’ names on the Spitalfields map in Townhouse, travelling back through time and gazing at the Spitalfields Lady – just some of the experiences we shared together.
Remembering the Huguenots of Spitalfields
