Huguenots of Spitalfields Strangers' Newsletter - Issue 24

Newsletter 24, Summer 2020

Greetings from Spitalfields and an especially warm welcome to our delayed first newsletter of 2020! How we have missed meeting up with old friends and also welcoming newcomers to the captivating world of Huguenots.

After such a turbulent time, it is worth recalling the ordeal the Huguenots endured and we can be grateful that at least we didn’t have to share our homes during the lockdown with the hated Dragonnards!

Thank you all for your encouraging words of support and your donations. The charity survives on the profits we make from our Events programme and so in March it was heartbreaking to have to cancel over 50 events. To help steer the charity through these difficult times two new trustees have been appointed – both with Huguenot ancestry: Sarah Finch and Jonathan Bouffler.

Fundraising for our educational and heritage programme and for running costs of the newsletters, websites, social media, etc., has never been more challenging and we welcome suggestions or ideas on new ways to raise funds and offers of help from you during this difficult time.

Thank you to those who have already given to the charity via Virgin Money Giving. Your generosity helps keep the charity afloat.

Our First Virtual Tour

You may not be able to visit historic Spitalfields and wander the streets looking at traces of the Huguenots for a while, but Huguenot Guide and Lecturer, Tim Kidd, will be conducting our first virtual tour of Spitalfields at 12noon - 1pm on Thursday 2nd July.

If you would like to join the online tour, here is the Zoom link - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86951276914

Free (but donations are much appreciated via Virgin Money Giving).

Refugee Week 2020

Dr Tessa Murdoch chose to highlight the Huguenot horologists to open the first of five talks organised by the Museum of London. The talks are available on the Museum of London’s YouTube channel and show items from their collection as well as from the Huguenot Museum.

The French Connection: Life in 18^th century Spitalfields

Although currently on hold, this new initiative headed by Paul Baker and Neil Sinclair and partnering with the curator, David Milne, of Dennis Severs House is pencilled to run from mid-September. Visit the Dennis Severs House website for more details.

We are always delighted to hear from supporters sharing their knowledge.

Adam Pollack, who has a wealth of knowledge of the Huguenots in Greenwich, told us that two notable watch makers, Jean Batiste Galabin and Benjamin Barroneau, lived at numbers 8 and 64/66 Crooms Hill respectively.

Mavis Paige was delighted to see her mother A.M. Lefever and her Aunt I.I. Lefever in the photograph of pupils at the French Protestant School at Westminster which was included in Dr. Tessa Murdoch’s talk.

Pupils at Westminster
^{Photo credit – Huguenot Museum}

^{Back row: O.C.Dent  D.Tagg I.I.Lefever (Mavis’s Aunt)
Middle row: L.M.Ougden A.C.Dent F.A.Whalley L.F.Roberts J.E.Chatting A.M.Lefever (Mavis’s Mother)
Bottom row: M.E.Hayward R.M.G.Levesque L.A.M.Garrod E.V.Hedge E.L.F.Hedger}

Londonist Article

Huguenot names are an endless source of fascination as Theo Bosanquet found out when he wrote an article for The Londonist on our behalf.

Some sad news…

Tragically, Julie Wright, one of our much-valued Huguenot guides who would have led some of the French Connection walks, died suddenly earlier this year. We are truly distraught at the loss and we miss her vivaciousness, charm, professionalism and enthusiasm for all things Huguenot.

We were asked…

...What is a méreau?
A méreau coin, or communion token, was distributed to parishioners deemed worthy of taking communion. During the Huguenot persecution, they acted like a password to exclude infiltrators who may have wished to spy on the congregation. Each parish had its own design. Barbara Julian, President of the Huguenot Society, has given us more details here.

...We have visited the French Protestant Church in Soho and wondered if there were similar churches in other countries?
You will be surprised how many there are that hold regular services in French. They are in Algiers, Berlin, Bayreuth, Copenhagen, Djibouti, Luxembourg, Morocco, Martinique and Guadeloupe, Mayotte, Moscow, La Réunion, Stockholm, Tunisia and Washington. For more see: http://eglises-protestantes-francophones.org/

...My Huguenot ancestors were furniture makers. Where can I find out more about them and their work?
A fascinating online directory of historic Furniture Makers can be accessed via the British and Irish Furniture Makers website. You will find brief details of such luminaries as the Gosset and Pelletier families, John Le Sage and Peter Pavie – just follow the link below and enter Huguenots or the surname in the Search box.
https://bifmo.history.ac.uk/find-people

We were told…

… these ornate doors belonged to Jeanne d’Albret, or Jeanne III, who was the Queen Regnant of Navarre from 1555 to 1572, leader of the Huguenot movement and mother of Henri IV. They are now much admired and housed in the palatial Hotel Negresco in Nice.

… meanwhile two prominent names we had always assumed were Huguenot, Bazalgette (of London sewer fame) and Menier (of Chocolate Factory fame), have transpired not to be. You win some and lose some!

… Vanners, who have been making silk for over 300 years, are planning an expansion of 25,000 sq m of its operation in a new building in Sudbury. We hope COVID-19 won’t delay their plans.

… the stunning ceiling of the Court Room in Trinity House was originally painted by Huguenot artist John Francis Rigaud RA, whose works are in the Royal Academy.
The ceiling was restored after the building sustained bomb damage during the Second World War.

... of the British Historic Towns Atlas website, where you can view and download historic maps and atlases of British towns and cities, from Banbury to York.
Totally absorbing!

… of an interesting blog to follow called Look Up London. The section that caught our eye discusses the history of Three Mills Island in Bromley-By-B0w, which was bought in 1727 by three local Huguenots, Peter Lefevre, Daniel Bisson and John Debonnaire. The strong tidal flow of the area meant a good eight hours of power per tide.

… new Huguenot connections include former Everton, West Ham and Leicester footballer Tony Cottee; jewellery dynasty the Aspreys; former Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman and the late celebrity chef, Gary Rhodes. Please help us add to this growing list by emailing info@huguenotsofspitalfields.org

… for those interested in all things silk, we were told about the Derby Silk Mill, which is the gateway to the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. This silk mill was built by Jon and Thomas Lome in 1721 and was one of the world’s first factories and a model for the later textile mills built for Richard Arkwright 50 years later. 

Did you know…

… Gideon de Laune, a Huguenot apothecary, who led the movement to break away from the Grocers’ Company and to set up an independent Society of Apothecaries in 1617.

… Jacques le Moyne de Morgues, a Huguenot artist who made exquisite botanical drawings and paintings. In 1564 King Charles IX enlisted him as the official artist and cartographer of the French expedition to the New World headed by Jean Ribault.

... Dr Matthew Maty, a Huguenot doctor who, during the smallpox epidemic in England in 1720, led the campaign for inoculation as a preventative treatment. His work doubtless saved many lives and is a comforting reminder that this country has faced similarly difficult times before and come out the other side.

… if you’re passing through Bath be sure to try a Sally Lunn bun at the Sally Lunn Eating House and Museum in North Parade Passage, Bath. Legend has it that the bun was named after Sally Lunn, a Huguenot refugee who fled France bringing with her a love of brioches and who worked in a bakery in the picturesque Somerset city.

… Articles, over 70 of them, featuring Huguenot topics have appeared in the outstanding daily blog by the Gentle Author. Visit Spitalfields Life and type ‘Huguenot’ in the search box to enjoy a really good read, including a post dedicated to the Huguenot Plaque on Hanbury Hall in Hanbury Street, which we commissioned and which was designed by artist Paul Bommer.

... the Huguenot Society have started a fascinating blog which includes an entry covering the Huguenots who settled in Spitalfields. Definitely worth a read!

... the organisation Amitiés Huguenotes Internationales is scheduling the 19th Réunion des Descendants de Huguenots in and around La Rochelle for 20 to 26 September 2021. www.huguenots.fr

Books

Mulberry by Peter Coles This sumptuously illustrated book tells the remarkable story of the mulberry tree, central to the silk industry, and its migrations from China and Central Asia to almost every continent of the globe.
www.blackwells.co.uk/Mulberry

The Reformation in … 7 Minutes! This insightful guidebook from the International Museum of the Reformation in Geneva presents the beginnings of Protestantism in a highly digestible and, needless to say, quick-to-read format. www.musee-reforme/the-reformation-in-seven-minutes

The Voices of Nîmes by Suzannah Lipscomb Based on the evidence of 1,200 cases brought before the Consistories – or moral courts – of the Huguenot church of Languedoc between 1561 and 1615, this fascinating book allows us to access ordinary women's everyday lives: their speech, behaviour, and attitudes relating to love, faith, marriage and friendship.
www.amazon.co.uk/Voices-Nîmes

And something to really look forward to …. Huguenot Refugee Art and Culture 1530 – 1780 by Tessa Murdoch Due to be published next year, this richly illustrated book focuses on the extraordinary international networks resulting from the diaspora of over 200,000 refugees who left France in the late 17th century and joined communities already established in exile.

And for something visual …

Cross and the Dove – In Search of the Huguenots Produced in 1985, this documentary tells the story of the flight of the Huguenots from France 300 years ago and the way their culture influenced British life.
www.bfi.org.uk/films

Can you help?

We are collecting stories of notable Huguenots on the Huguenot Family Stories page of our website so would like to hear from you if you have information on your Huguenot family. Currently we have listed the Ruffy, Bonifas and Arno families.
Send us 500 words and 2 or 3 photographs to info@huguenotsofspitalfields.org

Many of us will recall the excellent talks on members of the De Morgan family given by Drs Richenda Roberts and Lucy Ella Rose during Huguenot Month. The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the De Morgan Foundation. To donate visit: www.demorgan.org.uk/support/donate

Thank you to Revd Andy Rider, Rector at Christ Church Spitalfields for the past 17 years. His support to raise awareness of the Huguenots and their commitment to their faith has been invaluable. 

Natasha Steer is looking for more information on the Huguenot lineage of botanical illustrator Anne Pratt. Please email Natasha Steer on natasha@creatabot.co.uk

The Huguenot Museum is hoping to open its doors on Saturday July 25th, but do check their website for confirmation and keep following them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up-to-date. Before lockdown they were scheduled to hold an exhibition to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the death of Charles Dickens, featuring the work of illustrator Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz) who was of Huguenot descent. Again, check their website – www.huguenotmuseum.org

Please support us…
… by following us on Twitter and re-tweeting our posts – @Huguenots_E1
… by following us on Facebook – @HuguenotsofSpitalfields
… by following us on Instagram – @huguenotsofspitalfields
…. and sharing any interesting Huguenot information with us by emailing info@huguenotsofspitalfields.org

And a final reminder that any donations can be made via Virgin Money Giving.

Thank you again for your ongoing support at this difficult time. Stay safe.

We warmly appreciate all the support and help that you give to the Huguenots of Spitalfields Charity.

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 led by volunteers so do bear with us if there is a delay in the reply to your message.

Visit the Huguenots of Spitalfields website at http://www.huguenotsofspitalfields.org/