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Who were the Huguenots?

Kathy Chater explains how to trace Huguenot ancestors - Protestant refugees fleeing religious persecution in France - in your family history

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Published: January 12, 2024 at 9:58 am

Strictly speaking, the term 'Huguenot' should only be used to describe a French Protestant of the 16th to 18th centuries. However, when the Huguenot Society of London was formed in 1885, it decided to include other early religious refugees from the Low Countries - today's Belgium and the Netherlands. In the second half of the 16th century, the majority of Huguenots who came to England were from this region.

Discovering that you have Huguenot ancestors in your family can add an exciting element to your family tree. Luckily there are a lot of records now online to help you discover your Huguenot ancestry.

When did the Huguenots come to England?

The French Wars of Religion were ended by the Edict of Nantes in 1598. It granted Huguenots the right to a certain amount of freedom of worship.

From the 1660s, Huguenots' rights were chipped away. Persecution dramatically increased with the introduction of the dragonnades in 1681. Mounted soldiers were forcibly billeted on Protestant families - often wrecking their homes and making life intolerable - to make them convert or leave France.

Four years later, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes. Protestant ministers were forcibly exiled, while ordinary Huguenots had to become Catholic.

Men who refused could be sent to the galleys as slaves, imprisoned or executed. Women, too, could be locked up and their children taken away to be brought up in convents.

Thousands of Huguenots 'converted', but up to 400,000 fled France over the next decades. About 50,000 came to Britain; others went to Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.

Sometimes people from these mainland European countries later moved to Britain, South Africa or the Americas: Huguenot lineage can cross continents.

Huguenots
Huguenots leave the French Church in Hog Lane, in the St Giles area of London, 1736 (Source: Getty)

How to find Huguenot family history

There are many thousands of people in Britain who have French Huguenot heritage they know nothing about, as Sir Derek Jacobi discovered when he appeared on Who Do You Think You Are?

The silk-weavers of Spitalfields - the largest and poorest group of Huguenots - are perhaps the best known. They stuck together and many remained nonconformist.

They are also the easiest to research because they needed help, especially at the end of their working lives, which generated records (check out the holdings of the Huguenot Library).

However, not all French people in Britain were of Huguenot origin. In addition, Huguenots were admired by the Victorians, so many people started to claim Huguenot ancestry. Their 'stories' have been passed down, and should be verified.

Several clues hint at French Huguenot ancestry. First, there were particular periods when the number of immigrants from France swelled in response to religious persecution. Does your relative's arrival in Britain coincide with one of these?

Secondly, Huguenot settlements in the UK were all in the south of England, Scotland and Ireland, while some went to the French-speaking Channel Islands.

Huguenot surnames

A French surname can also be a clue that you have Huguenot blood in the family. Some names are obviously French, but others were misrecorded, such as the Chataigne family in Wandsworth who became the Chattings.

Some Huguenots translated their surnames. One Dubois family in London changed its name to Wood during the Napoleonic Wars, LeBlanc might be changed to White or Boulanger to Baker. Huguenots were not the only French people to migrate to the UK so a French surname does not automatically suggest Huguenot descent.

Examples of Huguenot surnames are: Agombar, Beauchamp, Bosanquet, Boucher/Bouchar, Bruneau, Chapeau, Deschamps, Dupont, Du Preez/Pree, Lamerie, Lepage, Martin, Rondeaux, Vernier and Vincent

Famous people with Huguenot ancestry

As well as Derek Jacobi, there are other celebrities who have discovered their Huguenot ancestry. YouTuber Joe Sugg discovered his Huguenot connections during his Who Do You Think You Are? episode as did actor Julia Sawalha. Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Johnny Depp, Derek Jacobi and Laurence Olivier are just some of the actors who have Huguenot ancestry. Even the current president of the United States Joe Biden has Huguenot ancestry on his mother's side.

The best Huguenot family history websites

1. The Quarto Series

The Huguenot Society of Great Britain's Quarto Series includes the major sources for Huguenot ancestry in England and Ireland. The most vital are the Returns of Aliens, made in the early 17th century; the naturalisation and denization records from 1500 to 1800; and all the extant registers of French churches in this country. These are all on CD-Rom. Publications in the Quarto Series are available in a number of libraries including the Huguenot Library.

2. The Huguenot Library

As well as thousands of books and documents, the Huguenot Library has copies of research carried out into individual names and family histories.

3. The Huguenot Surname Index

Containing more than 200,000 entries, this is a master index to all of the publications in the Quarto Series. It has been compiled by the Huguenot Society of Australia and is available to buy on CD-Rom. If the name you are interested in is not here, the people are not Huguenots.

4. The Proceedings of the Huguenot Society

Now the Huguenot Society Journal, published annually since 1885, it includes articles on aspects of Huguenot, Walloon and early Dutch history, as well as individual families. There are published indexes, and members of the society can access all of the Proceedings on its website. The Society of Genealogists has a complete set you can consult. The Huguenot Society also published the journal Huguenot Families (1999-2009).

5. French Protestant Church of London

The church was attended by many Huguenot families and has useful historic records.

6. Huguenot Museum

The museum has artefacts and displays about the Huguenots' history.

7. The Virtual Museum of Protestantism

As well as images and information, this website includes links to all of the Huguenot museums in France.

8. Huguenot Families Naturalised in Great Britain and Ireland

This link takes you to a list of surnames (A-K) of Huguenot families who applied for naturalization. You can see surnames L-Z here.

9. Jerripedia - Huguenots in Jersey

The channel islands saw a big influx of refugees making the short crossing over from France. The Jerripedia website has an A-Z of those who took part in a formal renouncement of Catholicism (known as abjuration).

Kathy Chater is a historian and the author of Tracing Your Huguenot Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians

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