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Archiver > HUGUENOTS-WALLOONS-EUROPE > 2004-02 > 1077519584


From: "Tony Fuller" <>
Subject: Re: [HWE] Frenchmen and London marriages
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 06:59:57 -0000


Hi Jackie

Jacqui posted about the BOUVIER family:

<Pierre was mentioned in the Threadneedle Street book volume 21 dated 3 September as a young 20 years from Bolbec but I'm yet to find out what it means in regards to Pierre.>

Jackie, I did send you a message about the BOUVIER family a few weeks ago, there are many of them in the Threadneedle Street registers, too many for me to transcribe and put on here as the family appears frequently in the Threadneedle Street and Shoreditch church registers.

<The main question is would it be more likely for Pierre BOUVIER to marry a girl who was born in Threadneedle Street or not as I can't find a marriage anywhere>

Although there were other daughter and smaller French/Huguenot churches in London, each with its own congregation, Threadneedle Street was not a parish as such but the main church for the French community in London, attracting worshippers from across London. The chances of her being born in Threadneedle Street itself are virtually nil, as there have never been many houses there, especially since the fire of 1666, she would have been born in one of the City parishes IF she were born in the City of London at all. But French/Huguenot families from across London married at the Church but it's likely that she came from the City/East of the City.

<Their first know child was born in September 1750 at Bryant Alley, Shoreditch and there were 7 more all born in Shoreditch some time later the family moved to Bethnal Green where both Pierre/Peter and his wife Elizabeth died. Pierre was born 1715 Bolbec and Elizabeth died 1798 aged 71>

To all intents and purposes, in London Bethnal Green and Shorditch are the same place, Shoreditch being slightly more City of London side than Bethnal Green although the various Anglican parishes butt on to each other and there was a lot of movement between the two areas then and for a couple of hundred years after their life times. French churches were not organised on a strict parish basis per se but they did have their areas of responsibility theoretically taking their worshippers from anywhere. The French churches in the Shorditch/Bethnal Green/Spitalfields/Hoxton areas came and went and it's likely that the family used the other churches in the area also when the French churches closed down, St Leonard's and Christ Church.

<Also how do they name their kids, as there were 2 Elizabeth's with the first one dying and 2 Peter's with the first one dying.>

Common practice at the time

<Does it work like this ... etc etc>

Commonly first son and daughter named after parents, after that it's pot luck, no formal structure that I've ever seen and no way of using children's names as a matter of course to identify grandparents but look for commonality, use of in laws names, godparents names and the like.

Hope this helps

Regards

Tony Fuller



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