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From: "fuller.tony" <>
Subject: Re: [HWE] Mourgues, Chambonne, Deverdun,Bachelier - London Spitalfields 18thC
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:34:37 +0100
References: <8C9CEA9FC2F079D-1638-340C@FWM-M44.sysops.aol.com>


Hi Richard

Let's see what we can do to help here. I'm assuming that if you're in Australia you've used the Australian Indexes compiled by the Australian Genealogical/Huguenot Society or Family Search. They are a good place to start but modern technology makes searches for the names much easier and much more comprehensive.

You're using two misplaced assumptions in your research. Firstly, French/Huguenot Ministers could and did perform baptisms and marriages in their own Church, there were only restrictions on burials which had to be held in Anglican or non-conformist churches.

Secondly, apart from the two marriages in St Dunstan's (which may or may not be linked, see below), there are the multiple other French/Huguenot Churches in East London, including one in Wheelers Lane/Wheeler Street which ran off Brick Lane so concentrating on Anglican Churches would not necessarily help - it may do, but with some 20 Huguenot Churches at various times in the area, don't bank on it.

By the time that you're looking at many of the immigrants to England would have been second or third generation and there is plenty of evidence that by that time, French was dying out among the Huguenot community and second or third generation family members would certainly have been speaking good English, they would have needed to as many were being quickly assimilated into the host communities. As we have discussed here so many times, it's the people that wrote down the names that were usually the problem, by that time family names were still 'fluid' and the clerks wrote down what they heard as many of the East London immigrants would still have been fairly - though not exclusively - semi-literate and may not have been able to write their own names.

I've done a search of my database and have come up with 80 hits for the MOuRGUE/S family in 17 documents/sources. It appears that they were quite late in going to England, as Estienne was only received into the French Church in 1744, very late in the grand plan and were immediately into the Huguenot charity system. There are also references to their place of origin in France. MORGUE appears in two Volumes of Proceedings and Morgues in 4 Volumes of Proceedings.

Chambonne and variations, 30 in 7 references, several in Proceedings, but several variations.

Deverdun. 31 references in 8 volumes, no trace in Proceedings nor anything similar.

Bachelier appears 147 times in 24 references, seems that the first one who went through the legal process in England received naturalization 21 Nov 1682 - and of course, there's the cross-referenced English version, Batchelor, which may confuse the issue. There is a reference in the Cahiers of the French CGP so at some stage it's popped up on somebody's French Protestante research, though that may just be in a transcribed list somewhere. and lots of references in the East London, even Weaver's Company records.
The name also appears in 2 Volumes of Proceedings, one in the same volume as a Mourgue reference and the other doesn't.

Hope this helps in some way

Tony Fuller
Editor, Huguenot Families, Hug Soc of GB&I
CEO, Huguenot Trails Ltd.


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