In my book Pierssené, a Huguenot Family of London there is no evidence, despite decades of religious upheaval, that any proven member of the Huguenot Pierssené family actually lived in England until after a royal marriage in 1677. This was the marriage between Mary, the English Protestant daughter of the man who became England’s Catholic King James II, and her Dutch cousin, William of Orange, who became King William III.
This marriage roughly marks the dates of arrival of Pierssené family members in England, commencing with a witness at a Huguenot baptism at the French Church in Threadneedle St, London on 1 September 1678: Thomas Pierresenay [sic], a merchant.
On 1 June 1687 Anne Hebert, widow of Emmanuel Piercené [sic] of Dieppe, Emmanuel Piercené, young man, and Anne Piercené, spinster, were listed amongst the congregation of the French Church of Threadneedle St, London. Young Emmanuel was a horologist – a clock or watchmaker. His aunt Madelaine (a 'widow of Jaques Moysens' and a sister of Thomas and Emmanuel), a native of Dieppe, had also fled to England by 1701.
Their story hitherto has been patchy. How did they fit in to their new community as immigrants?
The historian Robin Gwynn has now done me a great favour by helping me understand more about the historical context for their new lives in England. His recent talk to members of the Huguenot Society in Sydney about his new book ‘The Huguenots in Later Stuart Britain’ focused on the repercussions in Britain of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.
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| Robin Gwynn's book is published by Sussex Academic Press |
According to Gwynn, by helping to spread the word in England of the atrocities back in France, the Huguenots paved the way for the successful invasion of England in 1688 by William of Orange.
Following this ‘Glorious Revolution’, William and Mary became joint monarchs and, Gwynn says, the Huguenots assisted in the consolidation of this couple’s power. For example, Huguenot soldiers played a significant role in Ireland in the years immediately following the Glorious Revolution, especially at the bloodiest battle of the Irish Wars at Aughrim in 1691.
Gwynn also pointed to the close connections between the French Church of London at Threadneedle St and the foundation of the Bank of England (modelled on the Bank of Amsterdam) and its survival through its troubled early years. 'Of the church officers holding positions in 1694, the year the Bank of England was founded, nine - six elders, one deacon and two ministers - were subscribers to the initial call for money.' One of the elders was Daniel Hays, a merchant from Calais. 'According to family tradition he came to England in the same ship as William of Orange. He became wealthy enough to leave £20,00 to his son, and £10,000 apiece to his five daughters, after having earlier put £20,000 at his wife's disposition.’
My ears pricked up at this, because Daniel Hays was a godfather on 6 May 1680 at the baptism of Daniel Pierresene, son of Thomas Pieresene and Judith Pantin at the French Church, Dublin. Thomas is believed to be the same man as the Thomas Pierresenay present in London in 1678. Thomas and Judith baptised another son in Dublin in 1681 and are next recorded in London in 1692.
The Bank of England link continued. Ann Pierssené, a granddaughter of the watchmaker Emmanuel Piercené, married a carver and gilder named Thomas Fatt at St George’s Bloomsbury in London in 1766. Their sons Thomas Pierssené Fatt and Stephen Pierssené Fatt were elected to the service of the Bank of England in 1795. For decades, the Pierssené Fatt descendants subsequently maintained strong connections with London’s Huguenot community and La Providence (the French Hospital).
Robin Gwynn also filled in another minor mystery for me. If the Pierssené family had fled France for reasons of religious persecution, why did some return home? Did the loss of skills suffered by France when the Huguenots fled encourage a period of 'turning a blind eye' to returning citizens during the War of Spanish Succession commencing in 1701? This might explain why watchmaker Emmanuel apparently returned to Europe soon after his marriage at Le Petit Charenton in London in 1703. There are no records of baptism in England for his first eight children, and one of his granddaughters subsequently claimed her father was born in France (but it’s possible Emmanuel was in Amsterdam or even Berlin, where his cousin Judith Mauru nee Piersene lived). Emmanuel himself was visiting London between March and August 1710, but he and his family were not living permanently back in London until 1715, when his eldest son ‘drowned in ye Thames’ and three other infant sons died ‘of convulsions’ in the same year and were buried at St Bride’s Fleet St. In 1716 his daughter Hester was baptised at St Bride’s. Their return to England coincides with the end of the War and the signing of various peace treaties between 1713 and 1715.
Gwynn believes Louis XIV’s treatment of the Huguenots was fundamental both to his eventual defeat in this War, and to Britain’s rising power in the early eighteenth century.
I hope it won't be too long before another expert like Robin Gwynn comes along and stirs my imagination, helping me to fit my interesting Huguenot forebears within the broader sweep of history.
Meanwhile, don't forget to buy my book Pierssené, a Huguenot Family of London if you have an interest in this topic. It's available online through BookPOD in Melbourne and can be posted worldwide.
For more details see my website, or you can follow me on Facebook.
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