Huguenot Parish Records

When the Protestant Huguenots were expelled from France in 1685, they settled in various countries, including Britain. Here, they continued to worship in French in their own churches, and many of those church records still survive. Huguenots settles in a number of towns, and this CD, which is a facsimile of a publication by the Huguenot Society in 1912, includes church records from Bristol, Stonehouse, Plymouth and Thorpe le Soken. The records are in old french, with various standard abbreviations, but they are not difficult to understand and the early ones in particular contain a lot of detail.

David Peloquin, who was later Mayor of Bristol, was baptised there in 1699, and the record includes the full names of his parents and grandparents, their occupations and town of origin in France. The records vary according to date and town, and the Plymouth records include a list of recipients of charity, while others record the names of those who made a declaration of faith on their return to the Huguenot church.

This informative CD costs £17.45 plus £2.50 postage from S&N Genealogy Supplies Ltd at www.genealogysupplies.com, or by writing to S&N Genealogy Supplies, West Wing, Manor Farm, Chilmark, Salisbury, SP3 5AF.

Review by Bob Lawrence