Sorry, I can't tell the source of the page these names were on except I believe it was Vol. 1 of the Quarto Series, Huguenot Publications that I was reading at Sutro Genealogy Library, San Francisco, California - the pages have become separated. Wills Proven in Consistory Court, Norwich, Norfolk 1668 Le NEEVE, Galfridus, Gen. de Aslacton 1676 Le NEEVE, Robertus de Whinburgh Carol

Hello: I'm sorry I can't tell you where this came from although I believe it was in vol. 1 of the Quarto series of the Huguenot Society publications - I found it while I was researching at Sutro Genealogy Library in San Francisco but the first page is missing at present. Wills Proven in Consistory Court, Norwich, Norfolk: 1576-77 OLYETT, Erasmus de Feltwell 1578-1579 1647 OLETT, Josephus de Pulham 1667 OLETT, Edwardus de Hempnall 1697-98 OLLYET, Timo. de Aylshem [Timothy?] 1700-01 OLLYET, Elisabethe de Alisham Carol

Hi Ray Sorry if I'm teach Granny about eggs here Ray but you have to be careful with your use of terms. If you speak to a French person about Huguenots they will think that you are talking in very historical terms - late 16th and 17th century, normally the culte (or religion) is called Protestantisme in France, broadly between the times of the Edict of Nantes and its revocation. You should be looking for Eglise Reformee, Eglise Protestante or even Eglise Evangelique (the first is likely to be the more readily used) as the term Huguenot is rarely used here outside of its historical context. Regards Tony Fuller

Thanks. I assumed commune meant the same as the English community. By the way, found La Valette on the Cassini map #126 for Coutances, but haven't found a nearby Huguenot church yet. Ray > Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:18:58 +0100 > From: "fuller.tony" <fuller.tony@wanadoo.fr> > Subject: Re: [HWE] La Valette in Normandy - another update > To: <huguenots-walloons-europe@rootsweb.com> > Message-ID: <000401c6e187$78f8e590$b425d556@toshiba01> > Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; > reply-type=original > > Hi Ray > > You need to be careful with your choice of words here. > > The place is not a commune, which is something like a borough with a Mayor. > > La Valette is a hamlet and as such may just be one or two houses within a > commune somewhere in Normandy - I live in a similar place which does not > appear on the French maps as such. > > Regards > > Tony Fuller >

Hi Ray You need to be careful with your choice of words here. The place is not a commune, which is something like a borough with a Mayor. La Valette is a hamlet and as such may just be one or two houses within a commune somewhere in Normandy - I live in a similar place which does not appear on the French maps as such. Regards Tony Fuller

I am proof that you don't have to be good, you just have to ask people who are. I asked John Fuller, a Channel Islands Genealogist, about La Valette on Jersey Island. He searched and searched, and found La Valette in Normandy instead! La Valette is a commune that does not show on the map, but is about 5 kilometers South of the port of Portbail on the West coast of Cotentin Peninsula, near the Coutances-Cherbourg border, Manche Department, Normandy. It is near the harbor of Harve de Surville. The URL that he found is an advertisement for a house in La Valette - http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/france/FR1133.htm Ray

Hi Ray Just re-read your previous message re Ireland - to be that says de la Valette. Regards Tony Fuller Huguenot Trails enquiries@huguenottrails.com

Hi Ray What date do you have for the Quaker registry and how does that tie in with Protestante history in Normandy/Brittany? I wasn't aware that the Quakers were active in the west of France to the extent that they kept registers. Regards Tony Fuller

Hi Ray, Where did you get the idea Mayenne was in Normandy ? It certainly isn't... and never has been. HTH Peter

Thanks for the help! The Quaker registry entry says Charles Francis Timmons, M.D. from Normandy and La Valette. Here is what I have found so far. There is a La Valette way away from Normandy on the Southeast of France - probably not that one. There was a La Valette in what is now Domagne, in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, which is just a few miles West of the Mayeene department, which is in Normandy. Sometimes it is written Lavalette. But this is weird. A few weeks ago I ran across a Jean TIMON, St. Thomas de Courceriers, Mayenne, France 1667. Well, St. Thomas de Courceriers is in Laval, Mayenne, Normandy. So is the Charles Francis Timmons from Lavalette, Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany (even though the entry says Normandy)? Maybe he is from Laval, Mayenne, Normandy? Or I may be on a wild goose chase because so far I haven't found a Huguenot church in either of these communes. Ray

Hi Martin It's very unlikely, almost impossible that he would have been a Huguenot though he may have been a Protestante. By 1787 (immediately before the Revolution here) it is more likely that he would just have been an economic migrant as Huguenot persecution had stopped about 20 years previously having been falling away from broadly 1710. Regards Tony Fuller Huguenot Trails

OK thanks, I saw the similar name and I remembered the name of the building. Martin Briscoe Fort William M&LFHS | Gwynedd FHS -----Original Message----- From: huguenots-walloons-europe-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:huguenots-walloons-europe-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of fuller.tony Sent: 23 September 2006 18:34 To: huguenots-walloons-europe@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [HWE] de la Vallete? Hi Martin It's very unlikely, almost impossible that he would have been a Huguenot though he may have been a Protestante. By 1787 (immediately before the Revolution here) it is more likely that he would just have been an economic migrant as Huguenot persecution had stopped about 20 years previously having been falling away from broadly 1710. Regards Tony Fuller Huguenot Trails

There was a building in Bolton, Valletts Buildings, where some of my family lived in the 19th Century. Would Matthieu Valette have been a Huguenot? "Valletts Buildings was named after Matthieu Valette (Vallet), a Frenchman who came to England in 1787 to set up a works for making a new bleaching liquor near Liverpool. His fortune and that of the Ainsworths of Halliwell Bleachworks were closely bound up, and it was the Ainsworths who persuaded Valette to enter their employ to help them introduce chemical bleaching at Halliwell." Martin Briscoe Fort William M&LFHS | Gwynedd FHS

Hi Shane Ok, here's the way that I see it - apologies if this seems harsh but you have asked for people to be honest with you: "My last name is found among "strangers" living around London. However, my name was also established in England with the Normans." If your patronym is found among strangers, it's likely that the place that they came from would be given also. However, many strangers were just that, not Protestants solely, just specially imported economic immigrants, especially those before 1550. Where do you get the information from about the name coming with the Normans? There is so much false information concerning that period sloshing about - William the Conqueror would have to have had a bigger army than the allies on D Day - for everybody who says they are descended from the Normans to BE descended from the Normans. "Two women, each mentioned as a kinswoman, appear in an ancestor's will with the un-English names of CACER and BOUCHER." Kinswomen of who? "My oldest known ancestors were involved in typical Huguenot professions from the late 1600s to mid 1700s-a merchant (innkeeper) and upholsterer. In both cases their occupations were outside the city of London. By 1739 the upholsterer had become the master for the guild. So obviously he was not restricted from joining." You have missed the point completely here. Neither of these occupations were 'typically' Huguenot, in fact being an innkeeper would have been UNTYPICAL especially in the time period you have cited. Where were these businesses located, that may help give a more rounded response, was the upholsterer living in London, a member of the London Guild? "Records show that a son must have inherited the inn property. According to my understanding of the law, this would mean the father must have been born in England, or naturalized." Only true up to a point, the inheritance seems very late to have anything to do with naturalization and why 'must have'. To be honest Shane, knowing how long you've been trying to research this part of your family, I think I'd be thinking of giving it up. You have some clear evidence of French people called TARRY (or close) being in England but do they link directly to your family? Are they 'just' people with a similar name? There is no proof from what you have said in your message that the family was either Huguenot or Walloon, not even Protestante, so I'm not sure where your research will take you. You have a bit of purely circumstantial evidence into which you have added your own views - sort of three and three makes five - without any firm evidence. Regards Tony Fuller Huguenot Trails

Hi Vivienne You really need to let us have some more information about your family before we could answer you - have you done any research that suggests that the family may be Huguenot/Walloon/Protestante, effectively, how far back have you gone? If they did arrive around the time of the Boyne, it may be easier to track them but cannot al;ways be sure. Also if you're a NI Protestant, it is equally likely that your family came from Scotland where there were very few European Protestante refugees compared to England and the south of Ireland. Regards Tony Fuller Huguenot Trails

Hi folks, My maiden name was/is "Chaplin". I have been told that this might derive from a French Huguenot name..."Chaplain" ? My Grandad was born and brought up in Eire where a wave of Hugenots apparently went some 500yrs ago, so there might also be an Irish connection with all of this... Any idea/comments to set me off on the right track to find out more....? Regards Vivienne

Hey Tony, Honesty is what I'm looking for here. Thanks for the response. It doesn't matter to me one way or the other if they were Huguenot. I only want to get to the truth, if I can. My two "stranger" references are from the second half of the 1500s and do not mention a location of origin. One record refers to indenture. My third TARRY reference is from 1676 at Threadneedle and notes Caen as the place of origin. I have not even the slightest evidence connecting me to these people. As to the Norman name. I understand your skepticism. What I can tell you is that the root of my name is Frankish. As such, it was commonly found in Northern France, Flanders, and extended through to northern Germany. That being the case, its import to England is mostly attributed to the Norman period, though not exclusively, as similar surnamed Germans involved in the money trade also found their way to England later in the medieval period. And who knows how many other people made it to England that we know nothing about. I can also tell you that my closest DNA matches tend to be with "Norman" attributed names. The CACER and BOUCHER kinswomen appear in a 1760 will of my direct ancestor. I have interpreted this to mean cousins from probably the mother's side of the family. It could be coincidence that these women married into families of non-English origin. But given the minority of Huguenots in England I tend to think this shows some relationship beyond coincidence. However, I suppose those involved in certain trades might be more likely to marry with Calvinists than most other English. Regarding the occupations. I chose the wrong word in "typically," I guess. Certainly innkeepers were not typical among the Huguenots, but businessmen were fairly common. However, I do see how being an innkeeper tends to make one think that only those who were well established would enter into such a profession. But wouldn't a couple of generations do it? The inn was north of London about 20 miles near the village of South Mimms. The son of the innkeeper was an upholsterer. His business was located on Whitecross street just outside the London wall at Cripplegate. He was made Master of the guild in 1739. An examination of the other Masters' names shows very few that I could interpret as French in origin. This man was also a Justice of the Peace and a "pon broker." I said 'must have' because the land records never specifically mention the name of the inn (White Lion). However, the extent of the buildings mentioned leads me to believe that the records do relate to the inn. I know that this establishment was the largest in its area with rooms for 12 people and stables for 43 horses. All opinions welcome. You will not hurt my feelings. Shane Tarry >

In a Friends (Quaker) death register in Ireland, there is an entry for Charles Francis Timmons, buried "near Edenberry", listed as an M. D. from Normandy. There is some strange writing under his given names in the register. It looks like De la Valette, or maybe Dr la Valette? A small image of it is at - http://199.4.147.11/gen/CharlesFrancis-close.jpg Any idea what it means? Ray (wishing they had mentioned where in Normandy)

Hey Folks, Since my first posting of this subject seems to have disappeared into the ether, I will try again. I’m not one who likes unanswered questions. It’s a serious liability for a genealogist. I’d like to have some objective opinions on whether or not you think my ancestors were Huguenots. Here’s what I know: My last name is found among “strangers” living around London. However, my name was also established in England with the Normans. Two women, each mentioned as a kinswoman, appear in an ancestor’s will with the un-English names of CACER and BOUCHER. My oldest known ancestors were involved in typical Huguenot professions from the late 1600s to mid 1700s–a merchant (innkeeper) and upholsterer. In both cases their occupations were outside the city of London. By 1739 the upholsterer had become the master for the guild. So obviously he was not restricted from joining. Records show that a son must have inherited the inn property. According to my understanding of the law, this would mean the father must have been born in England, or naturalized. I know this is all pretty flimsy evidence, but it’s all I’ve got. Any and all opinions greatly appreciated. Shane Tarry

Hi More of the dead to awaken the living. I came across a longish article by Keith P. Luria, entitled: Separated by Death? [etc] in which the writer says that the separation of Catholic and Huguenot cemeteries was decreed by the Edict of Nantes. Prior to this, most burial grounds were shared. When separate cemeteries could not be provided, the old communal ones were often divided in two, with the Catholics getting that section which was closer to the church. Martin Blignaut -- Martin moslins1@fastmail.fm -- http://www.fastmail.fm - Accessible with your email software or over the web