Hi Bob, I will try and set out such information as I have been able to find but let me first say that I do not think it will be a great deal of help. The following are all taken from "Les familles protestantes en France 16 siècle - 1792" published by the Archives Nationales in Paris 1. There is a reference to Le Puy-en-Velay in the departmental archives of Hérault. The reference is C 370 and it is an ecclesiastical record concerning the dioceses of Puy, Nimes, Mende and Vivier and is a list of new converts. Although it contains some 500 pages it only appears to cover the period 1750 - 1751. It may well be worth checking in that it does seem to be a large document for such a short time span. Perhaps this was when the document was prepared? 2. As I indicated earlier there is also a reference to Fay-sur-Lignon and Fay-en l'Election (I Forgot the l' in my previous mail). This is reference C 356 and can also be found at Hèrault. This is a similar document to the above but is dated(?) 1745. It also appears to list the places in the diocese of Puy and these are:- Beaujeu, Bellecombe, Bonnas, Chambon-Prieuré, Devesset, Fay-en-l'Election, Brottes, Mas-de-Tence, Montusclat, Pleyné, Romières, and Vielhermas. This section comprises 28 pages. 3. A reference is also made to Fayet-lès-Annonay and whilst this name may not be relevant it has unearthed a potentially interesting private archives. These are the "Archives privées. Ardèche presbytère d'Annonay". Whilst principally covering Ardèche they also cover parts of the Haute-Loire. The interesting thing is that for the later cover the period 1576 - 1667. I can give you the address where these records are kept if this is of interest. Alternatively I see from a footnote that there is a copy at the Society d'histoire du protestantes in Paris - as a member of this society I can obtain a copy as an alternative to your writing to Ardèche. I then consulted the Paris bibliotheque and I think I may have hit the jackpot? They have a publication"Dictionnaire genéalogique - Famillies d'Auverge+index ètabli" par Marie-Renée Sauvadet. This lists the history of Fay, de. Fay sur Lignon, 43, 14 - 19 siècle. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert W Fay" <madgrad77@clsurf.com> To: <HUGUENOTS-WALLOONS-EUROPE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 11:07 PM Subject: Re: [HWE] Sainte-Sigolene, Languedoc | Thanks Roy, | | First I was mistaken and you are absolutely correct that it is Auverge. My knowledge of French geography is limited at this point but I'm fortunate to have French and English cousins much more adept at it. From the website it mentions Tour de Maubourg and there was a marriage of Jean Fay to Cha | rlette la Tour Maubourg in 1480, and that established one of the five known branches of the Fays in France. It is generally referred to as Fay Tour de Maubourg, apparently right about the time place names were being adopted as surnames, so it's a bit confusing. | | Yes, the locations are very difficult. Here is an excerpt of a geographical description from a cousin: | | <snip> | "all the places he quotes are in a beautiful area south west | of the city of Lyon. Le Puy-en-Velay, Fay-sur-Lignon, and Maubourg form an | almost equilateral triangle. Yes! Maubourg is a tiny village about 10k south | west of Sainte Sigolene, across the river Lignon from Grazac. These places | are all in the Michelin Motoring Atlas of France, scale 1:200,000, pages | 128/9. Le Puy is on the headwaters of the Loire, which has its source south | of Fay-sur-Lignon. The Lignon flows into the Loire just north of Maubourg. | <snip> | Is it possible that "la Tour" is in fact the little village of Fay-la-Tour a | couple of kilometres east of Le Puy on the N88?" | <snip> | | We were finally fortunate enough to obtain reasonably specific geographical information on several in the 16th century. But probably the easiest to locate is Hector as he is noted to have been seneschal of Puy so perhaps he or his children or grandchildren or nieces or nephews were involved in t | he religious wars/emigration. Here is what we have on him thus far: | | FAY TOUR MAUBOURG, Hector | Sexe : Masculin | .Naissance: vers 1558, Ardeche Tour Maubourg | .Note: VILAIN p.379 : Hector de FAY seigneur et baron de LA TOUR MAUBOURG, senechal du PUY, marie le 5/2/1588 a Marguerite de la ROCHE NEGLY d'ou : Jacques | pere : F A Y TOUR MAUBOURG .Jean | Mere : PELOUX. Marguerite | Famille 1 : ROCHE NEGLY. Marguerite | | | There are four other known major branches and probably many other minor branches, and at least on a preliminary basis they also appear to be in this general area. When we get them translated and geographically located we can look at the potential Protestantism in those families. | | Does this help locate them better? | | Thanks, | Bob Fay | <snip> | | The Protestant records for Languedoc are vast with some 811 records listed | for the department although very few cover your time scale. The records for | Haute-Loire are poor with none covering the period you require although the | introduction does mention three places where Protestants were active in the | 16th century and these are Annonay, Puy and St-Voy-de-Bonnas. | If you could give me pointer to the precise location I will check if any of | the Languedoc records could be worth a look. | Roy.