Hello listers, My first huguenot ancestor was Amy Vincent born May 21st, 1790 in the parish of St. Matthew Bethnal Green, London which seems a parish greatly populated with huguenots along with St. Dunstans Stepney, St. Leonards Shoreditch, St. Mary Whitechapel, and Christ Church Spitalfields. Amy had 5 sisters and 1 brother, the first 2 were christened in the church of St. Matthew Bethnal Green, but all the rest were registered in Dr. Williams Library and not christened in a church to my knowledge. Their parents were William Vincent who married Susanna Dedour Dec.17th, 1780 in St. Matthew, Bethnal Green. William and Susanna became followers of the Muggletonian christian sect, which had some beliefs similar to the Unitarian movement who were led by famous literary figures such as William Godwin, Mary Woolstonecraft, Joseph Johnson, Harriet Martineau (a huguenot?), Joseph Priestley, Thomas Paine, who also influenced William Blake, the poet and artist, whose wife happened to be Catherine Boucher, perhaps also a huguenot. Do other researchers have examples of Huguenots following reforming religious movements such as the Unitarians, did huguenots generally follow paths of non conformism or go to the Church of England? Will _________________________________________________________________ Stay in touch with absent friends - get MSN Messenger http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger

Will - Most interested in your mention of the Muggletonian sect, about which I know very little. My dear friend Rev. Sydney Smith was somewhat disparaging about many of the Protestant sects, (using the word in a non-disparaging manner), lumping them all to-gether as 'Dissenters', although he fiercely upheld their rights to freedom of thought and expression, much in the same manner as he long fought for Roman Catholic Emancipation. William Wilberforce he described as "Little William of the Clapham Sect", although gave a good report of him on meeting him. He had a regard for the Quakers; he visited Newgate Prison with Elizabeth Fry. He was equally disparaging about that wing of the Established Anglican Church that came into some prominence at that time, known as the Tractarians, Puseyites and the Oxford Movement. (Dr. Pusey was the mentor of a relative mine, Priscilla Lydia Sellon who founded the first Anglican sisterhood, and a High Church Sellon had a stink bomb let off in his very Low Church parish in mid-Suffolk during his sermon). Harriet Martineau was amongst the wide circle of friends with whom he kept up a voluminous correspondence. I had not realised that she was a 'dissenter'. I would dearly like to hear more of the Muggletonians, and how they may have differed from the Unitarians. Yours Aye Andrew Sellon East Anglia I am just come from London, where I have been doing duty at St. Paul's, and preaching against the Puseyites - I. Because they lessen the aversion to the Catholic faith, and the admiration of Protestantism, which I think one of the greatest improvements the world ever made. II. They inculcate the preposterous surrender of the understanding of bishops. III. They make religion an affair of trifles, of postures, and of garments. Rev. Sydney Smith 1771-1854, Canon of St. Paul's. Letter to Miss Martineau, 11th Dec. 1842. From: "William Johnson" <[email protected]> > Hello listers, > My first huguenot ancestor was Amy Vincent born May 21st, 1790 in the > parish of St. Matthew Bethnal Green, London which seems a parish greatly > populated with huguenots along with St. Dunstans Stepney, St. Leonards > Shoreditch, St. Mary Whitechapel, and Christ Church Spitalfields. Amy had 5 > sisters and 1 brother, the first 2 were christened in the church of St. > Matthew Bethnal Green, but all the rest were registered in Dr. Williams > Library and not christened in a church to my knowledge. Their parents were > William Vincent who married Susanna Dedour Dec.17th, 1780 in St. Matthew, > Bethnal Green. William and Susanna became followers of the Muggletonian > christian sect, which had some beliefs similar to the Unitarian movement who > were led by famous literary figures such as William Godwin, Mary > Woolstonecraft, Joseph Johnson, Harriet Martineau (a huguenot?), Joseph > Priestley, Thomas Paine, who also influenced William Blake, the poet and > artist, whose wife happened to be Catherine Boucher, perhaps also a > huguenot. Do other researchers have examples of Huguenots following > reforming religious movements such as the Unitarians, did huguenots > generally follow paths of non conformism or go to the Church of England? > > Will