Hi William Yes, the places given next to the Elders names were their town of origin in France. And yes, again, once the furore in France over Religion had died down a substantial number, but not a majority, of Huguenots did return to France (ask Peter Leroy about his family) and many of them were able to reclaim land and property. But, quite often the process was difficult, especially when the property had already been occupied, sold on or whatever and many Huguenot families became involved in substantial legal cases over this issue. For a good overview of the French take on this, try to get The Persecution of Huguenots and French Economic Development by Scoville. Although some of his arguments are flawed, and its academic, its still worth a reading. The French and other Stranger Churches were not organised on a Parish basis as we would recognise it but attracted attendees who were attracted by the various elements of the particular Church or Chapel, for example whether the Church was conformist (followed the Anglican Book of Prayer) or non-conformist, the style of the preacher, any number of variables. But, Threadneedle Street was the senior of the French/Walloon Churches and the other Churches tended to spring up as the number of Strangers in an area started to increase. The Church was 'managed' by a Consistory, effectively a Church Council, which employed the Minister/Ministers, managed the affairs of the Church and dispensed Charity and punishment as they needed to. The various French Churches in London then sent delegates to a Coetus, the equivalent of a Synod, where matters of joint interest were discussed, doctrinal issues were discussed, legal matters resolved (or not) and that type of thing. The Elders were the equivalent of Church Wardens, they were the people in the various Churches with the most power, being able to dispense pain and pleasure in equal amount and being responsible for the good order of the Church, including the appointment or dismissal of the Minister/s. Probably, more importantly from our research point of view, they were the people responsible for examining new applicants for the Church, mainly (but not exclusively) Huguenot refugees having first heard their reconnaissance or examined their temongnages from their previous French or English Church. If the churches' area of influence was large enough, the 'parish' would be divided into areas (quartiers) and there would usually be one or two Elders allocated/assigned to each area to look after the parishioners, each of the Elders then sitting on the Consistory. Between 1679-1692 for example, Threadneedle Street had 18 quartiers showing both the size of the community/congregation and the size of the Consistory. In Churches with smaller area of influence, like some of the Spitalfields Chapels, there may have been only two Elders at any one time, giving them quite a lot of power. In all cases, especially Threadneedle Street, the Elders tended to be the better-off, great and the good, community or national political brokers, rather than the average member of the congregation. The Elders were supported by the Deacons, again elected on a congregation/church/area basis, who were also members of the Consistory but had a lesser role than the Elders, being more involved in the 'hands-on' end of what happened, visiting the poor, making sure that fines were paid, reporting scallywags, that sort of thing. Deacons would often be upwardly socially mobile and later were elected Elder. Hope this helps Regards Tony Fuller