Peter Leroy asked:- "Does anyone wish to take a guess or even may shed some historical fact as to why, this little band of Huguenots would wander back across the Chunnel to Belgium of all places ? " First point is that the state of Belgium did not then exist. It was a vague area called Flanders - Artois which changed hands between France and (mostly) Spain. The strength of Spanish control varied over the 16th and 17th centuries as did their repression of Protestants. I get the impression from reading that many families `went back' for a while when things cooled down having left their property in care of friends. As always consult John Peters' `A Family from Flanders' I don't know whether this fits your folks Peter but many of those who originally came from Flanders Artois continued to go back especially those living in Kent and London. They also stopped off in what are now Dutch towns because of trade, university connections etc. Regards, Bob Hairsine in Poole Dorset UK, researching HERSIN, HAIRSINE, HARESIGN.

Hello All: Following Bob Hairsine's posting, many of the Walloon/Artois families who were exiled between 1558-1650 went north into Holland, which was being invaded about that time by the Spanish army. Because of the small distance between the east coast of England and the west coast of Artois and the Netherlands, people apparently slipped in and out of the two countries any time they thought it was safe, to check on property, livestock, family, and friends. We need to remember that the Huguenot/Walloon people still had members of their families who remained Roman Catholic; also there were other Protestants who weren't exiled in that first 90 or so years, although many were killed as you know. Best wishes for the Holiday Season - Carol