Huguenots in France

French Huguenots
Huguenot History • 1436 Printing press invented by Johannes Gutenberg • 1517 Sales of Indulgences by Pope Leo X (Johannes Tetzel) o Spanish Inquisition, priests discourage reading of the Bible, suppress lay people • 1517 Martin Luther posted his 97 theses in front of the castle church in Wittenberg • 1523 First French translation of Bible • 1509-1564 John Calvin organized the first French church in Strasbourg about 1538. He settled definitively in Geneva in 1541 • 1559 First national Huguenot Synod in Paris. • 1660s Louis XIV (une foi, une loi, un rois) • 1562 The massacre of Vassy • 1572 Massacre of Saint Barthélemy (24 August 1572) • 1598 Edict of Nantes was signed • 1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV • 1685–1785 “Period of the Desert” • 1787 Edict of Tolerance

Difficulties of Huguenot Research
Surname Spellings The French Huguenots moved within France. They moved from one country to another before arriving in the United States, and even there they moved around. Their names changed and are hardly recognizable in their original French form. “Names have been translated, transliterated, paraphrased, misspelled, transmogrified into a perfect kaleidoscope of confusion” (The Forse Name in History by Ancestry.com, Edward Forse).

The variations in spelling are mostly phonetic, but some deformations of the names went far beyond phonetic changes. This is one of the reasons for the many different spellings: • Durand, Durrand, Durant, Durandy, Duranty, Durante, Durandeau, Durandont, Duranteau etc. • Le Maitre, de Le Maitre, Le Maister, Delamater • Lambert, Lambard, Lamberty, Lambertin, Lambot, Lambelin, Lamberterie etc. • Dupont (du Pont became Pont in Holland) • Martineaux, Martino, Martinew, Martinon, Martin, Martinie, Martinus, etc.

Huguenot Migration
The Edict of Nantes in 1598 granted some freedom to the Huguenots, but was revoked in 1685. After the revocation the Huguenots were harassed intolerably. All Protestant meetings were forbidden, all pastors had to leave France, but the laymen were encouraged to remain and abjure. Many stayed and converted back to Catholicism; about 20% left France.

Migration started about 1550 and continued up to the French Revolution. Many refugees who came to America left from England. Typically they lived temporarily in one of the surrounding Protestant countries like the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland before migrating to England and may be found in records of those countries.

European Huguenot Sources in the Family History Catalog
Card Index of the Huguenots from the Walloon Library in Leiden 1500–1828 • 3 Indexes (Leiden—Bibliothèque Wallonne)

Bulletin of the Society of History of French Protestantism • See the Society's website at: http://www.shpf.fr/ Indexes for v. 1–111 944B2sp, • Vol. 1–114 available on film only, 115+ are available in the “Europe book” section

Files of requests concerning Huguenot Property (1671-1750) (found under Huguenots – France)

Weekly public assistance to Huguenots—Frankfurt 1685–1855 • Weekly assistance given to refugees, lists also baptisms, has index

Family Genealogy in the Walloon Library • Pedigrees of the members of the French Colony in Berlin FS Library 106811

Huguenot Surname Index Quarto Series compiled by Cecile Ramsay-Sharp • Index 1–40 on British film # 6414546 • Index 41–59 on British film # 6220423

Pedigrees of Huguenot families by Henry Wagner • Pedigrees of surnames of Huguenot families FS Library film 87860-65 • Index—FHL British floor 942 A1#102

Maps and lists of reformed churches in France • Les Églises reformées by Samuel Mours, FS Library 765005

The registers of the French Church, Threadneedle Street, London • Contents: v. 9. marriages 1600–1636, baptisms 1600–1639; v. 13. Marriages 1636/7–1645, banns and marriages 1631–1674, baptisms 1674–1685; v. 16. banns and marriages 1685–1694, baptisms 1686– 1714; v. 23. marriages 1707–1752, baptisms 1715–1840 FHL British film # 962135, 962136 and 96139

Huguenot Bibliography
• The French Blood in America, Lucian J. Fosdick, Fleming H. Revell Co. London and Edinburgh US/Can 973 F2hf, 1906 • Huguenot Lineage Research. A Bibliography Based on Migration Routes, Melford S. Dickerson, M.D. Second Printing 1996, Austin Texas 1996 US/CAN 284.5016 D558h

• A Brief History of the Huguenots, James Garvin Chastain, D.D. 1933, US/CAN 284.5C388b

• Huguenot Heritage - The history and contribution of the Huguenots in Britain, Robyn D. Gwynn, Routledge &amp; Kegan Paul, London, Boston, Melbourne and Henley, 1985 BRITISH 942 K2grd

• History of the Huguenot Emigration to America, Charles W. Baird, DD, vol I, II, Baltimore Regional Publishing Company, 1966 US/CAN 973 F2hv 1966, vols. 1, 2

• Table du Bulletin Historique et Littéraire, Bulletin of the Society of History of French Protestantism http://www.shpf.fr/

• Records of Huguenots in the United States, Canada and the West Indies with some mention of Dutch and German sources, World Conference on Records and Genealogical Seminar, Salt Lake City 5–8 August 1969, Cameron Allen, M.A., F.A.S.G

• Huguenot Research, Researching French Ancestors (Course 6) Jan. 2003, Claire Bettag, CGRS, CG

• Les Familles Protestantes en France, Gildas Bernard, 1987, Paris Archives Nationales, 944 F23f

• Huguenot Research, BYU Independent Study, FHIST 74R, Yvette Longstaff, A.S.,A.G.

• Huguenot Settlers in North America and Europe, 1600s–1900s CD # 600 Family Tree Maker’s Family Archives • Série TT, Protestant registers, microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah

• The Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland has published a number of CDs

• Pedigrees of Huguenot Families and Materials by Wagner, Henry Wagner, London: Spottiswoode, Ballantyne &amp; Co.,1926 (England), 942 A1 no. 102

• Hugenottische Familiennamen in Deutschland, by Mathieu, Ursula-Marianne, 1937-1988, Germany, FS Library 943 F2gd, vol.20

Huguenot Websites

 * http://www.huguenot.netnation.com National Huguenot Society with links to other Huguenot-related websites.


 * http://www.hhs-newpaltz.org Huguenot Historical Society—History and genealogy of French and Dutch settlers of the Hudson Valley, New York.
 * http://huguenot-manakin.org/ Huguenot Society of the Founders of Manakin, Virginia.
 * http://webpages.charter.net/txhuguenot/ Huguenot Society of Texas, easy to use, alternate spellings. http://www.huguenotsociety.org.uk/ The Huguenot Society of Great Britain &amp; Ireland, Quarto Series.
 * http://huguenots-france.org/ Huguenots de France et d’Ailleurs, French-based site. (Also accessible in German, Spanish, &amp; English.) A major Protestant genealogy site of France with over 60,000 to search.
 * http://sitepasteurs.free.fr/] Les Pasteurs de l’Église Reformée de France, French-based site. Site for researching Protestant pastors of France.
 * http://olivetreegenealogy.com/hug/index.shtml Search for Huguenot and Walloon families. *http://www.cyndislist.com/huguenot.htm Great resource for many Huguenot websites. *http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/other/Religion/HUGUENOTS-WALLOONS-EUROPE.html
 * http://www.francegenweb.org/~protestants/ French website searchable by surname and town.
 * http://www.francegenweb.org/~archives/archivesgenweb Search online records for French Protestant church records.
 * Registers of the French Church, Threadneedle Street, London