Huguenot Residents of Spitalfields

Names Index

Analysis

Of the 300 entries in the register in Adam Dant's book, there are 200 family names and 90 entries for residents involved in the silk weaving industry.

Silk Industry Occupations

Interestingly, the occupations in the register include most aspects of the silk weaving industry:

Loom Making - 213

Design - 149

Thread Making - 55

Winding - 236

Weaving - 275

Finishing - 146

Manufacture - 117

Merchanting - 197

Dressing - 199

Early Huguenots

The entries in the register include the first Huguenots to settle in East London in the 17th Century:

Entry 60 1640-86

141 1663

61 1668

215 1678

199 1680

115 1685

101 1686

69 1688

43 1692

59 1694

3 1694

59 1694

47 1695

149 1695

68 1695

310 1699

300 1699

296 1699

There are a many entries for the early 1700s.

Addresses of the Silk Weavers

The 90 Weavers in the register are well-spread over the area. In the remaining entries in the register, many occupations are not given and there may be more Huguenots involved in the silk industry, e.g. 193.

Artillery Street/Artillery Place 162/3, 171

Old Artillery Gnd 263

Bacon Street/Little Bacon Street 17, 21

Bishoposgate 172

Black Eagle Street 65 (see Notes 2 and 3 below)

Blossom Street 203, 213

Booth Street 87 (see Note 4 below)

Brown's Lane 75, 199, 257 (see Note 2. below)

Calvin Street 225 (see Note 3 below)

Carter Street 62

Cheshire Street 41

Church Street (later Fournier Street) 35, 123, 251 (see Note 1. below)

Club Row 12

Cock Lane 3, 227, 235/6

Cock Alley 228,234

New Cock Lane 11

Crispin Street 145, 151 (see Note 1 below)

Duke Street 143

Elder Street 207, 209

Fashion Street 128, 140 (see Note 4 below)

Founier Street 117, 122, 240 (see Note 1 below)

Galvin Street (should be Calvin Street) 225 - see Note 3 below

Grey Eagle Street 61, 76 (see Note 2 below)

Hanbury Street 73, 249 (see Notes 1 and 2 below)

Hare Street 42

Holywell Lane 219

Little Bacon Street 21

Little Pearl Street 29

Montagu/Montague Street 130, 307

New Cock Lane 11

New George Street 47/8, 59

New Inn Yard 229, 230

New Nichol Street 2

North Place 55

Norton Folgate 200, 210

Old Artillery Gnd 263

Little Pearl Street 29

Pelham Street 291, 302 (see Note 2 below)

Phoenix Street 18, 25, 262 (see Note 3 below)

Princes Place 250

Quaker Street 215, 252 (see Note 2 and 3. below)

Red Lion Street 100

St John Street 64

Sclater Street 13, 217, 228 (see note 2 below)

Scott Street 1

Shacklewell Street 275 (see Note 4. below)

Spicer Street 58 (see Note 2 below)

Spital Square 181, 183, 187/8, 193, 197 (see Note 1. below)

Steward Street 157

Sweet Apple Court 10

Thomas Street 271

Tyssen Street 36

Vine Court 149

Webb Square 221

White Lion Yard 196 (see Note 3. Below)

White's Row 146

Wilk/Wilkes Street 112/3, 77 (see Notes 2 and 3. below)

Wood Street 90, 114, 136

Notes

1. Spital Square, Crispin Street & Fournier Street

Spital Square

As shown above, a number of weavers lived and worked in Spital Square.

There is further reference in an article published by British History Online:

"Spital Square at the south-east corner, has been the heart of the silk district".

Crispin Street

As mentioned in the main Names Index article, Lewis Chauvet was a large silk manufacturer in Crispin Street.

Fournier Street

There were weavers in Fournier Street including 5 Fournier Street, where I visited the Town House in 2015.

2. Truman's Black Eagle Brewery

The demolition of the Weaver's Arms in Hanbury Street (formerly Browns Lane) for the expansion of Truman's Black Eagle Brewery is covered in the main article about the Huguenot Residents

Truman's Black Eagle Brewery

In their website, British History Online, there is a useful map which shows streets where some of the weavers lived.

Hanbury Street and Quaker Street were to the North of the Brewery.

On the Western boundary of the Brewery was Wilkes Street.

On the Eastern boundary was Brick Lane which ran parallel to Wilkes Street. There was a passage to Pelham Street.

Black Eagle Street was to the South of the Brewery.

Other roads nearby were:

Sclater Street
Spicer Street and
Grey Eagle Street.

3. The Wheeler Estate and the Wilkes Family

There is another extraordinary article about the estate of Sir Charles Wheeler:

The Wheeler Estate & Wilkes Family

There is another valuable map showing the Wheeler Estate to the West of Trunan's Brewery, with following roads shown:

From North to South

Phoenix Street
Wheeler Street
Calvin Street
Great Pearl Street
Folgate Street (formerly White Lion Street)

Also included is the rectangular Truman's Brewery site with:

Quaker Street (North)
Wilkes Street (West)
Brick Lane (East
Black Eagle Street (South)

4. Family History

Chris' Great Great Grandfather was Charles Collier a Weaver.

Fashion Street

Fashion Street is where the 2 families Brecht and Collier meet.

Our ancestor Henry Brecht was a colourmaker in Fashion Street where a weaver named Isaac Godier lived in 1811. A James Godier married Eliza Collier, one of Charles'daughters, in 1853.

In Johnstone's London Commercial Guide & Street Directory August 31 1817,there is the entry:

12 Fashion Street Henry Brecht Manufacturer of Colours, with another interesting entry:

61 Fashion Street Bredell & Chabot, Dyers & Scourers

I wonder if the two businesses traded!

Booth Street

Thomas & Amy Cordell lived in Booth Street in 1810. A William Cordell married Emma Collier, one of Charles' daughters, in 1850.

Shacklewell Street

Mary Kemp married Thomas Collier and for a time lived at Shacklewell Street. We would dearly love to find a link to this branch of the Collier Family.

5. The book: Life and Death in Spitalfields 1700- 1850 by Margaret Cox

This is a repeat of the entry in the separate Names Index

There is a wealth of information about Spitalfields and the Silk Industry on the internet, including this extraordinary book.

It mentions many people involved in the silk industry and their ancestors & where they lived.

She looked at a sample of residents only.

1. The majority of first-generation Huguenots fled in or shortly after 1685.

2. Many families involved in the silk industry, including the Mesmans, first settled in Canterbury but later moved to Spitalfields.

3. The Ogier family, hoiwever, fled to England in the 18th Century. Pierre Ogier II arrived with his young children in 1739, his older children having left France earlier.

Many families resorted to smuggling their children out of France and the Ogier family were reputedly transported with potatoes!

4. By the 19th Century, Huguenots were marrying into the host generation. An example of this is John Desormeaux who married Ann Watts in 1802.

In the French churches...the French language was neglected. Sarah Hurlin nee Marchant (1765-1839) was however taught to read and speak French.

5. Charles Shaw Lefevre M.A. received a university education.

A son of Daniel Mesman went to Cambridge and became a Parson. Another son Daniel (1762-1834) was a major benefactor of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

6. The Hurlin Family (88 & 235)

William Hurlin's parents were silk weavers and William learnt to weave.

William worked at winding before school.

His father wove figured silk.

William was a (more highly-paid) porter at a silk manufacturer for several years but later returned home to weave.

7. There were second marriages for financial, security and companionship reasons. John Chavalier and his wife Magdalene both married for the second time in May 1740 at the ages of 50 and 55 respectively.

Magdalene's son Louis Chauvet had been apprenticed to John, a successful master weaver in 1723.

Louis married John's daughter Jane in April 1740.

8. Sarah Hurlin nee Marchant married Martin Hurlin, an illiterate journeyman weaver at St Anne's Limehouse in 1786.

Mrs Sarah Hurlin gave birth to her first child Sarah in the Lying-in-Hospital, City Road.

It is also known that some of the children born into the Prevost family (also journeymen weavers) were born in Lying-in-hospitals.

9. The Ogier Family (183)

Louisa Perina Ogier from Poitou was the daughter of a wealthy silk merchant Pierre Ogier II.

The Ogier Family settled in Sptalfields and became one of the most important and successful silk-manfacturing dynasties in London.

Louisa married Samuel Courtauld, Goldsmith in 1749.

10. The book includes a detailed Family Tree for the Mesman & Lemaistre Families.

11. Close family links existed:

Example

Jean Lambert
Abraham, Gamage
Thomas Sorel
Peter Merzeau

each married one of the daughters of Jean and Rachel Jeanne Maze

12. The most popular prestigious address in the area in the 18th Century was Spital Square.

Some of the "silk" families living there included:

the Mesman
Bennett
Roy
Bredell
Sorel
Jordain and
Ogier families.

The captions for the 3 photos are:

1. Church St (now Fournier St)- leading to Christ Church, Spitalfields c 1900

Families such as:

Chabot
Covenant
Gamage
Jervis
Lefevre
Roy and
da la Chaumette

lived in these substantial houses

2. Part of Spital Square c 1935,
the most prestigious addresse in the 18th Century

3. Top rooms in Steward and Fort Streets

13. Second was Wood Street later known as Wilkes Street with the LeMaistre family, successful master weavers, related by marriage and business partners.

14. Princes Street, later known as Princelet Street was the third most popular address during the 18th Century.

Less affluent but acceptable addresses were:

Crispin Street
Red Lyon Street and
Pater Noster Row.

The poor journeymen weavers lived in less affluent areas of Spitalfields and in Bethnal Green (like Charles Collier).

15. The peak of the Huguenot contribution to the craft was in the 1740s and 50s. Names such as:

Desormeaux
Godin
Lemaistre and
Ogier

dominated the Weaver's Company at this time.

16. The first process applied to the raw silk was throwing - twisting the raw silk into yarn. Most throwsters lived in Whitechapel and many had workshops adjoining their homes.

17. Dyeing followed throwing. Dyers lived in the more affluent parts of the Parish such as Red Lyon Court and Princes Street. Edward Peck was a scarlet dyer.

18. Pattern Drawers (e.g. Anna Marie Garthwaite) sold their designs to the master weavers (e.g. Peter Ogier) who produced the patterned silk. Christophern Baudouin was a very successful designer.

19. Master weavers and their journeymen usually specialised in the production of one type of silk. Daniel Mesman and his sons produced black silk and velvets. (145 & 179)

John Rondeau produced flowered silk as did the firm Maze and Ogier. (183)

20. The estate of Edward Peck was valued at over £40,000, which was eventually inherited by the Peck/Ladbroke family and invested in banking and country estates, evident among many of the descendants of the successful silk merchants.

21. In 1716, Huguenots founded and funded "La Providence", the French Hospital later situated in Rochester, Kent.

Directors

Farenc
Galhie
Merzeau
Ogier
Pulley

Families related

Baudouin
Bourdillon
Bredell
Chabot
Chauvet
Chevalier
Desormeaux
Gervis
Giles
Godin
Jouenne
Jourdan
Lambert
Lefevre (this was the spelling we saw on a recent visit to Guernsey)
Lemaistre
Rondeau

22. There is an A-Z list of the death and age at death of a number of individuals.

6. Street Name Changes

A number of street names changed including

Old (New)

Booth Street (Princelet Street)

Browns Lane (Hanbury Street)
Church Street (Fournier Street)
Great Pearl Street (Calvin Street)
Pelham Street (Woodseer Street)
White Lion Street (Folgate Street)
Wood Street (Wilkes Street)

Colin Bower
27 September 2023

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