In 1598 Henry IV of France issued the Edict Of Nantes. This was intended to guarantee the liberty of worship principally for non - conformists such as the Huguenots. By 1628 the Huguenots had lost much of their political power and it had become impossible to hold on to any official positions. The flight of refugees had begun.

Louis XIV revoked the Edict in 1685 causing a deteriorating loss of social and economic power. Many families were dispossessed, lost their homes, or were forced to house the soldiers (the Dragonades ) at their own expense. Some Huguenots settled temporarily in more sympathetic areas of France. Many of the early refugees were from northern France and the Low Countries. In 1685 many Huguenot refugees were from western and southern France and comprised assorted social groups, including farmers. It is estimated that there were some 250,000 refugees of which about 50,000 came to England

As with any large-scale flight of refugees, documentary evidence can be hard to trace. For differing reasons, the oppressed and the oppressors would have tried to destroy evidence of existence. Names would change and limited literacy would create errors in recording information. Phonetic changes may have occurred such as GAUBERT being altered to GOBERT. Some families, in order to protect their former businesses and property, left one guardian member behind. This person would have had to publicly renounce his faith. A sudden 'break' in the continuity of the known family tree is a frequent event in many Huguenot families. The GAUBERTs are no exception.

What is remarkable about the Huguenots is the combination of exceptional skills that they brought with them and their willingness to assimilate into a new society. Although they had the advantage of a common religion with their new hosts, separating them from most other refugee invasions, they had to contend with prejudice that sprang from economic jealousy and the usual national intolerance towards foreigners. The evidence of their contribution to British society was dramatically demonstrated a few years ago with the Barbican exhibition and accompanying book – ‘ The Quiet Conquest ‘. Whatever their individual characteristics, collectively they strove to survive and succeed without vociferous demands from within. It is this that marked them out from contemporary and subsequent refugee groups.

Although some of today’s Gauberts may be francophiles I suspect that it is due more to current cultural preferences, largely through gastronomy and travel, than to any deep-seated remnant ideology for the ‘homeland‘. In our assimilation we have become as 'British' and contemptuous of 'Johnny Foreigner' as the natives.

Further research regarding the Huguenots, can be located at the following web page

Roots web lists the names of the Foreign Refugees who settled in Great Britain and Ireland before the reign of Louis XIV, (1643) of France; and their descendants, it also covers the period up to 1714. The only reference relevant to the Gauberts is an entry for Garrick Gaston Gaubert listed as a foreign refugee who settled in Great Britain and Ireland between 1643-1714.