The Guildhall Library, London As many of our ancestors lived in London and appear in the London Post Office Directories, the Guildhall Library is a prime source for details of their occupations and addresses. The Library also houses the Apprentice Index, which includes some of our ancestor's original indentures. Unfortunately these are centre -threaded so are not available for copying. I have made a copy of them at Apprentice Index 1710 - 1762. Land tax records are also available but to avoid an enormous amount of research, the exact address is needed.

Websites - Genealogy

Ancestry	Family Search (IGI)	Find my Past	Origins	British Newspaper Archive

A Guide (everchanging on the web) to tracing your poor Huguenot ancestors in London Huguenot records

The two principal repositories of Huguenot records are the Huguenot Library and the French Protestant Church of London in Soho Square. The records are hand written in French. A leaflet listing many of these key words is available in the Library and on the website. Most, if not all, of the Huguenot and Walloon churches kept a fund out of which they supported their poor members. In addition, there was a fund known as the Royal Bounty funded from the Privy Purse and distributed by a body called the French Committee.
Poor relief records of the Threadneedle Street archive.

By far the largest Huguenot church in London was Threadneedle Street, including its daughter church of L’Eglise Neuve in Spitalfields. Their combined archive is kept at their present day successor, The French Protestant Church of London (FPCL) in Soho Square. See Quarto Series 55. Many of its archives have been filmed and a full set of the microfilm are available for consultation at the Huguenot Library.

Grants of cash at Threadneedle Street:
This developed into quite a sophisticated system from 1721. The deacons decided who of its members should have relief, how much and how frequently. At the first confirmed sign of need the subject would receive a ‘passade’ or ‘extraordinaire’. This was a one-off payment to cover an emergency such as a doctor’s visit and/or medical necessities. If there was a need for temporary assistance, a’billet du mois’(monthly sum) or ‘ordinaire’ would be paid, and if there seemed little prospect of an improvement in the fortunes of a family, it went onto the regular list (pauvres reglés or pauvres ordinaires). These were paid weekly and usually doubled at Christmas time.
Manuscripts to search:All relief 1721-90 mss 81,82,83,84, Reglés 1768-1845 mss 75,76,77
Extraordinaires 1761-1844 mss 84,113,107,89A,76,79,65A,78.

Clothing allocations at Threadneedle Street:
Shoes and made to measure garments were supplied to poor members at Christmas time.
Manuscripts to search:
1687-1721 mss 74,68, 1756-65 miscellaneous paper 73, 1758-72 mss 146,147,
1791-1810 Huguenot Library ms H/C2/5*,
1811-24 ms 72, 1825-60 ms 219
*Somehow this ms has ended up in the wrong repository.
The surviving records of the churches which amalgamated with Threadneedle Street are also in the FPCL archive. These include the Poor relief records of the Church of The Artillery:
Manuscripts to search:
1720-9 ms 185A 1769-84 ms 305, 1729.46 ms 182 1781-6 ms 259, 1746.84 ms 181

Poor relief records held in the Huguenot Library:

The Huguenot Library is the repository for a number of Huguenot archive collections, including that of the French Protestant Hospital and the Westminster French Protestant School.
Westminster poor relief records:
Manuscripts to search:
Chapel Royal, St James, Westminster, poor lists 1738-1809, Burn Donation ms J7.
Church of Le Quarré, Westminister, bread charity 1810-36, Burn Donation ms J23.
La Soupe de Spitalfields (QS55):
This was converted to a bread charity in 1741 and then operated by the French Hospital. It gave help from November to April.
Manuscripts to search: Recipients in 1827 ms C1/4 pp 17-18, Recipients in 1833 ms C1/4 at the end.
The Boislin Charity (The bequest of Colonel de Boislin):
This charity was administered from 1753 to 1884 by the French Committee for the distribution of the Royal Bounty. By the latter date the Committee officially no longer existed, so the charity was taken over by the French Hospital Directors. All lists of recipients are in the Huguenot Library.
Manuscripts to search:
1753-1805 Royal Bounty archive ms 47 (listed among the minutes)
1811-21 Royal Bounty archive ms 93, 1808-14 French Hospital archive ms H/L 3/1
1819-74 French Hospital archive ms H/L 3/2, 1875-84 French Hospital archive ms H/L 3/3

Records to be found across both repositories
All French Hospital records referenced are to be found at the Huguenot Library.

Pensions
The Coqueau and the Basse charities:
Spinster Ester Coqueau left money both to the Threadneedle Street church and to the French Hospital, each bequest being to finance pensions to 10 poor maids or widows over 50 years old. Later her cousin Jane Basse made a similar bequest just to Threadneedle Street.
Manuscripts to search:
FPCL Coqueau, applicants 1752-1864 mss 65 and 248, FPCL Coqueau, recipients 1745-1867 mss 65,213,228, FPCL Coqueau, recipients 1883-6 ms 227, FPCL Coqueau, recipients 1907-21 miscellaneous paper 70, FPCL Basse 1753-1869 mss 65, 213, 228, French Hospital Coqueau, applicants 1745-1801 ms H/L2/2, French Hospital Coqueau, recipients 1745-1898 mss H/L2/1, H/C1-4,H/C3/1-2 and H/J36

Charity Schools

There were at least four of these.
1. The Threadneedle Street school:
Usually referred to as two schools, one for boys and one for girls, it was run by the deacons and paid for out of Church funds. They functioned from 1719 to 1802, though from then to 1852 the deacons paid for their poor children to attend other local schools. Manuscripts to search: FPCL Girls register ms 192, Boys register ms 193.

2. The Westminster French Protestant School (WFPS):
Housed in Windmill Street off Tottenham Court Road, this opened in 1747.This institution was financed by Huguenot subscribers and the pupils boarded. It took boys and girls until 1812, then just girls until its closure in 1924. Lists of names have been transcribed and published in the Society’s Proceedings, volumes 4 and 12 by WM Beaufort and Susan Minet. The lists include the names of a few applicants who were past the age of entry before a vacancy occurred. Nevertheless, the family details may show a connection with a family you are investigating. Some notes on parents are in QS 56, pp 110-115. Two schools were funded from Royal Bounty money but sadly no lists of pupils are known to have survived

Apprenticeships
Both the Consistory of the Threadneedle Street church and the Directors of the WFPS paid apprenticeship fees for the pupils of their schools, both boys and girls.
For Threadneedle Street see Huguenot Society Proceedings, volume 28, part 5, 2007, by Keith LeMay.
For the WFPS see Huguenot Society Proceedings, volume 27, part 4, 2001, by Keith Le May. Additionally, several bequests were made to finance apprenticeships for the poor. Records of these are in the Huguenot Library.

The Seignoret Bequest 1720-1793: Apprentices were chosen by the directors of the French Hospital and names appear in the Minutes of the Court of Governors.
Manuscripts to search: mss H/A/1/1and2
The Mounier Bequest 1776 to the present day: Apprentices were chosen in the same way.
Manuscripts to search: mss H/A/1/1and2, H/L/4/1, 4/2 and 4/3.
The Delaigle Bequest 1741 to c1877: Applicants were selected by officials of the Society of Saintonge and Angoumois, which still exists today. Manuscripts to search: SS A1 to A7.

Guidance notes for family historians
The Huguenot Society has published transcriptions of most extant Huguenot refugee church registers; these contain few burials. After 1753 all marriages had to take place by law in English parish churches. By the early nineteenth century Huguenot records had become thinner as the descendants of the original refugees became assimilated into local populations and the French churches began to close. Apart from the French Hospital records, which continue until 1957, there is little information for the nineteenth century. Unless therefore you are related to someone who is a past or present resident of the French Hospital, La Providence, it is essential, before using the archives of the Huguenot Library, to work back through this period by searching the following:
• Registration of births, marriages and deaths back to 1837, when civil registration began.
(The National Archives, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU )
• Census returns back to 1841, when the first comprehensive census return was done, and the IGI (International Genealogical Index), both available at The National Archives.
• Parochial records of baptisms, marriages and burials as far back as possible; these can be consulted at the relevant local Record Office.
Huguenot Society publications. Once you have found an early reference to the name(s) you are researching the next step is to search the Quarto Series and the Proceedings. Where these are transcriptions of original records, they should be checked against the originals: for instance the Huguenot Church Registers, microfilms of which are held at The National Archives, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond TW9 4DU.

Quarto Series.
At the Huguenot Library you will find the QS volumes on the open access shelves in the reading room and as microfiches; many volumes have been digitised onto CD Rom, available for purchase from the Administrative Officer admin@huguenotsociety.org.uk There is a microfiche surname index for volumes 1-59. You may need to book the microfiche reader if using it for any length of time. The Huguenots retained French as their language for written records up to about 1840. Notes on French terminology are available in the reading room. Among the most useful volumes are the church registers mentioned above, the French Hospital records, volumes 52 and 53, and The case book of ‘La Maison de Charité de Spittlefields’ 1739-41, volume 55.

Proceedings
These start in 1885 when the Huguenot Society was founded and are published annually. They include reports of Society meetings and events, articles on subjects of Huguenot interest and book reviews. There is a master index of all names mentioned. In terms of occupations, silk weavers formed by far the largest group of Huguenot immigrants. Most of them were poor journeymen; therefore only a few prominent ones, together with master weavers and merchants would receive a mention in Proceedings. Huguenots in less common occupations are more likely to receive a mention. Names of pupils attending the Westminster French Protestant School (WFPS), 1747-1924, are listed; also names from the registers of a few Huguenot temples in France.

The Huguenot Society, The Huguenot Library University College London, Gower Street London WC1E 6BT, Tel: 0207 6795199 e-mail: library@huguenotsociety.org.uk

Primary Sources
Most of these are available on microfiche. It is not normal policy to produce original manuscripts for readers.
The most useful groups are:

1. The French Protestant Hospital archive, catalogued in QS volume 56. This archive contains much more material than the already substantial records published in QS volumes 52 and 53. Interesting items include: details of property left by named deceased inmates; lists of those known as the ‘Bread House Pensioners’; Medical Officers’ reports listing inmates’ illnesses and treatments; names of Coqueau and Basse Charity annuitants; names of apprentices whose indenture fees were paid from various bequests.

2. Further details of French Hospital papers and of some family papers and collections of family notes, lists of pedigrees, coats of arms and donors to the WFPS can be found in Quarto Series volume 61, published in 2008:
Huguenot Archives: A Further Catalogue of Material held in the Huguenot Library.

3. The Normandy Society and the Society of Saintonge and Angoumois archives. QS volume 56 details the surviving archives of these two Huguenot friendly societies. They contain lists of members, names of sick money recipients, names of apprentices sponsored and also names of the society officials.

4. The Royal Bounty archive, catalogued in QS volume 51. This royal charity, originating in 1686, continued to make payments until 1876. Many of the manuscripts give names of recipients, including the poor, along with how much each received and sometimes occupations and addresses.

5. The Burn Donation and the Savoy Church archives, also catalogued in QS volume 51. The former comprises surviving documents from various Huguenot churches in west London and those of Sandwich and Thorpe-le-Soken. Some contain lists of contributors to poor funds and the recipients. Others contain consistory minutes. 6. The French Protestant Church of London*, Soho Square, London W1, houses the archive of the Threadneedle Street Church, of which it is the linear descendant. Some documents go back to the sixteenth century. QS volume 50 is a handlist for this large archive. The original church registers, transcribed in the Quarto Series, were required to be deposited at the National Archives, but the archive contains the following
categories of additional church records, giving individual names and sometimes addresses: poor relief; charity school pupil registers; contribution collection books; Coqueau and Basse charity applicants and recipients. Some similar records survive from the following churches, which were eventually absorbed into the Threadneedle Street church: - St John’s Spitalfields; La Patente Spitalfields; The Church of the Artillery.
Microform copies of some of the above records, but not all, are held at the Huguenot Library.

Other records
A complete index of names is due to appear in January 2009 as Quarto Series 60 part 2. There is also information on Huguenot ancestors in the Family Research files and in Haag’s La France Protestante.

GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF IRELAND.
http://www.dun-laoghaire.com/genealogy/

 

COUNCIL OF IRISH GENEALOGICAL ORGANISATIONS (CIGO)
<http://indigo.ie/~gorry/CIGO.html>

 

Family History Societies
At this stage it's useful to contact your local family history society. It may well be a member of The National Federation of Family History Societies or The Scottish Association of Family History Societies which are umbrella organisations for family history groups. These associations publish guides and journals that are sent to all member societies, which in their turn hold lectures, visits and offer advice. Here is a small selection of further websites where you can find more information:

Association of Family History Societies of Wales

The North of Ireland Family History Society

The Scottish Genealogy Society
 

Graveyards and Cemeteries
One of the national projects co-ordinated by family history societies is the recording of all monumental inscriptions (M.Is), ie tombstones.

Using the Internet
The Public Record Office and most county record offices have detailed family history information on their websites but there are thousands of other world-wide genealogy websites out there, for example Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet, RootsWeb. UKGenWeb is the UK's regional branch of the world-wide WorldGenWeb project. It is a repository of family histories, enquiries and resources for research. It works closely with GENUKI, which is a virtual genealogical library on the Web for the British Isles. It brings together everything from national resources to local county record offices and individual research. The site is organised hierarchically. It begins with national information, then you can select a region, followed by city, town or village, each page giving details of record offices, publications, societies and frequently the contacts for individuals with interests in particular surnames of the areaThe A-Z of British Genealogical Research is a very useful GENUKI page of tips on all aspects of British genealogy.

Going to the Official Records
 Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths
The national registers for England and Wales began in 1837, registers in Scotland in 1855, Northern Ireland registers started in 1922 and those of the Republic of Ireland in 1864 (held at the General Register Office, Dublin).Or contact the Family Records Centre in central London, which contains the General Register Office's Public Search Room (this department of The Office for National Statistics used to be at St Catherine's House). The Search Room holds indexes to the records of all births, deaths and marriages registered in England and Wales since July 1837; adoptions since 1927; and some births, deaths and marriages of British citizens overseas since 1761 including those of the armed forces.
 

Republic of Ireland
Pre-1864 Catholic parish registers in the Republic of Ireland are often kept by the parish priest, but there are microfilms of a majority in the National Library of Ireland. The National Archives of Ireland also hold a copy of the list of registers. Church of Ireland parish registers for the period up to 1870 are available for about one-third of the parishes. Most are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland, the Representative Church Body Library and the Public Record Office, Belfast.


Non-Conformist, Catholic and Jewish Registers
The following paragraphs give sources that apply to the UK, but particularly to England and Wales. If you think your research might be specific to Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, you should contact the Public Record Office, Belfast or the National Archives of Ireland.

Protestant Non-Conformist Registers
People who did not follow the Church of England, Church of Scotland or Church of Ireland doctrines were known as Non-Conformists or Dissenters. They included Presbyterians, Quakers, Independents, Congregationalists, Baptists, Huguenots, Lutherans and Moravians. In the seventeenth century, Non-Conformists often used the Anglican Church for baptisms, weddings and funerals, so their records appear in the Anglican parish registers without mentioning their beliefs. Quakers and some other denominations did keep separate systematic registers. Non-Conformists gained freedom of worship in 1689, but many families continued to use the Anglican Church for events that required registration. In 1754, Hardwicke's Marriage Act made any marriage outside the Anglican Church illegal, which applied to Catholics and most Protestant Non-Conformists, but not to Quakers or Jews. Before starting your quest, you should read up on the history of Non-Conformist records to best discover where you should begin.

Most Non-Conformist records are now stored at the Public Record Office, or on microfilm at the Family Records Centre, but since there are no indexes, it is advisable to learn as much as possible about the particular church and area you are looking for. Enquire at libraries and record offices to see if they have non-conformist records local to their area. A few examples of other archives are those held by Doctor Williams' Library, The Huguenot Society Library and, for Quakers, The Society of Friends Library, which transcribed and indexed all their documents before transferring them to the PRO. Telephone these libraries before you visit, to find out about access and opening times.

Where to Look Next
. The Oxford Guide to Family History has chapters on wills and probate, manorial and estate records, enclosure and tithe awards, Poor Law records, military records and apprentice records   take a look at the Public Record Office online leaflets, or the Historical Manuscripts Commission website which contains ARCHON. If you search ARCHON, you will find information on all archive repositories in the UK and those repositories worldwide which have manuscript collections noted on the British National Register of Archives.
 

Genealogy Links and Resources for UK, England and Wales
The A-Z of British Genealogical Research
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/EmeryPaper.html
GENUKI
http://www.genuki.org.uk  The Hidden Legacy Foundation
Kent House, Rutland Gardens, London SW7 1BX
Historical Manuscripts Commission
http://www.hmc.gov.uk
Historical Manuscripts Commission - ARCHON
http://www.hmc.gov.uk/archon/archon.htm  The Huguenot Society Library
University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT
Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies http://www.ihgs.ac.uk
The National Federation of Family History Societies  http://www.ffhs.org.uk/
The National Register of Archives  http://www.hmc.gov.uk/nra/nra2.htm
The Office of National Statistics  http://www.ons.gov.uk
The Public Record Office  http://www.pro.gov.uk/
The Public Record Office - leaflets online  http://www.pro.gov.uk/leaflets/
The Society of Genealogists  http://www.sog.org.uk
UKGenWeb  http://www.britishislesgenweb.org/
Genealogy Links and Resources for Scotland
The General Register Office for Scotland
http://wood.ccta.gov.uk/grosweb/grosweb.nsf/pages/home
The National Archives of Scotland (formerly Scottish Record Office)
HM General Register House 2 Princes Street, Edinburgh EH1 3YY
(Please note that the National Archives of Scotland are not a part of the General Register Office for Scotland). Scottish Archive Network Thomas Thomson House, 99 Bankhead Crossway North,
Edinburgh EH11 4DX

Genealogy Links and Resources for Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland
Genealogical Society of Ireland  http://www.dun-laoghaire.com/genealogy/
The General Register Office (Northern Ireland)  http://www.nisra.gov.uk/grohome.htm
The General Register Office (Republic of Ireland) 8-11 Lombard Street East Dublin 2
The National Archives of Ireland  http://www.nationalarchives.ie/index.html
The National Library of Ireland  http://www.heanet.ie/natlib
The North of Ireland Family History Society  http://www.mni.co.uk/nifhs/
The Public Record Office, Belfast http://proni.nics.gov.uk/
The Representative Church Body Library - Genealogical information
http://www.ireland.anglican.org/library/libroots.html

Victorian Family Photographs Links and Resources
For more information about the Documentary Photography Archive, featured in the Bloodties programme, see the Greater Manchester County Record Office website.
http://www.gmcro.co.uk/dpa.htm
DPA, c/o The Greater Manchester County Record Office
56 Marshall Street, New Cross, Manchester M4 5FU
The National Museum of Photography, Film and Television
http://www.nmpft.org.uk
The National Portrait Gallery
http://www.npg.org.uk
Public Record Office - An Introduction to Photograph Preservation
http://www.pro.gov.uk/preservation/photospres.htm
The Photographic Collectors' Club of Great Britain
http://www.nmsi.ac.uk/nmpft/pccgb.htm
The Royal Photographic Society Historical Group
http://www.rps.org/groups/hi.html
The National Preservation Office
http://www.bl.uk/services/preservation
A History of Photography
http://www.kbnet.net/rleggat/photo/history
Includes an article on the 19th century processes and their inventors.
An Uncomprehensive Bibliography of Victorian Photography
http://www.indiana.edu/~victoria/photobib.html
 
Genealogy Links and Resources for UK, England and Wales
The A-Z of British Genealogical Research http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/EmeryPaper.html
Familia
http://www.earl.org.uk/familia/main.html
General Register Office (England & Wales)  http://www.ons.gov.uk/regist.htm
GENUKI  http://www.genuki.org.uk  The Hidden Legacy Foundation
Kent House, Rutland Gardens, London SW7 1BX
Historical Manuscripts Commission  http://www.hmc.gov.uk
Historical Manuscripts Commission - ARCHON
http://www.hmc.gov.uk/archon/archon.htm  The Huguenot Society Library
University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT
Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies
The National Register of Archives  http://www.hmc.gov.uk/nra/nra2.htm
The Office of National Statistics  http://www.ons.gov.uk
The Public Record Office  http://www.pro.gov.uk/
The Public Record Office - leaflets online  http://www.pro.gov.uk/leaflets/
The Society of Genealogists  http://www.sog.org.uk
UKGenWeb  http://www.britishislesgenweb.org/