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New Section: Walloons and Huguenots in Cork Walloons were Protestants of Flanders, the border area between northern France and southern Belgium (also called southern Netherlands). Their language was a dialect of French. They were among the first Protestant refugees to arrive in England, in the mid-1500's. Huguenots are, strictly speaking, Protestants born in France, but the history of the two groups is similar and sometimes the term Huguenots is used for both. For more information, see the website: http://www.island.net/~andreav/index.html. Figures for Walloons in Ireland are not usually quoted. It has been estimated that about 5,000 or more Huguenots settled in Ireland between about 1650-1850, and at least 300 of those in Cork County. In 1936, Grace Lawless Lee wrote a book (readily available as it was reprinted by Clearfield in 1993 & 1999) called The Huguenot Settlements in Ireland. In her chapter called The Colony in Cork, are mentioned 81 French names Lee found associated with Cork City. She provided details about the history in France and/or Ireland of many of these families. In another chapter called Huguenots in Cork County, Lee mentions some of the same names again and 37 additional names, including some she thought dubious, found in the towns of Bandon, Innishannon, Youghal, or Kinsale. Her book is useful to genealogists as she supplied an index to all the names she mentioned. In a much shorter book called Silver, Sails and Silk, Huguenots in Cork 1685-1850 ( published in 1991 by Cork Civic Trust Ltd, 50 Pope's Quay, Cork) Alicia St Leger listed all the names in Lee on two pages and added a few further names she found in Cork and some more information about the others. This book does not have an index, making it more difficult to find what is said about a particular name. The name BESNARD, found elsewhere on this web-site, is mentioned by Lee on more than 6 pages and by St Leger on her pages 10 and 11. Alicia says the first BESNARD to arrive in Cork was Pierre, in the early 18th century. Typically, Pierre was born in the Netherlands where his parents had fled in 1685 after the French Government expelled Protestant Ministers and made it illegal for all other Protestants to leave France. His son Julius became a partner in a sail-making factory at Douglas with members of the Perdrian family, a venture started by Perry and Carlton in the early 18th century. St Leger does not mention it but PERRY is the name of another Huguenot family in Ireland. The factory remained in the control of the BESNARD family until the 1830's, producing rope as well as linen sail-cloth. Many of the younger sons emigrated, some to Australia. The 121 names found by Lee and St Leger mean that about 180 or more names of Huguenot settlers in Cork County remain to be documented. Two French churches existed in Cork City but the records of both were lost, one in the late 18th century when the River Lee flooded. Other sources have to be used to find the remaining descendants of Walloons and Huguenots of that city. A CLEMENT(S) family of Ireland are described as a family of Huguenot descent by Michael O'Laughlin in his book Irish Families Great and Small. (He also mentions the CLEMENTS of Norman descent in Ireland who were much wealthier and more prominent, being some of the largest land-owners in Ireland). The Huguenot Society of England told an enquirer that the name CLEMENT is both Flemish and French. Some members of a CLEMENT family of Cork (and other parts of Ireland) seem likely to be of Flemish or Walloon origin as the name occurs in the first quarter of the 17th c. in Munster (the province of which Cork is part). The largest wave of Huguenots arrived in Ireland in the latter part of the 17th c. This may be why the CLEMENT(S) name is not mentioned by Lee or St Leger. But some CLEMENTS married into some of the Huguenot families listed by them. . In 1707 Joseph CLEMENTS married Mary CROSS who seems likely to be a descendant of the DELACROIX family of Cork. In 1701, a Joseph CLEMENTS ( possibly the same man) married Joan SMITH whose name is probably a conversion of the French name LEFEVRE which means Smith. Simon Peter CODIER, was a silversmith, goldsmith and jeweller whom Lee says was made a Freeman of Cork in 1725. In 1703, Mary CLEMENTS married Jeremiah CODNER, whose name seems likely to be from the name CODIER, especially as a Richard CLEMENT was a warden of the Goldsmiths Co. of Cork in 1694. Some of the CLEMENTS in Cork married into families with French names not mentioned by Lee and St Leger. In 1701, Amy CLEMENTS married Caleb RATHERAN, a name similar to ROTHERAM, which is that of a Huguenot family in England. In 1779, Philip CLEMENTS married Joanna BLEWETT, a name found in Ireland spelt Bluet, a French name. In 1793, Hill CLEMENTS married Mary AHAR. Her name, found in Cork and other parts of Ireland spelt as Agar, Aher, and converted to Archer, is a French name. This latter couple are ancestors of the actress and film star Googie Withers, born 1917 in India, who lives in Australia. Her father was Edgar Clements Withers and her mother of French-Dutch extraction. Many descendants of French Protestants in Ireland tended to marry others of a similar background. A Peter CLEMENT had a daughter Elizabeth baptised at Ballymodan in 1713. He may be the Peter CLEMENT who married Christian TRESILIAN (a name found in Flanders, Cornwall and Cork) in 1686, or perhaps more likely a son of his named Peter. In 1684, a Peter CLEMENTS married Elizabeth MASCALL. ( Her surname was mentioned by Lee as that of John, a clerk, named by Thomas Gimlette, a 19th century author of a book about Huguenots in Ireland). A Pierre CLEMENT, who seems likely to be the same man, is found in records of the Regiment of le Comte De Marton of 1689-1698, one of several Huguenot Regiments which fought in Flanders and Ireland for William III. (From CD of The Irish Genealogist, Vol 3, No 6, Oct 1961). Some of the other Clements of Cork became soldiers and are found in Dalton's books which provide early records of the British Army. One of the more prosperous lines of the CLEMENTS of Cork married into an Anglo-Irish family already mentioned on this web-site, the BALDWINS. An abstract of the 1778 Will of Thomas Clements, gent., of Madame (a townland in the Parishes of Kilmaloda and Kilnagross, near Clonakilty, Co. Cork), proved in the Prerogative Court in 1780, mentions his wife Mary, son Charles, a daughter Elizabeth COTTER and a grand-daughter Anne COTTER. Michael Leader (a genealogist working for the Irish Genealogical Research Society, London, in the 1960's), noted that Thomas's son Charles was baptised at Ballymodan, in the Bandon area, in 1727. Marriage Licence Bonds show the marriage took place in 1726 of Melian ABBOT of Ballymodan to Thomas Clement. Parish records of Kinsale which Michael Leader recorded show that a Thomas Clement was born in 1699, the son of Bartholomew CLEMENTS and Elizabeth HODGES who married at Kinsale in 1698. In 1767, Thomas CLEMENTS married, as his second wife, Mary COTTRELL, her name a conversion of the French name COQUEREL, one of many Irish names derived from French names, and another not found in Lee or St Leger. After Thomas Clements of Madame died in 1780, his son Charles (of the parish of Kilmaloda) married Miss Elizabeth BALDWIN of the parish of Kilbrogan, at Murragh on July 13, 1782. (Eldest sons seem often to have married soon after the deaths of their fathers at this time, when they inherited the bulk of their father's estate). In 1788, an Administration Bond was taken out in respect of Mary CLEMENT, (nee Cottrell) a widow of Bandon, in the area of Clonakilty. Among the Freemen of Bandon, in 1807, was a Travers Cottrell. Elizabeth CLEMENTS (widow) who married John JERMYN Senior in 1806 seems likely to be Charles' widow Elizabeth (nee BALDWIN). The JERMYN name, not mentioned by Lee and St Leger, is that of another family of Huguenot origin. Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas and Melian (nee Abbot) married Edward COTTER in 1750. An Elizabeth Clements COTTER (probably their daughter) married John Robert KENT in 1841. It is not yet clear who the Elizabeth CLEMENT is who died in 1867 at Rockville, Macroom, aged 60. The COTTERS, like the BALDWINS, are one of the Cork families associated with the Travers family of Cork. Their name may be from the French name Codier, already mentioned as found in Cork, as a Marie Cotter's burial was registered in the Huguenot Non-conformist Church of St Peters, Dublin on 30 September 1830, aged 113 years (born 1717). The son of Charles CLEMENTS and Elizabeth nee BALDWIN was John Charles CLEMENTS, Esq. of Clonakilty, who in 1825 married Anne GRAINGER, only daughter of the late William Grainger Esq of Kilcondy, Co. Limerick, at Christchurch, Cork City, on Jan. 2nd. In 1841 a Charlotte CLEMENTS (who seems to have been a second wife of John Charles Clements) married George GRAY. (An article called Gray of Cork City and Lehana is found in the Irish Ancestor Journal on CD). Information in the 1780 Will abstract, Marriage Bond Licences and a few Clements baptisms found by Michael Leader has made it possible to build a tree for this particular Clements Branch in Cork which seems to have had more financial security than others of the same name. That could also account for the high number of second marriages in the branch. However, they lost that security in the 19th century when John Charles Clements' children and grandchildren appear to have become soldiers and servants. JERVOIS FAMILY CONNECTIONS Some details have still to be found about a Cork City line of CLEMENTS before a tree can be drawn up. In 1747, Nicholas CLEMENTS married Sarah JERVOIS (Cork and Ross Marriage Licence Bonds). In 1753, John, a son of Mr Nicholas CLEMENTS, was baptised at St Nicholas Church in Cork City, a likely son of this couple. His name may indicate that Nicholas was the son of a John CLEMENTS born in the late 1600's in or near Cork City. Whose daughter was Sarah JERVOIS, a surname already mentioned on this website? A Welply Will Abstract 1734 of Samuel Woodroffe of Cork mentions, as his beneficiaries, his niece Catherine Jervois, her child Sarah Jervois and his cousins the Barringtons. (Samuel Woodroffe may have been a son or grandson of Clement Woodroffe of Bandon Bridge who was living at the time of the 1659 Census. There is a slight possibility he was a descendant of a CLEMENT family which appears on the same Census, but Clement was also quite a popular first name at this time). On being told about this 1734 Will abstract, William Jervois, genealogist, wrote, in 2007: "There is record that David JERVOIS, a merchant of Cork city, was to be married in 1724 to Catherine Barrington (Cork MLBs). If one could the find a marriage between Samuel Woodroffe and a Miss Barrington, then I would suggest that it would be safe to say that Sarah Jervois was probably a daughter of David. I feel that David was related to the progenitor of our family, Capt Samuel Jervois of the Parliamentary (Cromwell's) Army in Ireland. However, I only know of two sons who survived childhood, Samuel Jnr and Joseph, for whom I have Will Abstracts. Neither of these mention David". What I found on the LDS film No 994024 of Cork and Ross Marriage Licence Bonds 1623 to 1750. is that in 1705 Samuel Woodruffe married a woman called Sarah French. But in 1687 Naomi Woodruffe married an Alexander Barrington, and in 1724, Catherine Barrington married David Jervois. This suggests Naomi was a sister of Samuel and Catherine was Naomi’s child. It does not explain why Samuel would call the Barringtons his cousins unless the term was used loosely at this time to mean any relations. In N.Z Maoris use the term cousins this way. The Cork and Ross Marriage Licence Bonds also told me that an Elizabeth Clements married a Henry Bryan in 1744. From a copy of the Register of St.Peters C. of I.Church, Cork City 1744-1811, transcribed by R.Caulfield in 1876, I learnt that Nicholas Clements was a sponsor, along with Henry Bryan, Catherine Fanning and Sarah White, at the baptism of John, son of Timothy and Catherine Horan on 27th September 1747. This suggests Elizabeth was probably a sister of Nicholas Clements. In this way a tentative family tree can be drawn up. Notes from the Council Book of Clonakilty show that a Samuel Jervois was described as Esq. suffrain in 1729. He was made a Freeman between 1725 - 1729 along with a Joseph Jervois, Stephen Jermyn and Robert Travers. The two Jervois brothers here are the same ones mentioned by William Jervois but again David is not mentioned. Found in Cork Apprenticeship records is: Jervois, Joseph son of Samuel of Bandon, Esq., bound to Joseph Devonshire and Thos Strettel of Cork, merchant. 20 September. 1760. He seems likely to be a son of Samuel Junior. A Commission of the Peace for several Counties in Ireland of 16 March 1654 included the name of Samuel Jervis. (Journal of Cork Historical and Archaeological Society Vol 3 P. 114, 1897) As reported elsewhere on this web-site, the JERVOIS family came to Ireland from England. So did many other Irish families with French names, such as the CLEMENTS, whose name is found in several of the Southern ports of England, such as Bristol, Plymouth and Gosport, in the 1500's. This suggests they were of Walloon, rather than Huguenot, origin. However, some of the CLEMENT name may have come to England and Ireland later as Huguenots, as the name is a common one in France. A French Church was founded in Southampton, England in 1567 for Walloons. There was a John CLEMENT who married there in 1571 who may be the ancestor of some of the Irish family of that name. The index to the Marriage Licence Bonds for the Diocese of Cork and Ross, on Film 994024 Item 8 for the period 1623-1750, provides 16 Clement marriages, in which at least 8 of the partners' names have possible Huguenot or Walloon connections. There are about 100 Travers-associated families forming a large network of moderately well-off Cork Protestants. Up to 10% of their surnames are of Norman French or Huguenot origin including the names Cottrell, Delacour, Delahay, Delmege, Este, Eve, and Hill(es). The name CLEMENT only appears a few times on two Mormon films about the Travers families of Cork and their Associates by marriage: Film Nos. 1951821 for Abbot to Mace and 1951830 Item 1 for MacEwen to Young, with some Pedigrees on the same film at Item 2, and Miscellaneous Notes at Item 3. The 1793 marriage of Hill CLEMENT and Mary AHER is on the Index to Protestant Diocese of Cork and Ross Marriage Licence Bonds for the Period 1845 back to to 1750. Michael Leader of the Irish Genealogical Research Society did some extensive research into the CLEMENTS name in Cork, commissioned by a descendant of Hill and Mary CLEMENTS (nee Aher). But he, and Rosemary Folliott, who searched in Ireland, failed to find Hill's ancestral line. One reason may be that many parish records of Cork are missing, having been destroyed in a fire in the Four Courts building in Dublin in 1922. Another reason may be that families descended from Huguenots tended to move from place to place, looking for places where they could prosper and where their Protestant religion was accepted. They went to America, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as many European countries, for those reasons. They also moved around Ireland and England and sometimes moved back to places where they or their ancestors had lived before, making it difficult to build a tree. A Hill CLEMENTS was baptised in Gosport, England in 1698, who may be an ancestor of the later Cork one of the same name. An abstract of the 1690 Will of Richard CLEMENTS of Cork, merchant, proved 1692, shows he had a wife Mary. Quaker records show Mary's maiden name was FENNELL (from the French name FINEL). She was born in Wales but her parents took their children to Ireland. Richard and Mary married at Cashel, Tipperary, in 1681 and their children's births and deaths are found in Cork Quaker records. The beneficiaries mentioned in Richard's Will are his surviving children Richard, John, Ursula, Rebecca and Mary; his sister, Mary, wife of John SMITH, and his unmarried sister, Rebecca. The last-named sister may be the Nurse CLEMENT mentioned by the Earl of Cork in his diary in 1633. Richard's date of birth is unknown but he may be the Richard CLEMENS sworn Constable of High St, Kinsale on 16 October 1676 (found in O'Casey's volumes). However, a record of Cork goldsmiths on Mormon film has a Richard Clements in 1694 as one of two wardens of the Goldsmiths of Cork when Goble was the Master (recorded by Caulfield), the Goble family being mentioned by both Lee and St Leger. The date of Richard and Mary Fennell's marriage suggests this Richard would have to be a cousin of the merchant of the same name, unless he was his son by an earlier marriage. I would be very pleased to hear from any likely descendants of the Huguenot CLEMENTS family in Ireland, and, in particular, any of Samuel or Sampson CLEMENTS, an accountant of Cork City who died in 1882, aged 76, his son James F. Clements present at his death. A Samuel Clements, baptised in Limerick in 1804, was a younger brother of my great-great-grandfather Andrew CLEMENTS, also an accountant, baptised 1802. Andrew died in 1845 in Co. Clare, Ireland, when my great-grandmother, Jane Clements, was 6 years old. The parents of Andrew and Samuel CLEMENTS were an Andrew Clements (Senior) and Mary Ann DULAHAY who married in Limerick City in 1800. Her name is from the fairly common French name DELAHAY (also spelt in Ireland Dellehay, Dolahay, (De) Lahay, also Delay and Dellea, as H is a silent letter in French). This name is found in Cork in the 18th century. It is also said by Thomas Gimlette to have been among the French names of the first settlers found on the estates of the first Earl of Cork, Robert Boyle. Andrew CLEMENTS Junior baptised 1802 called his two sons, by his wife Eliz. BENSON, William and Samuel, baptised 1828, and his third son, by his second wife, Eliz. ELLIOTT, John William, baptised 1845, in Limerick. It is possible that Andrew Senior's father was the John CLEMENTS, a linen-weaver of Cork, who bound a son called William CLEMENTS as an apprentice to a firm of Cork merchants in 1793 when he was about 14 ( making William born 1779). Peter CLEMENTS, a weaver, found mentioned in a Limerick City newspaper as a voter in 1808, may have been a brother of William and Andrew Senior as one of Peter's grandchildren was called Andrew. An article in Irish Links magazine March 1999 called Refugees to Ireland says Huguenots, known for their skills in silk weaving, made gloves and lace in Limerick. In 1837, Samuel Lewis wrote: the glove trade, formerly of great celebrity, has declined considerably, most of the gloves sold under the name of Limerick, now manufactured in Cork. Barbara Holt, Wellington, New Zealand (BHHolt@xtra.co.nz) |
The Huguenots |
FURTHER HUGUENOT INFORMATION WILLIAM JOHN ARABIN, born 1750, had a Suzanne BESNARD as a Godmother, Dublin. The ARABINs are of Huguenot descent, the first in Ireland was CAPTAIN BARTELEMY ARABIN, an Officer in one of WILLIAM III's Huguenot regiments. |
SALOMAN BALMIER/BALMER From UZES in LANGUEDOC. Born 1659. At age 28 went to London where he attended church of SAVOY. Joined Huguenot regiment in 1689 After campaign was living in CARRICKFERGUS, then LISBURN, CORK. Possibly connected to GARDE’s of Cork, who have Balmers in their line. |
John Besnard Jr.esq |
John Besnard, Cork. Australian emigration agent. |
JANE DE LA GARDE was waiting woman to Catherine of Braganza. Wife of CHARLES II. See GARDE on Jervois page |
ANCESTRAL HUGUENOT CONNECTIONS: JOHN MADRAS created 1745, Precentor of Ross. His 2nd marriage was to Alice Baldwin of Curravody, Cork. Alice was daughter of Henry Baldwin, my ancestor. JOHN JAPPIE Master Cooper. One of Gerard Fehrman’s sisters in law was Susanna JAPPIE. There appears to be a connection to CROSSE. 2 sisters in law were JANE CROSSE and REBECCA CROSSE. Circa 1770s. BARRYs of BANDON My 3x gt gmother was Margaret Barry. DU BARRY was the original Huguenot name JAGOE mentioned bt THOMAS GILLETTE in his 19th c. book about Hug.Settlements in Ireland.. Jagoes related to Lindseys of Peak and Monallig. DR.John Boisseau (Huguenot) had a daughter Sarah who married THOMAS HUNGERFORD of CAHIMORE, CORK. Hungerfords are related to Jervois by marriage and issue. This one is not related but he built Custom House and Four Courts in CORK. JAMES GANDON, a Londoner, whose father was Huguenot. |
HUGUENOTS IN CORK. Lord Mayors…… Richard Covert 1662 1682 Renew Peter 1694 Perdian Peter 1694 Sherrif of Cork…… Renew Peter 1681 Pedrian Daniel 1704 Albin Samuel 1710 Carre Hignett Wigentall 1730 Besnard Peter 1804 Source Mona-Germaine Dillon. PIERRE BESNARD born 1678 France, father of JULIUS CAESAR BESNARD, who was born in Cork…..Sail cloth/ Linen Manufacturer, Douglas, Cork. Possible birthdate 1740 |
PERRIER FAMILY OF CORK.. Source Grace Lee’s Huguenot Settlements in Ireland. The eldest son of Sir David Perrier was Sheriff of Cork 1832. His daughter married a grandson of Julius Besnard. The Perriers were Bordeaux Wine Merchants |
WILLS of SOME CORK HUGUENOTS . Source Vol.1 REGISTRY OF DEEDS, DUBLIN. 1708/45. VATEAU Mary Magdalen city of Dublin, Widow His eldest son JOHN JACOB VATEAU. Her 2nd son ISAAC VATEAU. Her youngest son PETER VATEAU exor. Her goods chattels and estate to the poor of FRENCH CHURCH in St. Patricks, Dublin. Wit. Sam.Boyd, clerk to Wm.Summer, public notary, Dublin, William Drury same and said Wm.Summer. Memorial wit. Wm.Drury Will Summer. Pet. Vateau (seal) VIGIER JACOB Bansford St. in Libertie of Thomas Court and Donore Dublin SILK WEAVER Wife Mary Vigier His 3 sisters Mary Vigier als Butler, wife of Isaac Butler, Ann Vigier sr als Duran wife of Peter Duran Ann Vigier Jr als Travers wife of or dtr of Isaac Travers. CHAIGNEAU LEWIS Dublin, Merchant 1723. To be buried near my wife in St Patrick’s churchyard. My only son David Chaigneau esq exor. My dtr Eliz RENOUARD. My brother Isaac Chaigneau. Dublin. Merchant. Legacy to ABRAHAM SANVAGET, Dublin, glover and his wife. DEHAYES JAMES YOUGHAL CORK ESQ….His god dtr Susan ROUVIER wife of Thom Day of Youghal 1756 To his cousin El.Langdon. To MARY DUCROS 100 pounds for life, plate and household furn. Etc etc. His houses in Youghal, the rent if let or produce if sold to the FRENCH PROTESTANT HOSPITAL called the PESTE HOUSE neare Moorfield, London LASALLE ANTHONY Dublin Tailor 1746. TRIQUET JOHN PETER Dublin SILK DYER 1771. His 2 sisters LUCY ROBERDEAU and SUSAN LACRAS of London |
GUERIN: JACOB came to England from Normandy in 1563. Solomon de Guerin and wife Anne were naturalised in 1697. This family later went to Dublin.Guerin has connection to Nash family. PLACE : JOHN had charge of French Prison at KINSALE, CORK. His daughter married Rev. JOHN BARRY, who was ordained 1824. |
SOURCE IRISH PEDIGREES by JOHN O’HART FLEURY Louis Fleury, Protestant Pastor of TOURS, fled from France into England 1683. His son, PHILIP AMURET, came to Ireland as a Protestant and settled there. The son of Philip became Vicar-General of Lismore. And his son George Lewis FLEURY bevame Archdeacon of Waterford. |
HUGUENOT REGIMENTS 1702...PENSIONERS OF WILLIAM III Source Huguenot Society, London Vol.6 No.3 November 1899 ARABIN .........Station 2 Com.Corn & R.Corp..... 4 shillings per day Service IRE and FIanders 10 yrs able to serve GUERIN.....4shillings per day (Guerin relatedto NASH family) ST.LEGER......3s. per day DU BARRY ...4Com.Lt Adj.2d Cap. and Stg Cap. LA GARDE Cadet certifyd 6d per day Pt(Piedmonte) Fl anders and Ire 5 yrs Able to serve LA GARDE R.Capt 2/6 per day Holland and Ire 3 yrs Old and lame BERNARD..... Cornt of Horse to service of Savoy 2/6 per day Pt 6 years Able to serve |