Weaving Silk Stories - research - Huguenots - Britain's first refugees
- Stephanie Smart
- Apr 25
- 12 min read
Updated: May 5
"As the Huguenot community settled into English life, the word ‘refugee’ entered the vernacular for the first time. It was to be the first use of the terminology to describe the population who had escaped from persecution in their country of origin and re-settled somewhere else in hope of a better and safer existence."
Britain's first refugees
The Huguenot Museum in Rochester, Kent tells us that about 180,000 Huguenots escaped persecution by leaving France from the 1680s onwards. They brought the French word réfugié with them. The French population at that time was around 20 million; Huguenots numbered 500,000. Of those that escaped approximately 10,000 settled in Ireland, 2,000 in Denmark, 3,500 thousand in America, 200 in South Africa, 60,000 in the Dutch Republic, 22,000 in Switzerland and 50,000 made the dangerous journey to England. It is thought that one in six British people today are descended from Huguenot refugees.
In the 1680s it was against the law for the Huguenots to leave France and they often arrived with no more that the clothes they were wearing. Travelling by night, hiding on ships and crossing remote mountain passes. If men were caught they faced years in prison or were forced into slavery whilst women tended to be locked away in Catholic convents and children from the age of seven were forced from parents to be baptised into the Catholic faith. Likewise for those who did not convert or manage to escape the alternatives were stark. If you were sentenced to become a slave on a galley ship you would be kept below deck and branded with the letters GAL, for Galerian. Few men survived long in the conditions on board.
"...Three hundred men quite naked, roaring all at once, and rattling their chains in the most hideous manner..."
From memoirs of a Protestant condemned to the galleys of France for his religion, written by Marteilhe http://rodama1789.blogspot.com/2015/06/
Today we can all see images on television of difficult, dangerous English Channel crossings. Then as now there was debate amongst the English populace as to the extent of the welcome they could afford to extend. Then as now there was some resistance; as the number of refugees arriving in port towns on the South and West coasts increased. By the late 1680s coastal towns began struggling to give sufficient food and shelter as hundreds of men, women and children in desperate need, often in bad health and experiencing mental health crisis because of their experiences, arrived each week. Fear of the loss of English jobs to incomers was also felt at this time, for example, amongst English craftsmen working in, for example, ironwork, pocket watch production, silk weaving and silverware. They feared the effect on their livelihoods and quickly petitioned that any newly arrived Huguenot craftsmen be restricted in the trades they could carry out. There were also challenges made by British craftsmen and women regarding the qualifications and standard of the work of the Huguenot incomers.
200 years earlier
Reading an article by Andrew Curry in New Wave I learnt that whilst lodging in a house owned by a Huguenot in Silver Street, London, Shakespeare saw apprentices threatening to kill any foreigners they saw.
"Perhaps as a result of this, one of his contributions to the probably unperformed play Sir Thomas More is one of the great appeals to humanity.
You’ll put down strangers,
Kill them, cut their throats, possess their houses,
And lead the majesty of law in lyam...
[to read the rest please click here]
...the only surviving script in Shakespeare’s own hand...the original play, according to the British Library, was written by Anthony Munday in the last years of Elizabeth’s reign..
He may have been “worried that the play’s depiction of riots would provoke civil unrest on the streets of London.
After Elizabeth’s death, a number of writers were brought in to rework it, including Shakespeare, and his contribution is 147 lines in the middle of the play, which includes the speech above, when More addresses an anti-immigration riot in London.
Shakespeare turns the plight of the “strangers” back on to the rioters: what if they were to be banished from England? They would find themselves as strangers in a strange land with the anger and violence of the locals turned on them." https://thenextwavefutures.wordpress.com/2016/07/05/shakespeares-strangers-migrants/
We are particularly concerned here with migration as it affected silk weaving and whether the apprentices Shakespeare saw were learning this skill. He doesn't say, but it seems possible.
Silk cloth had been woven in Britain before the Huguenots arrived in the 1600's. For 200 years before then...
"...during the reign of Henry VIII a considerable number of silk workers, principally from Rouen, made their homes in this country. During the reign of Elizabeth I, French and Flemish refugees had crowded into England, but do not appear to have settled in Spitalfields and Bethnal Green, which were at that time mere country hamlets".
In my post It all began with buttons you can read how silk thread had been used in many and various English counties, to the ends of making of silk thread buttons for centuries.
Huguenot silk weavers
But certainly it would be with the greater wave of migration, when Huguenots were forced to flee their homelands, that fine patterned silks, which had previously needed to be imported, began to be made here and it would be the Huguenots who would transform areas of the country, most notably Spitalfields in London:
Whilst some settled in Dover, Rye, Faversham and Southampton the majority of the Huguenot population moved inland, travelling to join communities in London, Canterbury, Norwich, Essex and the West Country. They created new communities in each area, establishing organisations to help one another find work, to worship and to care for the sick or elderly. In 1718 The French hospital was established for this reason on a plot called Golden Acre, near Old Street London. It later moved to Rochester where it survives to this day. The Brick Lane Jamme Masjid (mosque) was once a synagogue but was first erected as a Protestant Chapel, L'Englise Neuve, by Huguenots in 1743. The Huguenot population also opened French speaking schools (to ensure their children remembered their heritage), while Huguenot ministers found work as tutors in English households.
"It is said that...a quarter of all those living in Spitalfields and Bethnal Green spoke only French - they had their own institutions...Although, as protestants, the Huguenots were officially welcomed in England, there is much evidence that these refugees were subject to racism and mistrust, much as refugees fleeing persecution in their own lands are today."
Note: The Weavers Company records from 1717 (see extract below) show an ancestor
of mine Bartholomew Chapuis who was apprenticed to Paul Gandon (weaver).
Was he a silk weaver? We can't be sure. I will shortly release a post about how I
have tried to find out if I am descended from Huguenots so please check back.
A mixed reception
We shouldn't doubt that there was nothing easy or comfortable for the Huguenot population as regards migration or that the welcome they received was informed by a mixed bag of opinions. But the following extract from the blog Entangled Curiosity flags up the fact that, just as today, whilst strangers have been often resisted and feared they have also on occasion been welcomed and needed by the new society or country to which they move.
"Perceived as one of the ‘profitable strangers’, it was with these religious fugitives that silk weaving had its actual beginning in the East London region. Although the manufacture of silk had been practiced in neighbourhood previous 200 years"
The Editor of “Stow’s Survey of London”, Charles (1791) tells us:
“Here they have found quiet and security, and settled themselves in their several trades and occupations; weavers especially. Whereby God’s blessing surely is not only brought upon the parish by receiving poor strangers, but also a great advantage hath accrued to the whole nation by the rich manufactures of weaving silks and stuffs and camlets, which art they brought along with them."
Certainly some Huguenots knew intimately the fashions from France and had the necessary skills to create sophisticated evening wear, ball gowns and the required exquisite silk fabrics, thereby being able to make a living in Britain. It was also the case that not all Huguenots arrived impoverished. There were wealthy merchants with large assets amongst their number. Many would go on to excel in 1690s London shaping Britain's financial institutions. This was the era of George I (1714-1727)
And certainly there was need of silk in this Royal household:
"George I's main contribution to the palace [Hampton Court] was to build an impressive suite of rooms for his son George, Prince of Wales and his wife Princess Caroline. The King also commissioned a new kitchen, today known as the Georgian House. When George I returned in the summers to his native Hanover, he agreed reluctantly for the Prince and Princess to represent him in England. They entertained lavishly in his absence, leading a glittering court that outshone the old King’s. The infuriated George I tried to outdo this rival court and make a bigger impact at Hampton Court. So in 1718, the Tudor tennis court was refurbished as a grand assembly room and the Great Hall was converted into a theatre. "
Martyrs
Stories about the persecution Huguenots were suffering at home in France spread to England so some saw them as martyrs defending the protestant faith and gave them financial or practical support. The Bishop of London told parishes to help and at first they were lent small churches and spaces in which to worship by the English authorities. The under croft at Canterbury Cathedral for example became a French Church for exiled Huguenots. And the government welcomed the new talent they brought in the production, particularly of luxury goods, looking forward to developing the economy.
"In his painting and subsequent print The Four Times of Day: Noon (a detail shown here), created in 1738, William Hogarth contrasted the prosperous, smartly-dressed and sober Huguenot churchgoers with the more chaotic group of English outside the tavern on the opposite side of the street. The full version of the print has the steeple of St. Giles-in-the-Fields in the background, indicating that the location is Soho. Hogarth was well-acquainted with the diligence and skilfulness of Huguenot craftsmen in the area." - https://www.thehistoryoflondon.co.uk/huguenots/
Dates
In 1687 James II had passed a declaration granting religious freedom in Britain and instructing that Huguenots be allowed to worship freely. In 1689 the new monarchs William and Mary then set up a fund called the 'Royal Bounty' to support Huguenot refugees. And it is at this stage that the history ties in with Weaving the Silk Stories the collection, for the first piece is inspired by the era of William and Mary and copper coloured silk. This is how I have begun please come back for detailed blog posts about this piece and the others.
It is as background therefore that I wanted to include a brief Huguenot timeline up until then:
1560 - The first recorded use of the word Huguenot
1562 - A religious civil war begins in France between Catholics and the Protestant Huguenots
1572 - Thousands of Huguenots are killed at the St Bartholemew's Day Massacre
1598 - Huguenots are allowed to worship in France due to the Edict of Nates
1681 - Military troops called Dragoons are sent to live with Huguenot families to try to force them to convert
1685 - Huguenot faith is no longer allowed, the Edict of Nates is revoked
1687 - James II grants freedom of worship in England
1689 - William III and Mary II establish the Royal Bounty
The Huguenot Museum gives much more in depth information.
I have mentioned Spitalfields above and it becomes an ever more important location as we walk through this history toward 1700 at which time London's population was around 500,000 and included half to two thirds (depending on which reports you read) of the French Huguenots who had arrived in England. By this time all the areas around the city walls were more established and:
"A great body of the refugees of 1685 occupied a large district which is usually called Spitalfields, but which includes also large portions of Bethnal Green, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, and Mile End New Town. The great majority brought with them little beyond the knowledge of their occupations, and being in great necessity, subscriptions for their immediate relief were procured to a large amount by means of the King's Briefs. On 16 April 1687 an Order in Council prescribed a fresh general collection in England, Scotland and Ireland. The amount thus obtained was about £200,000, which formed a fund known as the Royal Bounty. A lay French committee composed of the chiefs of the immigration was entrusted with the annual distribution of a sum of £16,000 amongst the poor refugees and their descendants...
From the first report of the French committee, dated December 1687 and published in the following year, it appears that 13,050 French refugees were settled in London, the greater part of whom were probably located in Spitalfields. The editor of Stow's Survey of London pays a high tribute to the character and industry of the refugees. Speaking of Spitalfields he writes: 'Here they have found quiet and security, and settled themselves in their several trades and occupations; weavers especially. Whereby God's blessing surely is not only brought upon the parish by receiving poor strangers, but also a great advantage hath accrued to the whole nation by the rich manufactures of weaving silks and stuffs and camlets, which art they brought along with them. And this benefit also to the neighbourhood, that these strangers may serve for patterns of thrift, honesty, industry, and sobriety as well.'
Because of its importance I will return to Spitalfields in future posts but for now to read more about the Huguenots of Spitalfields please follow the links below:
For related educational resources, please see:
And to listen to a fascinating related recording by the wonderful Haptic and Hue please click here
Migration
To end this post where we began, with migration, I thought this a fascinating list displayed at The Huguenot Museum in Rochester:
"Refugees:
Around 50,000 French protestants flee to Britain1685-1700
Thousands of French emigres escape the 1789 Revolution 1789-1802
Thousands of political refugees leave Europe following the 1848 Year of Revolutions 1848-1880
Tens of thousands of Russian Jews seek sanctuary in Britain 1880-1914
250,000 Belgian refugees escape the fighting of First World War 1914-1918
70,000 Jews flee Nazi Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia 1933-1938
4,000 refugee children flee the Spanish Civil War from the Basque region 1937
100,000 refugees from Belgium, France, Netherlands, Denmark and Norway 1939
250,000 Polish refugees escape communism 1939-1950
50,000 Russian, Romanian and Czechoslovakian refugees are displaced following World War Two1945-1960
Over 21,000 Hungarians escape communist regime1956
28,000 Ugandan Asian's, expelled by Idi Amin, come to Britain1972
3,000 people escape General Pinochet's regime1973-1979
24,000 'boat people' flee communism in Vietnam1975-1992
2,500 flee the Bosnian War1992-1996
More than 4,000 Albanian Kosovan refugees are temporarily housed in Britain1995-1999
A 2023 Action Aid reports that: "over 14 million people have fled Ukraine, including seven million refugees seeking shelter in bordering countries, and eight million who have been displaced within Ukraine.. " The UN Refugee Agency report that: 'At least 89.3 million people around the world have been forced to flee their homes. Among them are nearly 27.1 million refugees, around half of whom are under the age of 18. There are also millions of stateless people, who have been denied a nationality and lack access to basic rights such as education, health care, employment and freedom of movement" that is 1 in every 88 people on earth who has been forced to flee." © The Huguenot Museum, Rochester
Trade and people
People move things and they themselves move. One might compare this train of refugees moving across continents with the train of trade moving along the famous silk road, a trade route that established over hundreds of years concerned with exotic products including silk and paper. Both routes wove through towns, cities and villages, the latter trod mostly by merchants, the former by refugees.
Before they set off there were long established links between Huguenot merchants in France (in Normandy for example and particularly in Rouen which was effectively the port of Paris) and London. So trading links were in fact important in helping Huguenot families plan their journey.
Note: For more on the original Silk Road please see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_along_the_Silk_Road
Note: In Britain today in comparison to cities from whence people need
to flee there are cities of Sanctuary https://data.cityofsanctuary.org/groups/list
And Counterpoint makes art about and for refugees https://counterpointsarts.org.uk/work/
Detail
Being a refugee scatters you and your kin geographically. Likewise Weaving Silk Stories the collection will have, scattered across it, imagery and story relating both to the lives of certain Huguenot silk weavers and their group achievements.
Tracking down individual Huguenots has involved help from Ted Hill, researcher at The Huguenot Museum Rochester, and I have been able to relate particular details from their lives with specific designs for garments. Hopefully thereby honouring their memories.
Often as I research certain visual details stick out. One of the first details I latched onto, in relation specifically to Huguenot history was the Mereaux
"A méreau coin, or communion token, was distributed to parishioners deemed worthy of taking communion. During the Huguenot persecution, they acted like a password to exclude infiltrators who may have wished to spy on the congregation.
Each reformed Protestant parish had its own design, often fairly naïve in style. The méreaux, or communion tokens, were kept by the anciens or elders, and distributed by them to those parishioners considered worthy of approaching the Lord’s table – i.e. to take communion. This would not have been a weekly occurrence, and the méreaux would have been collected up by the anciens afterwards."
Wealth accrued by trade is part of the story of the history of silk and one I will return to. This is a different type of coin with a different sort of value and I have yet to work out where I will place its likeness on a garment. Other inspiring details linked to the Huguenots include song birds and auriculas. They will certainly be featuring but detailing how is the stuff of future posts. Please check back or read on to learn more.
Weaving Silk Stories is a new project in partnership with the independent charity Historic Royal Palaces, which is due to launch in 2027.
Paper sponsorship by Duni Global
