2026 marks the four hundredth anniversary of the drainage of the Fens by the Dutchman, Cornelius Vermuyden: In this blog, our Hon Editor, Dr Vivienne Larminie, examines the hostility and challenges faced by Vermuyden's skilled workforce: Protestant migrants imported from the Low Countries for his Axholme project....

This post by President Joyce Hampton, published on 27 May, National Resistance Day in France, examines the extraordinary role played by Madeleine Barot during one of her country's darkest periods, the 1940-44 Occupation of much of France, and the oppression of refugees in the so-called 'Free Zone' ....

During Advent, as we choose our Christmas cards, or the font and illustrations for a homemade electronic version, it is fitting to examine the life and work of Esther Inglis, a Huguenot scribe whose creative virtuosity stunned her peers over 400 years ago. Barbara Julien, Blog Editor, examines her impact....

After a brief overview of Huguenot involvement in the colonisation of America, Barbara Julien, Blog Editor, examines the fascinating case of Jean Henry De Bérenger, a plantation owner who lost his inheritance as a consequence of the American War of Independence, 1775-83. Drafts of the petitions he sent in an effort to redress his loss were found within the Huguenot Library's collection of family papers, which are being gradually catalogued at item level by the Librarian, a painstaking but worthwhile exercise....

The eminent Huguenot physician Theodore de Mayerne stands out as one of the foremost doctors of the early modern period in Europe. Here fellow Joyce Hampton explores his career in England, the role he played within the medical sciences in his country of adoption, and his legacy among the physicians who followed him - in particular his nephew and great-nephew, Sir John and Sir Theodore Colladon....

In her latest blog for the Society, Hon. Editor Dr Vivienne Larminie examines the plurality of Protestant belief and variety of practice in early modern England, and unravels the threads that ultimately bound many Huguenots of the Refuge to the Church of England....

Little known in the United Kingdom, the European cultural route 'Sur les pas des Huguenots et des Vaudois', has, in 2023, reached a level of development which means it can no longer be ignored. The result of a long cooperation between countries of the diaspora and of the refuge, the history of its creation is worth exploring - and its paths worth walking, in the steps of our Huguenot ancestors. Barbara Julien, Blog Editor, charts its evolution....

"Refugees! Ukrainians and Huguenots", a new exhibition launched for Refugee Week 2023 is the ideal occasion for an excursion to the attractive Huguenot Museum at Rochester, in Kent, where visitors are spoilt for choice. Barbara Julien, Blog Editor, is our guide....

With the coronation of King Charles just a month away, Fellow Joyce Hampton looks at continuity and innovation in royal coronations in England, and explores Huguenot threads from the late Georgian period to the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953....

In his second blog on Huguenot tutors, Professor Michaël Green explores the reasons why French-speaking Huguenot tutors were in such high demand in western Europe, as for example at the Dutch courts of the House of Orange-Nassau….

The Huguenot Society's visit to Guernsey in the summer of 2022 has resulted in this richly illustrated blog by Activities Chairman Tony Wilson, showing the Island's Huguenot Heritage through the many memorials in St Peter Port church and elsewhere....

It was with great interest that the Huguenot Society learned earlier this year of the reopening of the East Hill burial ground in Wandsworth, after its successful renovation. Barbara Julien, Blog Editor, makes a pilgrimage to this unique site of Huguenot memory....

On the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the St Bartholomew’s day massacre in Paris, the Society’s Hon. Editor, Vivienne Larminie, examines the circumstances which led to the atrocity and its aftermath throughout France, and explores resonances across the Channel, in England ….

One of the loveliest English cathedrals, Winchester, is the setting for this study by Tony Wilson of memorials to eminent descendants of Huguenot refugees, of the 18th to the 20th centuries....

In part two of her overview of Huguenots in Finance, Joyce Hampton follows the Huguenot Portal family from their rise to fame as papermakers to the Bank of England in the 18th century, to the current evolution of Portals International as suppliers of high security paper to organisations worldwide...

This post by Fellow Joyce Hampton examines the background to the foundation of the Bank of England in 1694, and the role played by the Walloon Houblon family, particularly Sir John Houblon, the Bank's first Director. Among the original subscribers to Bank stock were many Huguenots...

The Grand Tour, a rite of passage whereby young men of means could complete their education through cultural discoveries, became a source of employment for Huguenot tutors during the early modern period; however, these journeys were not always plain sailing for the tutors, as Professor Michaël Green explains....

In this month's blog, we take a look at the difficult history of Protestant temples in France after the 1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and how very few survived demolition, whilst others were later rebuilt or relocated in repurposed buildings as a result of the 1787 Edict of Toleration, and the 1811 Napoleonic Concordat....

With the recent addition of a new piece by ivory carver David Le Marchand to the V&A's sculpture collection, guest writer Dr Kira d'Alburquerque (Curator, Sculpture 1600 - 1800), shines a spotlight on the life and work of this virtuoso Huguenot artist....

This post by Huguenot Society Activities Chairman Tony Wilson looks at a lesser-known example of Huguenot heritage in these islands - the surviving examples of Huguenot industrial enterprise in the south of England; in particular the Three Mills site in east London, a popular tourist attraction....

Well before the setting up of various relief funds to assist Huguenot refugees fleeing France in the 1680s, English parishioners were being exhorted to contribute towards Church appeals in favour of groups of persecuted Protestants abroad, notably the Waldensians. This proto-Protestant community, driven into the Italian Piedmont valleys by Louis XIV's cousin, the Duke of Savoy, suffered a cruel martyrdom, but their cause was championed by England's Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell....

After a rare omission in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic, the Assemblée du Désert, French Protestantism's iconic annual gathering, will be taking place again this September in the evocative setting of Mialet in the Cévennes where the Musée du Désert is also proposing a full programme for its visitors. Barbara Julien, Blog Editor, describes its history and rituals....

In 2010 the Huguenot Society organised a visit to Portarlington for its members during the conference at Londonderry. Here we look at the history of the town's foundation by Henri de Ruvigny, Earl of Galway as a settlement for war-weary Huguenot veterans and their families, and consider the political repercussions of this undertaking....

In the Georgian period, an unusual lake side cottage in Hatfield Forest, decorated with shells by a young member of the Houblon family, became the setting for convivial picnics on the Hallingbury Place estate in rural Essex....