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The Claude Martin laboratory

Making the archives speak

Bringing Claude Martin’s documents together on a single site, linking them to one another and having them reread by an artificial intelligence: a new approach to discover, building on his work, what his archives had not yet told us.

The approach

Gather, link, give a voice

Claude Martin spent his life copying records and following the Clairac families scattered by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. His lists and notes hold far more than he ever published. This laboratory puts them to work.

  • Gather

    Bringing together in one place Claude Martin’s documents — his lists of emigrants, his notes from the registers of Frankfurt, London or Dublin, his articles — and those that speak about him.

  • Link

    Linking these documents to one another: each person, family, place, event and source becomes a point in a single network, already at work in the site’s archives and map.

  • Read and cross-check

    Entrusting this material to an artificial intelligence, Claude, designed by the company Anthropic — a first name shared with Claude Martin, by pure coincidence. It reads, compares with public sources and suggests new leads.

Method

The AI suggests, people check

  • Every lead cites its sources: the Claude Martin document it starts from, and the outside sources consulted (online registers, archive databases, books), with the date they were consulted.
  • Nothing is made up: a lead is never presented as a fact. Contradictions between sources are pointed out, not settled.
  • People check: the family, the Société des amis de Clairac, historians and archive services confirm or rule out each lead.
  • Private documents stay private, and no information about living people is searched for or published.

The model used

The research is carried out with Claude Opus 5.5 (Medium), an artificial intelligence model designed by the company Anthropic. Here, Claude investigates Claude: no family ties, but a real family resemblance.

What this research has taken

Tokens used by the autonomous mode’s research runs
166 370 620
of which re-reading of cached context
160 069 958
of which text produced by the model
1 127 587
Research runs counted
40
Date of calculation (UTC)

An estimate from Claude Code’s execution logs on the project’s server: each response of the model records the tokens read and produced. Working sessions held with Sylvain, in which the lab is only part of the work, are not counted: they cannot be measured separately. The figure is recalculated after each research run.

What the statuses mean

  • Confirmed: a record or primary source says so explicitly.
  • Probable: several independent clues agree, without direct proof.
  • Hypothesis: a plausible connection that remains to be proven.
  • Ruled out: a source contradicts the lead.
Summary

What the archives have taught us

  • Confirmed

    At least 261 departures from Clairac after 1685, name by name, against 3 274 Protestants who stayed and converted in 1699: at least 7.4 % of the community left (about 10 % according to Claude Martin, a quarter for France as a whole).

    The Refuge in figures

  • Confirmed

    36 families split in two by exile are documented, 30 of them confirmed: 45 people who stayed and 50 who left are named.

    Those who stayed

  • Confirmed

    31 of these families are documented thanks to the deeds Claude Martin recorded or cited; 37 of the people who left also appear on his list of emigrants.

    Those who stayed

  • Confirmed

    87 links connect 74 Clairac families in exile — marriages, godparents, witnesses, departures together —, 49 of them confirmed.

    The networks of departure

  • Confirmed

    In Frankfurt, people from Clairac pass through in small groups of three to five, coming from Lausanne and leaving together for Holland (1686-1688), according to the registers recorded by Claude Martin.

    The networks of departure

  • Confirmed

    Two lineages can be followed into modern times: that of the Fauquiers, which gave its name to a county in Virginia (1759), and that of the Dutilhs, who set up a family foundation (1962).

    The lineages

  • Hypothesis

    The Canadian Labatt brewers are said to descend from an André Labat settled in Portarlington (Ireland): the family tradition says he came from “Claret”, and no document links him to Clairac.

    The lineages

  • Confirmed

    Claude Martin’s work has an international reach: it is cited by historians of Huguenot Ireland, French Louisiana, the Waldensian colonies of Germany and Aquitaine wine.

    They cited Claude Martin

  • Hypothesis

    The Pegues family of South Carolina, whose house saw a prisoner exchange of the War of Independence signed in 1781, is said to come from Clairac: this is the hypothesis of Glenys, a descendant of the Pegus family; no public document proves it.

    The Pegues record

  • Probable

    Claude Martin also studied the glassmaking gentlemen of the Ariège, his mother’s family: the SHPF Library holds his file of records on the de Grenier family, from 1610 to the 20th century, which is also the source of the story of Marguerite de Grenier Latour and the minister Pierre Peiret, who died in New York in 1704.

    The de Grenier file

  • Confirmed

    All 274 lines of the list of emigrants have been studied: 181 records, of which 101 leads confirmed by a source.

    The research lab records

New research

Those who stayed

Claude Martin listed those who left. His records of the Clairac notaries also show those who stayed: families split in two, a mother in Clairac, a son outside the kingdom.

Documented divided families
36
Named people who stayed
45

Those who stayed

New research

Networks and lineages

Who left with whom, and where to? The marriages, godparents, witnesses and convoys recorded by Claude Martin and found by the research lab outline family routes. And what became of these families? A few lineages can be followed into modern times.

Families linked by a document
74
Documented links
87
Lineages followed
4

The networks of departure The lineages

First leads

What the archives are starting to say

Names from the list of emigrants already studied
274 / 274

Claude Martin’s typed list has 274 lines, that is 261 people according to his own summary. The research goes on, name by name; the counter moves forward with every new lead.

  • Confirmed

    Audebez: two Jeans from Clairac married in Rotterdam

    Claude Martin’s list has five Audebez who left for Holland. The registers of the Walloon Church in Rotterdam record two marriages of a Jean Audebez « born in Clairac », in 1762 and in 1786; at the 1786 baptism, the first is the child’s uncle. These departures came long after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685).

    Names from the list studied
    5
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Balguerie: Claude Martin’s notes found again in Amsterdam

    Claude Martin noted “Balguerie Pierre, married in Amsterdam 1708”. The marriage notice does exist, dated 20 January 1708; Moïse and Daniel Balguerie, other names from his list, are merchants there. And the database of Dutch East India Company crews reveals a Jean Isaac “Balquerij”, from “Clerac”, who sailed for Batavia in 1732. The scans of the marriage notices add more: Pierre (1708) and Daniel (1711) are both “from Clairac”, their fathers still live there, and they marry two daughters of Florentin Dureau; Daniel ended up in Utrecht after 1737, as Claude had noted.

    Names from the list studied
    8
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Barbe: Abel, a merchant “from Clairac” in Amsterdam

    Claude Martin’s list does not say where Abel Barbe went; he only found a trace of him in Clairac, in his mother’s will (1695), which provides for his share should he return to the kingdom. The Amsterdam registers find him again: in July 1689, “Abel Barbe van Clairac”, a 29-year-old merchant, registers his intention to marry there, assisted by his uncle; his father is still living in France. He was already trading in brandy there in 1684.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Bonnemayre: Antoine, from Lafitte, married in Dublin

    Claude Martin’s list sends Antoine Bonnemayre to Holland, but his own notes find him in Dublin. The register of the French church in Peter Street confirms it: on 4 February 1728, Antoine Bonnemayre, “native of La Fitte, jurisdiction of Clairac”, married Marthe Lalane, from Nérac, there. In May 1729 their daughter Marie was baptised; her godfather, Jean Villebois, was also a Clairac man on the list.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Borderie: a druggist bound for Holland, a young man in Dublin

    Claude Martin recorded two Borderies from Clairac. Moyse, a druggist, was given relief in Frankfurt in May 1688 (the date in Claude’s extract, to be checked against the original register) and set off again for Holland, where his trail has yet to be found. Jaques was in Dublin: the register of the French church in Lucy Lane shows him on 25 December 1719, “aged about twenty-two, from the town of Clerac”, returning to the Protestant faith after long living as a Catholic in France.

    Names from the list studied
    2
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Boudon: Daniel, “born in Clerac”, married in Rotterdam

    Claude Martin had recorded a Daniel Boudon in Frankfurt (1688), in Bremen (1691), then in Rotterdam (1729). The registers of the Walloon Church in Rotterdam confirm the presence of a Daniel Boudon “born in Clerac”: he married Anne Guedon, born in Rotterdam, there in January 1737, and the couple had children baptised there until 1757. He is probably not the refugee of 1688, but perhaps his son.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Boussac: a serge weaver bound for Holland, a daughter who “went away”

    In Frankfurt, Claude Martin recorded Jean Boussac, a serge weaver, one of the five men “from Clérac in Agenois” who set out for Holland in 1687. In Clairac he also recorded the will of Anne Mansé, widow of Pierre Boussac (1691): her daughter Marthe “went away” five or six years earlier, and she declares her unworthy to inherit. What became of Jean and Marthe is not yet known.

    Names from the list studied
    2
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Brinihol: David naturalised in England, Germaine de Loches married in Rotterdam

    Claude Martin noted David Brinihol as “naturalised in England in 1707”: the naturalisation act, published by the Huguenot Society, indeed describes him as the son of Étienne and Jeanne, born in Clairac (April 1707). He also noted “Germaine de Loches, the pastor’s daughter (Mrs Brinihol)”: the registers of the Walloon Church in Rotterdam show her marriage in December 1713 to Jean Brinihol, born at La Parade, near Clairac, a merchant in Rotterdam who died in 1739.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Brouchequin: Paul, a tailor from Clairac, from Frankfurt to London and Rotterdam

    Claude Martin noted Paul Brouchequin as gone to Holland and Pierre to London. In his notes on the Frankfurt registers, he had himself recorded “Paul Brousseguin, tailleur, de Clairac” (tailor, of Clairac), just before Jean Pigos, a dyer: Paul’s departure is therefore established. The original register, kept at the Institut für Stadtgeschichte in Frankfurt (document sent by Glenys Bolland), dates this relief to 2 July 1688: coming from Clairac, the two men received one florin each and were going to Holland, with a certificate from Lausanne of 15 June. The 10 May 1688 in Claude’s notes is probably a copying error. According to records of the Base de données du Refuge huguenot reported by Glenys, which we have not been able to re-read, Paul also passed through Geneva, La Neuveville and Schaffhausen in June 1688. He is found again as a tailor in London, where his son Charles was baptised in 1702 (mother: Marie Madelene Pommies), then in Rotterdam, where Ester (1705) and Marie (1707) were born, with a Loches, a Clairac family, as witness. A Pierre Brochequin, married in Amsterdam in 1708, for whom Paul was witness in 1709, is no doubt a relative: the link remains to be proved.

    Names from the list studied
    2
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Brustis: a Clairac family in Rotterdam and Dublin

    Claude Martin had noted Moyse Brustis as having “left the kingdom” (notarial deed of 1691) and as receiving relief in Frankfurt in 1688 (the date in Claude’s extract, to be checked against the original register). The registers of the Walloon Church in Rotterdam find him again: in 1698, Moyse Brustis, “born in Clairac in Guyenne”, married there. Daniel (1703) and Marie Brustis (1708), also “born in Clairac”, married there in turn. In Dublin, a Jaques Brusty, “native of Clairac”, joined the French Church in 1728.

    Names from the list studied
    3
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Carmentrand: a man from Clairac joins the French Church in Dublin (1727)

    Claude Martin had noted Jean Carmentran’s “reconnaissance” in Dublin. The printed registers of the Peter Street church confirm it: on 24 September 1727, “Jean Carmantran, native of Clerac in Guienne”, who had “several times attended Mass”, was received into the Reformed Church. Carmentrans were still living in Dublin around 1770.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Caubet: Daniel “van Clairac” marries in Amsterdam (1690)

    Claude Martin had noted a Daniel Caubet in Amsterdam, and had found in Clairac an agreement of 1690 about the property of Daniel Caubet and his mother, who had “left the kingdom”. The Amsterdam register of marriage banns confirms his presence: on 29 April 1690, “Daniel Caubet van Clairac” is betrothed to Rachel Manbour, of Amsterdam. The couple had at least six children baptised in the Walloon Church between 1691 and 1710.

    Names from the list studied
    5
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Cazaux: two “fugitive” brothers found in Rotterdam?

    Claude Martin had recorded the will of Marie Dumaignon (1692), which states that her sons Jean and Pierre Cazaux had “left the kingdom”, and had noted a Pierre Cazaux in Frankfurt, on his way to Holland. At the Walloon Church of Rotterdam, a Jean Cazaux “born at Clerac in Guyenne” marries on 8 March 1693; a Pierre Cazaux is witness at the baptism of his first daughter in 1694. They are very probably the two brothers, which remains to be proven.

    Names from the list studied
    2
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Chappelou: Jacob, a baker “van Clerac” in Amsterdam

    Claude Martin had recorded Jacob Chapelou, “aged 23, of Clairac”, received into the French Church of the Savoy, in London, in 1685. Five years later, a “Jacob Chapellou van Clerac”, baker, marries in Amsterdam Marguerite Jallet, of Montpellier, assisted by the minister Jean Loches of Rotterdam, his relative; he runs a bakery there. In 1703, Judith Chapelou, “van Clerac”, the other name on the list, marries there in turn.

    Names from the list studied
    2
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Chastel: Moyse, “de Clerac”, received in London in 1700

    Claude Martin had recorded Moïse Chastel, “aged 23, of Clairac”, received into the French Church of the Savoy, in London, on 9 June 1700. The printed edition of the register by the Huguenot Society confirms it: “Chastel, Moyse : de Clerac : 23 ans”. Born around 1677, he was about eight years old at the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. What became of him remains to be found.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Chaudruc: Jeanne, “born at Clerac”, married in Rotterdam in 1744

    Claude Martin had noted Pierre Chaudruc at Landau, in the Palatinate, in 1710. A generation later, the register of the Walloon Church of Rotterdam records the marriage, on 9 February 1744, of Jeanne Chaudrue, “born at Clerac”, to Henry Bruier, born at Sedan; seven children are baptised there up to 1758. The link between Pierre and Jeanne remains to be established, but the record shows that people from Clairac were still leaving in the middle of the 18th century.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Choppis: Marie, “de Clerac”, married in Dublin in 1710

    Claude Martin had recorded in the Dublin registers the marriage of Marie Chopis, daughter of Pierre and Susanne Dumer, of Clairac, to André de l’Or, a hatter from Languedoc, on 23 July 1710. Both registers printed by the Huguenot Society confirm it: “Made. Chapis, de Clerac en Guyenne” at St Patrick’s, “Marie Choppy, fille de Pierre Choppy et de Susane Dumer de Clerac” in the banns of Wood Street. Her husband was probably a widower, father of three young children.

    Names from the list studied
    3
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Coignon: a Clairac family in Rotterdam (1728-1753)

    Claude Martin had noted Jean and Paul Coignon, “burghers of Rotterdam in 1728”. The registers of the Walloon Church of Rotterdam confirm the family’s presence: Paul Coignon, “born at Clerac”, married there in 1748, and Étienne Coignon, also born at Clairac, in 1747 and again in 1753. A Jean Coignon died there in 1739, leaving four adult children. The exact link between these people and the burghers of 1728 remains to be established.

    Names from the list studied
    2
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Constant: Étienne, “born at Clerac”, married in Rotterdam in 1714

    Claude Martin had noted “CONSTANT Etienne married in Rotterdam in 1714”. The marriage register of the Walloon Church of Rotterdam confirms it: on 25 November 1714, Étienne Constant, “born at Clerac in Guyenne”, married Marie Leger, born in Dieppe. A namesake, from another place in Guyenne, had married there in 1705.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Coudere: two sisters from Clairac married in Dublin (1701-1702)

    Claude Martin had recorded two daughters of Jean Coudere and Jeanne Alegre, of Clairac, married in Dublin. The printed registers of the French church of St. Patrick confirm it: Jeanne married Pierre Jougla, also of Clairac, there on 6 August 1701; Anne married Isaac Duval de Massabeau, from the Agenais, on 28 April 1702, and had two sons baptised in 1704 and 1705. In 1719, Elizabeth Coudert, “of the town of Clérac”, was received at the Peter Street church.

    Names from the list studied
    3
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Debals: Pierre, “born at Clerac”, married in Rotterdam (1747, 1754)

    Claude Martin’s list names an André Debals, with no destination. The surname reappears in the mid-18th century at the Walloon Church of Rotterdam: Pierre Debals, born at “Clerac”, married Marie Crebessac, also of Clairac, there in 1747, then in 1754 Judie Marguerite Dillian, “van Clerac”. The link with André remains to be established.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Denis: Jean, “born at Clairac”, married in Rotterdam (1700); Pierre in Dublin

    Claude Martin’s list sends Jean Denis to Holland and Pierre Denis to Ireland. The index of the Walloon Church of Rotterdam shows Jean Denis, “born at Clairac”, marrying Marie Hollaer, of Nantes, in 1700; the minister Jean Loches and Germaine de Loches, of a Clairac family, were witnesses at the baptisms of their children. In Dublin, the printed registers confirm Pierre Denis as a witness at Clairac marriages (1701-1702) and godfather to Penettes children, his relatives according to Claude Martin.

    Names from the list studied
    2
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Dubosc: Jacob, “born at Clairac”, naturalised English (1713); Alexandre, surgeon, in Amsterdam

    Claude Martin’s list names three Dubosc: Jacob (Frankfurt, then England), Alexandre and Noé (Switzerland). Claude had noted Jacob passing through Frankfurt in 1687 with three other men from Clairac, then his English naturalisation. The printed edition of the naturalisations confirms it: in 1713 an Act naturalised “Jacob Dubosc, son of Moses and Elizabeth, born at Clarac”. Alexandre, a surgeon “from Clérac” who passed through Frankfurt in 1702 on his way from Geneva, is probably the Alexandre du Bosc “of La Parade”, a neighbouring village, who married at the Walloon Church of Amsterdam in 1716.

    Names from the list studied
    3
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Dugars: Jean, a “fugitive” from Clairac by 1690, married in London in 1708

    Two wills noted by Claude Martin (1690, 1692) describe Jean Dugars, son of Paul, as “out of the Kingdom”, then as a “fugitive”. Claude found him in London: a Jean Dugar “of Clairac” had a child baptised there in 1696, and Jean Dugar, “native of Clérac”, married Marie Hotot, from Le Havre, on 10 April 1708. A “John Dugars” took the oath of English naturalisation in 1709: probably the same man. Claude’s list also mentions a stay in Geneva in 1701, which remains to be checked.

    Names from the list studied
    2
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Dutilh: from Clairac to Amsterdam and Rotterdam

    Claude Martin’s list counts five Dutilhs, who left for Frankfurt, Germany or Holland. Two records confirm this: in Amsterdam, the marriage notice of 25 April 1698 names “Pierre Dutilh van Clairac”, merchant, father of Abel Pierre (1717); in Rotterdam, a Jacques Dutilh born at “Clerac” married at the Walloon Church in 1721, as Claude had noted. This Jacques is probably a different man from the button-maker given relief in Frankfurt in 1686. The baptism of a daughter of Pierre, in 1703, names her grandfather, “Moyse du Tilh” (Stadsarchief Amsterdam, baptisms of the Walloon Church, DTB 133, f. 117); in 1743, an Amsterdam deed shows that the Dutilhs of Amsterdam and Rotterdam were related.

    Names from the list studied
    5
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Duval de Massabeau: Isaac, merchant in Dublin, husband of Anne Coudere of Clairac

    Claude Martin’s list names Isaac Duval de Massabeau, who left for Ireland. The printed registers of the French churches of Dublin confirm his marriage on 28 April 1702 to Anne Coudere, of Clairac, and the baptism of two sons in 1704 and 1705, with Pierre Pineau, a man from Clairac, as godfather. They also show that he was a widower: his first wife, Marie Chrestien, was buried in Dublin in April 1701. In 1706 he signed at the wedding of Jean Pomarède, son of a lawyer at the Parlement of Bordeaux, where a “Monsieur Duval, merchant” is mentioned. He himself came from “Mont Saintpront”, no doubt Monsempron, in the Agenais.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Fauquier: Claude Martin’s list corroborated

    Claude Martin notes “Fauquier Jean, naturalised in London 1698”. Public sources confirm it: born in Clairac around 1672, Jean-François Fauquier became deputy master of the Mint under Isaac Newton, then a director of the Bank of England; his son Francis would be governor of Virginia.

    Names from the list studied
    2
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Flouret: “fugitive” parents from Clairac, and a Jean Flouret in London (1711)

    Claude Martin found, in the records of a Clairac notary, the marriage of Anne Flouret on 28 November 1711: her parents, Jean and Marie, are described as “fugitives”. The printed registers of the French Church of Threadneedle Street, in London, record the baptism on 15 December 1711 of Jeanne, daughter of Jean Flouret and of Marie, his wife; one witness is named Jean Desmestre. No place of origin is written in London: the connection remains a hypothesis to be checked.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Geneste: two fugitives in the Clairac deeds, a Jean Geneste in Rotterdam

    In the records of Clairac notaries, Claude Martin found two members of the Geneste family who had “left the kingdom”: Jean, brother of Mathieu (agreement of 1691), and David, son of Mathieu Geneste and Marie Belloc (will of 1697), who would recover half of the property if he returned. He also notes a Jean Geneste, burgher of Rotterdam, in 1714. In Rotterdam, a Jean Geneste, an elderly unmarried man, was buried in 1728 in a grave rented from the French Church: the connection remains a hypothesis. Claude Martin himself published in 1971 the story of another David Geneste, son of Moyse Geneste and Judith Dumas, a vine grower at Cobham, in England, who wrote to his sister who had stayed in Clairac (“David Geneste, a Huguenot vine grower at Cobham”, Surrey Archaeological Collections).

    Names from the list studied
    3
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Jouglas: a hatter from Clairac, from Frankfurt to Dublin

    Claude Martin had recorded Pierre Jouglas, a hatter from Clairac, among the refugees assisted in Frankfurt (1686-1687), then his marriage in Dublin in 1701. The printed register of the French church of St. Patrick confirms this marriage: on 6 August 1701, “Pierre Jougla, de la ville de Clérac en Guienne”, married Jeanne Coudere, from the same town. He was already in Dublin in December 1700, as a witness at the marriage of a refugee from La Parade. That the Frankfurt hatter and the Dublin bridegroom are the same man is very likely, but not proven in writing.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Joyeux: Pierre, born in Clairac, a refugee soldier naturalised English in 1700

    Claude Martin had noted a Pierre Joyeux “naturalisé à Londres 1700”. The Huguenot Society’s edition of naturalisations confirms it and adds detail: “Peter Joyeux, born at Cleracq in the Province of Guienne”, son of Daniel Joyeux and Marie, was naturalised by an Act of April 1700 together with former refugee soldiers who had served in English regiments. A Daniel also appears in Claude’s list; another Pierre Joyeux died in Kassel in 1731 according to his notes, with no established link.

    Names from the list studied
    4
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Labadie: three brothers from Clairac in Suriname?

    In 1711, Esther Conte, wife of Jean Labadie, a merchant, stated in her will that her sons Pierre, Isaac and Jean had “sortis hors du royaume” (left the kingdom); she believed Pierre to be dead (Claude Martin’s notes). The registers of the Reformed Church of Paramaribo, in Suriname, name three Labadies “natifs de Clairac”: Isaac, married in 1703, Jean, married in 1717, and Pierre, married in 1726. They stood as witnesses and godparents for one another, and Pierre’s daughter had a grandmother named “Ester Labadie”. That they are the three sons of the will is likely, but not proven in writing.

    Names from the list studied
    3
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Labrousse: Marie, from Clairac, received into the French Church of Dublin in 1719

    Claude Martin had recorded the abjuration in Dublin of Marie Labrousse, “born of Protestant parents of the town of Clairac”, in May 1719, with a day that is hard to read in one of his notes. The printed register of the French Church of Peter Street confirms and clarifies: on Wednesday 20 May 1719, Marie La Brousse, unmarried, “née aussi de parens protestans de la ville de Cleirac province de Guienne”, made her public abjuration together with a widow from the Île de Ré, then signed “Marie la Brouse”.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Lafargue: from Clairac to London and Rotterdam

    Claude Martin had recorded two departures: Isabeau Lafargue, who had “left the kingdom” according to her mother’s will (1710), and Paul La Fargue, “of Clairac in Guienne”, married in London. The published registers add others: at the French Church of La Patente (London), Jean Lafargue, “originally from Clairac in Lower Guienne”, had four children baptised between 1725 and 1732; at the Walloon Church of Rotterdam, Françoise la Fargue, born in Clairac, married in 1760 Pierre Sauvage, also born in Clairac. How they were related remains to be established.

    Names from the list studied
    4
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Lalanne: Marthe, in Dublin (1727-1729)

    Claude Martin’s list sends Marthe Lalanne to Ireland; his Dublin notes show her marrying, on 4 February 1728, Antoine Bonnemayre, of Lafitte, in the jurisdiction of Clairac. The printed register of the French church of Peter Street adds another record: on 19 March 1727, “Marthe La Lane” made her recognition there, having attended Mass in France. But no record says she came from Clairac: born in Nérac according to her marriage, in “Brechem en Guienne” according to her recognition. She is probably on the list because of her husband.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Laporte: Moïse, “born at Clayrac”, naturalised English in 1702

    Claude Martin had noted Moïse Laporte, son of Jean and Anne, “born in Clairac”, naturalised in England. The printed collection of naturalisations confirms it: “Moses la Porte, born at Clayrac in Guienne” appears in an Act of Parliament that received royal assent on 25 May 1702; his petition accompanied those of refugee officers who had served William III. Two other Laportes from Clairac passed through Frankfurt, according to Claude’s notes: Abel, a “brassier laboureur” (farm labourer), around 1686-1687, and Élie, in 1704, on his way to Holland.

    Names from the list studied
    2
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Larramière: from Clairac to Dublin, the daughters of the sieur de Prades

    In a notarial deed of 1691 noted by Claude Martin, Isabeau de Verdier surrenders the house of her husband, Claude de Larramière, squire, sieur de Prades, “absent from the kingdom”. The printed registers of Dublin find his family: on 27 February 1699, at the French church of St Patrick, Charlotte, daughter of “feu Noble Claude de Laramiére, escuier, seignieur de Prades” (the late noble Claude de Laramière, squire, lord of Prades) and of Elizabeth Verdier, married Gédéon de Gautron, a squire from Montpellier; her sister Marie signed the record. Charlotte, wife of a pensioned captain, was godmother at Portarlington in 1704 and a witness in Dublin in 1722.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Loches: David, an officer naturalised English (1699), and Pastor de Loches in Rotterdam

    Claude Martin noted David de Loches as ‘naturalised in London in 1699’. The naturalisation act, published by the Huguenot Society, gives him as born at Clairac, son of Daniel Loches and Françoise, and tells his story: a lieutenant in the French army, he took refuge in Holland, came to England with William III, was taken prisoner at Camaret in 1694 and threatened with the gallows if he did not change sides, and escaped. In Rotterdam, Pastor Jean de Loches and Suzanne de Broc stand as witnesses at the baptisms of Clairac families; Germaine de Loches, born at Clairac, married Jean Brinihol there in 1713. Claude called David ‘the pastor’s son’: the act names a different father, a point still to be cleared up.

    Names from the list studied
    2
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Clairac and Louisiana (1698-1754)

    With Gabriel Debien and Marie-Claude Guibert, Claude Martin studied departures for Louisiana from La Rochelle, Nantes and Clairac, from 1698 to 1754. Their study, presented at the national congress of learned societies in Nantes in 1972 and published in its proceedings in 1977, is cited in at least four works on the history of Louisiana and French America. Claude Martin recorded at least one man from Clairac enlisted for Louisiana: Jacques Pégus, with two coopers, before the notary Gadiot on 26 August 1718. The other names have yet to be extracted from the article, which the project is trying to obtain.

    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Martin: Daniel, died in Dublin (1730), and Joseph, married in Rotterdam (1707)

    Claude Martin had noted the death in Dublin of Daniel Martin, a merchant from Clairac who had gone to Ireland to join his Seilhade uncles. The printed register of the French Church of Peter Street confirms it: “Daniel Martin, natif de Clairac en Guienne” died on 15 March 1730, “aged seventy-five” (Claude had noted 70). Joseph Martin, whom Claude had not traced, very probably married in Rotterdam in 1707: the indexes give his birthplace as “Cairac” or “Leirac” in Guyenne, and members of the Brustis family of Clairac stood as godparents to his children. Mere namesakes: nothing links them to Claude Martin’s family.

    Names from the list studied
    4
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Mérignac: from Clairac to London and Rotterdam

    Claude Martin had recorded five Mérignacs of Clairac who went to England, and a will of 1697 in which the widow of Captain Jean Mérignac declares her sons Pierre and Moïse “fugitives”. The printed register of the French Church of the Savoy, in London, confirms it: “Moyse, de Clérac, 22 ans” and “Pierre, 32 ans, et Marie, sa femme, 28 ans, de Clérac”. The lab found Isaac, “born at Clerac en Guyenne”, married in 1702 at the Walloon Church of Rotterdam; at the baptism of his son Abraham, in 1703, the godmother was Germaine de Loches, also born in Clairac.

    Names from the list studied
    5
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Penettes: Raymond, “de Clerac”, married in Dublin

    Claude Martin placed the Penettes among the merchant families of Clairac settled in Dublin, and had recorded the marriage of Raymond Penettes. The printed register of the French Church of St Patrick confirms it: on 1 January 1718 (1719 in our calendar), “Monsieur Reymond Penettes, de Clerac” married Jeanne Guion there. Three of their children were baptised there between 1723 and 1730; the eldest’s godfather was Pierre Denis, another man from Clairac. A second household, that of Paul Penete, had four children baptised there: the family is still to be untangled.

    Names from the list studied
    2
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Petit: Pierre, “de Clérac”, from Frankfurt to London?

    Claude Martin had recorded two men named Pierre Petit from Clairac: a cooper given relief by the French Church of Frankfurt in 1686, and a young man of 21 received into the French Church of the Savoy, in London, in 1688. The printed edition of the London register confirms the second record: “Pierre Petit : de Clérac : 21 ans”. Was this the same man, who moved on from Germany to England? Nothing yet allows us to say so.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Philipot: Susanne, daughter of the pastor of Clairac, married in Dublin

    Claude Martin had followed Susanne Philipot, daughter of Jacques Philipot, one of the three pastors of Clairac, and of Sibille de Ricotier, from the Netherlands to Ireland, in 1701. The printed register of the French Church of St Patrick, in Dublin, tells what happened next: on 28 April 1701, “Suzanne Philipot, fille de Mr. Jaques Philipot, ministre du St. Evangile” married Jean Molié there. One of their daughters was buried there in 1704, aged a year and a half.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Philippot: Benjamin, the pastor’s son, a captain in the service of the Dutch Republic

    Claude Martin had recorded in Amsterdam, in 1686, the pastor Jacques Philipot, “formerly minister of Clairac”, his wife Sibille de Ricotier and a Benjamin Philipot. The marriage notice of 1 February 1709, in Amsterdam, tells who Benjamin was: “Benjamin Philipot van Cleracq”, captain of an infantry company in the service of the Dutch Republic, aged 38, both parents dead; he married Leonore Ricotier, from Tonneins, aged 32. Appointed captain in 1707, he drew a half-pay officer’s pension after the Peace of Utrecht. His widow was buried in Delft in 1759. That Benjamin was the pastor’s son remains probable: no record found so far names his father.

    Names from the list studied
    2
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Pineau: two brothers, “fugitives from Clairac”, from London to Dublin

    According to a will of 1705 noted by Claude Martin, Daniel Pineau, a merchant in Dublin, and his brother Pierre had fled Clairac in 1685. The registers published by the Huguenot Society confirm it: “Pierre Pineau de Clairac” was granted denization in Ireland in 1699, then naturalised English in 1702 as the son of Pierre and Esther, “born at Clairac”; in Dublin he was a witness and godfather to other Clairac families. A Daniel Pineau married Olimpe Vidouze de Labarthe there in 1708 and had at least four children baptised: very probably the merchant, though a nephew cannot be ruled out.

    Names from the list studied
    4
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Pomarède: four refugees from Clairac in Frankfurt, and a Jean Pomarède in Dublin

    Claude Martin had found four Pomarèdes from Clairac in the relief registers of Frankfurt: Daniel; Gratien, son of an officer, who came from Kassel and was leaving again for Holland; and two first cousins both named Pierre, pewterers, one of whom carried a certificate from Amsterdam signed in 1686 by Philipot, a former minister of Clairac. The printed registers of the French churches of Dublin reveal another Pomarède: Jean, son of a lawyer at the Parlement of Bordeaux, married in 1706, father of at least nine children, and surrounded by people from Clairac (Isaac Duval de Massabeau signed at his wedding, Daniel Pineau was godfather to one of his daughters). His marriage record does not say where he was born: his Clairac origin remains a hypothesis.

    Names from the list studied
    3
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    The 1978 gathering as told by Sud Ouest

    A Sud Ouest cutting kept by the family tells of the gathering of descendants organised by Claude Martin in Clairac in 1978: welcomed in the Salle Tivoli, the participants study the family trees of the Boué, Denis, Caubet and Duvigneau families — three of these names are on his list of emigrants. They come from Mauritius, Europe, America and North Africa; the Darné family is represented. The Duvigneau name does have an emigrant branch: Jean Baptiste and Anne Duvigneau, “of Clairac”, married at the Walloon Church in Rotterdam in 1753 and 1755.

    Names from the list studied
    8
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Ricotier: Sibille, wife of the minister Philipot, and Bordeaux merchants in Amsterdam

    Claude Martin’s list names Sibille Ricotier, who went to Holland, and a Pierre “Rocittier” whom he had not traced. The Amsterdam archives confirm Sibille: the wife of Jacques Philipot, one of the ministers of Clairac, she had a daughter baptised there at the Walloon Church in 1686 and was buried there, a widow, in 1708. They also show that the name belonged to refugee merchants from Bordeaux: a Jacques Ricotier, “of Bordeaux”, merchant, married there in 1684, and a Pierre Ricotier dealt there in Bordeaux brandy from 1688 to 1703, joined in 1697 with Jaques Philipot. Whether he is the Pierre on the list remains a hypothesis.

    Names from the list studied
    2
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Sageran: merchants of Clairac in business with the Dutilhs

    Claude Martin listed Pierre Sageran among the émigrés he had not traced. Three Amsterdam deeds, read in the originals, show that the Sagerans were merchants of Clairac involved in the Bordeaux wine trade: in 1700, the Clairac merchant Pierre Dutilh accepted a bill of exchange in Amsterdam “for the honour of Mr. Sageran the elder”; in 1701, a power of attorney concerns wines bought by “Sagerand de la Grange” and steps to be taken “at Clairac, Bordeaux and other places”; in 1738, “the Sieur Sageran de Birac” is called a “merchant of Clairac”. In 1733, Jacques Sagerand was a witness at the baptism of a daughter of Jacques Dutilh at the Walloon Church in Rotterdam. A Pierre Sageran, a merchant married in Friesland in 1701, has yet to be connected.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Touron: Anne, of Clairac, a refugee in London with her family

    Claude Martin had recorded Anne Touron in London. The printed edition of the register of the French Church of the Savoy confirms it: Jean Albert, aged 40, his wife Isabeau and “Anne Touron, unmarried, his sister-in-law, of Clairac” were received there together, in February 1687 according to Claude Martin (another of his notes says 1698). An example of a family departure: two sisters and a brother-in-law.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Vernejoul: a pastor of the Waldensian colonies born in Clairac

    Claude Martin recorded in Clairac the will of Suzanne Salomon, wife of Isaac Vernejoul, a merchant baker (1711): their son Jean “left the Kingdom” without their consent, and the inheritance will be his if he returns to France. A directory of the pastors of the Waldensian colonies of Germany (Th. Kiefner, 1997, p. 796) has an entry on a pastor born in Clairac, whose parents, Yzaac Vernejoul, merchant and baker, and his wife, stayed in France; its information comes notably from Claude Martin. This pastor is probably Jean, who appears on the list of emigrants. The colony where he served has yet to be identified.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Confirmed

    Villebois: Jean, of Clairac, at the French Church in Dublin

    Claude Martin had recorded that a Jean Villebois, of Clairac, had joined the French Church in Dublin in 1728. The printed edition of the Peter Street register confirms it: on 26 August 1728, “Monsieur Jean Villebois, native of Clairac in Guienne”, was received there. Two months later he married Isabelle Paumier at St Patrick’s church. He then appears as godfather to the daughter of Antoine Bonnemayre, of Lafitte, and his wife as godmother to a son of Jacques Brusty: the people of Clairac in Dublin stayed close to one another. Three children were baptised in Dublin between 1730 and 1738.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Probable

    Boué: a Clairac family between Amsterdam and Hamburg

    Claude Martin notes the death of Moyse Boué in Hamburg in 1720. A will dictated in Amsterdam on 14 January 1699 by Pierre Boué, a merchant, sheds light on the family: he made bequests to his brothers Moise, Jean and Jacques, and left his sister Anne vineyards and a house in Clairac, bought from Philipot, a physician. He also made a gift to the refugees of the French church in Altona, near Hamburg, and named as guardian his cousin Abel Barbe, another merchant from Clairac.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Probable

    Broc: Suzanne de Broc, wife of Pastor de Loches

    Claude Martin noted “Suzanne de Broc, wife of Pastor Jean de Loches, in Holland”. The Rotterdam registers record the burial, on 4 October 1708, of “Suijsanne Broeck”, wife of Pastor Loches: very probably her. A Moyse Broc “from Cleirac”, who was ill, also passed through Frankfurt in 1698 on his way to Holland.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Probable

    The de Roberts: connecting his mother to the glassmakers’ family tree

    The 1922 marriage record gives the name of Claude Martin’s mother, Isabelle Odette Blanche de Robert, and of his grandfather, Paulin Maurice Élisée de Robert. The association La Réveillée, of which he was a “pillar”, calls her Isabelle de Robert-Bousquet, and he himself signed “Claude Martin (de Robert Bousquet)”. They still have to be linked to the association’s family tree, and the firm “M. de Robert & Cie” of Bordeaux-Bègles identified.

    Updated

  • Probable

    Dumas: Pierre, “native of Clérac”, married in Zeeland (1706)

    Claude Martin’s list names Pierre Dumas without a destination. Elsewhere, Claude had noted the marriage of Pierre “Damas”, native of Clérac, at the Walloon Church of Cadzand (Zeeland, Netherlands) on 15 April 1706, to Susanne de Cro. The baptism index of that church spells the name “du Mas”: a daughter Susanne was baptised there in 1707 and a son Pierre in 1709, with the same Mathieu Suberbielle as witness as at the wedding. The Pierre Dumas of the list is therefore very probably this refugee in Cadzand. The entries themselves remain to be read in the registers.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Probable

    Dussoley: Pierre “du Soulay”, of Clérac, in London (1688-1696)

    Claude Martin’s list names Pierre Dussoley without a destination. The book of reconnaissances of the French Church of the Savoy in London, published by the Huguenot Society, received on 29 April 1688 Pierre “du Soulay”, aged 37 (born around 1651), his wife Anne and their daughters Esther and Marie, “of Clérac”. This is very probably the Pierre of the list. According to Glenys, he is also the “Peter de Souley” naturalised in England in 1696. In Dublin, an “Ester Dusouley” was godmother in 1711 to a Pineau granddaughter, a Clairac family that Claude links to the Dussollé; the link between the two families remains to be proved. Another man from Clairac ended his days in London: Pierre Du Soley, “âgé de 70 ans, natif de Clairac, tonnelier” (aged 70, native of Clairac, cooper), admitted to the French Hospital on 23 March 1751, died on 14 April 1761 (register of residents published by the Huguenot Society of London, Quarto Series, vol. 52, The French Hospital). Glenys sees him as a brother of Marie Dussolé, daughter of the late Pierre Dussolé, married in Clairac in 1695. Is the Pierre of 1688 this “late” Pierre Dussolé? If he is indeed the Peter de Souley of 1696, he was still alive and cannot be; no document allows us to decide.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Probable

    Larrat: Salomon, made a denizen in England in 1700

    Claude Martin had noted Salomon Larrat in London “in 1699”. The printed volumes of English naturalisations list “Solomon larrat” among the aliens made denizens on 11 March 1699-1700 (March 1699 in the old English calendar), then “Salomon Larrat” among those taking the oath to be naturalised in 1709. The name is rare: this is very probably the man from Clairac on the list, but none of these texts gives his place of origin.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Probable

    Latané: Louis, minister in Virginia (1701), from Clairac according to Claude Martin

    In his extracts, Claude Martin places only one refugee from Clairac in America: “Louis LATANé, en 1701 ministre de South-Farnham en Virginie” (in 1701 minister of South Farnham in Virginia). Published sources confirm it: a minister named Latané came to Virginia with the Huguenot emigration of 1700-1701, with his wife, a child and a servant, and Lewis Latané was for more than thirty years minister of the parish of South Farnham, in Essex County. Matriculated at Oxford in 1691, aged 19, he was the son of a Henry. His origin in Clairac is given only by Claude Martin: an American historian counts him among the ministers who came from Guyenne, without naming a town. His place of origin, miscopied in the Oxford register, has yet to be read.

    Updated

  • Probable

    Ledrier: a refugee minister in Amsterdam, married to a Planté from Clairac

    Claude Martin had noted David Ledrier, with no known destination. A will made in Amsterdam on 21 May 1691 links the family to Clairac: Jean Planté, “réfugié de Cleracq en Guienne” (a refugee from Clairac in Guyenne), son of Pierre Planté and Anne Lavigne, makes his sister Susanne, “femme à Mre Ysacq Ledrier, ministre réfugié dans cette ville” (wife of Isaac Ledrier, a refugee minister in this city), his heir; the merchant Pierre Boué, another man from Clairac, signs as witness. Isaac Ledrier and Susanne Planté have six children baptised in Amsterdam between 1690 and 1698, then a daughter in Groningen in 1703; Susanne dies a widow in Rotterdam in 1738. David Ledrier remains to be found.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Probable

    Metge: a dyer in Frankfurt, a godfather in London

    Claude Martin had recorded Pierre Metge, a dyer “de Clairac en Agenois”, given relief by the French Church of Frankfurt in 1687, but he had not been able to trace Moyse Metge. The printed register of the French Church of La Patente, in London, may show him: on 22 March 1713, “Moyse Mege”, who signs “Metge”, is godfather to the daughter of Jean La Fargue, a shoemaker “originaire de Cleraque”. The entry does not say where the godfather came from: a probable link, still to be confirmed.

    Names from the list studied
    2
    Updated

  • Probable

    Marguerite de Grenier Latour and Pierre Peiret: from Gabre to New York

    A family from the Ariège, not from Clairac: an example of the glassmakers’ diaspora studied by Claude Martin, not an entry in the list of emigrants from Clairac. According to a note in his records (SHPF Library), Marguerite de Grenier Latour, from Gabre, emigrated to England with her husband Pierre Peiret (or Peyret), from Les Bordes; he became minister of the French Church of New York, died there on 1st September 1704 and was buried in the churchyard of Trinity Church. The New York sources confirm his career and death: minister in New York from 1687, Pierre Peiret died on 1st September 1704 and was buried the next day in the churchyard of Trinity Church (epitaph, registers published in 1886, churchyard register); the epitaph gives his age as 60, not 50 as in the note. The baptism registers name his wife “Marguerite Latour”. Her origin remains probable: only a historian writing in 1885 also calls her “des Verriers de Gabre”, without citing a source; Pierre Peiret’s origin is disputed (county of Foix or Béarn).

    Updated

  • Probable

    Thomas: Jeanne, who left Clairac around 1688, received in London

    Two of Claude Martin’s records answer each other. In 1691, in Clairac, the widow of Jacques Thomas dictated her will: her daughter Jeanne had “gone out of the Kingdom” about three years earlier, without her consent. Now the register of the French Church of the Savoy in London, whose printed edition confirms the record, received in June 1688 “Jeanne Thomas, of Clérac, aged 22”. This is probably the same young woman; no document yet says so explicitly.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Probable

    Claude Martin and the glassmaking gentlemen: the de Grenier file

    Through his mother, Claude Martin descended from the glassmaking gentlemen of the Ariège, the Robert, Grenier and Verbizier families (exhibition panel: confirmed). The SHPF Library in Paris holds a handwritten file of his records on the de Grenier family: at least twelve sheets, records from 1610 to 1940, mostly from 1676 to 1792, which also concern the Robert and Verbigier (Berbigier, Berbisier) families. They come from the Ariège and the Couserans (Gabre, Commavère, Les Bordes, Mane, Fabas, Le Mas-d’Azil, Aigues-Juntes, Labastide-sur-l’Hers, diocese of Rieux) and from the Montauban area and the Albigeois (Montauban, Bruniquel, Nègrepelisse, Vaour, Penne). Among the 17th-century records: on 11 July 1676, Hélie de Granier, a “gentilhomme verrier” (glassmaking nobleman), born in Gabre, a Protestant, lived at the Mauvesin glassworks (Abbé Lestrade, 1904, p. 87: confirmed in the printed book). The records show marriages within the glassmaking community: on 17 June 1756, Jean de Grenier, sieur de La Bourdette, married Elisabeth de Grenier; on 18 June, another Jean de Grenier, sieur de La Bourdette, married Marie de Verbigier; on 28 May 1765, Jean de Grenier, sieur de Courtalas, married Marie de Berbigier. Claude followed the same people over decades: Jeanne-Marie de Grenier, married in 1756, declared this marriage in Montauban in 1789. Perhaps he made these records partly for his own genealogy: this is only a hypothesis. The records continue into the 20th century (not published). Records by Claude Martin, SHPF Library, not checked against the originals; uncertain readings are flagged.

    Updated

  • Probable

    Claude Martin’s writings on the glassmaking gentlemen

    A historian of his mother’s glassmaking families, Claude Martin spoke about the vanished glassworks at La Réveillée’s founding gathering in 1975, whose brochure prints the bibliography he provided. In 1976 he helped the Revue de Comminges with the genealogy of the Verbizier family; he wrote on the glassmakers of the Couserans (proceedings of the 1985 Saint-Girons congress, where he mentions a manganese mine at Mane), on the baron de Sevin’s collection (1992) and on an exhibition of old glass (1994), and wrote on the glassmakers of Cabanes (1977, journal of the Amis du Pastourais). The texts of 1975, 1977 and 1985 have yet to be found.

    Updated

  • Hypothesis

    Belloc: from Frankfurt to Dublin, and a Clairac–Amsterdam business link

    Claude Martin recorded Moyse Belloc “of Clairac in Agenais”, given relief in Frankfurt on his way from Bern. The Amsterdam archives show that the ties lasted long after the Revocation: in 1753, an Amsterdam merchant sought to recover a debt from “Paul Belloc living in Clairac”. An Isaac Belloc, a captain in Dublin in 1740, appears in the same circles as families from Clairac; his origin remains to be proven.

    Names from the list studied
    3
    Updated

  • Hypothesis

    Galup: a family from Tonneins, near Clairac, in Amsterdam and Rotterdam

    Claude Martin’s list names a Daniel Galup without a destination. In the Dutch Republic, the Galups whose origin is written came from Tonneins: Jacob, a baker “van tonnees”, had his banns published in Amsterdam on 17 April 1705, assisted by Isaac Castan (scan read); Isaac and Pierre, both born in Tonneins, married at the Walloon Church of Rotterdam in 1739 and 1742. The link with the Daniel of the list remains a hypothesis.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Hypothesis

    La Font: a burgher of Rotterdam from Clairac… or from Layrac?

    Claude Martin had noted Gabriel Lafont, “bourgeois de Rotterdam 1708”. The Amsterdam marriage notice of 9 September 1707 (scan read) names him: Gabriel La Font, a bachelor, “van Layrac”, was to marry Martha La Case, “van Nerac”, at the French Church of Rotterdam. He had seven children baptised there and died there in 1743. The record therefore says he came from Layrac, in the Agenais, not from Clairac: a clerk’s error or a different origin — the question remains open.

    Names from the list studied
    1
    Updated

  • Hypothesis

    Labat: from Clairac to Ireland, and the Labatts of Canada?

    Claude Martin noted Labats from Clairac in London in 1688, and a Marie de Labat who had taken refuge with her brother in Ireland, probably at Portarlington. At Portarlington, the register of the French church shows an André Labat and his sister Marie, widowed by 1730 from Marc de Chateauneuf; this André is said to be the ancestor of the Labatt brewers of Canada. And in Dublin, a Jaques Borderie “of the town of Clerac” appears in 1719: a lead for Claude Martin’s “M. Bordery”. The same people? It is a hypothesis, still to be proven. According to a 1987 collective work on the Huguenots of Ireland, Claude Martin had noted that the people of Clairac who went to Ireland did not pass through Frankfurt: they seem to have left by sea.

    Names from the list studied
    7
    Updated

  • Hypothesis

    Lartigue: a fragile lead towards Montesquieu’s wife

    Claude Martin’s list has two Lartigues who left for Holland. A Samuel Lartique appears in Amsterdam in 1703, with no indication of origin. A Lartigue family lived in Clairac, distant relatives of Jeanne de Lartigue, Montesquieu’s wife; but no document yet connects the refugees to that family. Jean Lacouture thanks Claude Martin, of Clairac, in his biography of Montesquieu (2003): Claude informed him about the writer’s circle in Clairac, which does not prove the link with the Lartigue refugees.

    Names from the list studied
    3
    Updated

  • Hypothesis

    Pegues: from Clairac to South Carolina?

    Glenys, a descendant of the Pegus family, which she holds to come from Clairac, believes her ancestors were close relatives of Claudius Pegues, a figure of the Pee Dee valley in South Carolina; she set this out in a manuscript, Our Pegu(e)s Heritage, whose French version is deposited with the Amis de Clairac and the Agen library. The name did exist in Clairac: Claude Martin’s notes name a Suzanne Pégues in 1690 and a Jacques Pégus enlisted for Louisiana in 1718. In the Frankfurt registers he also recorded “Jean Pigos, teinturier, de Clairac” (dyer, of Clairac), given relief with the tailor Paul Brousseguin; the original register, kept in Frankfurt (document sent by Glenys Bolland), dates this relief to 2 July 1688: coming from Clairac, with a certificate from Lausanne, both were going to Holland. A branch stayed: according to the deeds recorded by Glenys, Jean Pegus married Marie Dussolé at Saint-Pierre de Clairac in 1695, their children were baptised there from 1696 to 1709, and a son, Pierre, married there in 1736. If Jean Pigos is a Pegus, the family was therefore divided. Glenys suggests other connections, still to be proved: Jean Pigos would be the Jean-François Pegas who married Matalène Bousquière by a contract of 4 October 1701, perhaps the father of Claudius, whereas the American sources have the latter marry in Switzerland; this contract is known only from an online family tree, with no place given (unverified source). For Marie Dussolé, Glenys has found two burials in London in 1741, without deciding between them: Mary Pegus, of Frith Street, at St Anne, Soho, on 2 April, and Mary Pegues, at St Marylebone, on 8 December; neither is reliably linked to Marie Dussolé. Claudius Pegues was born in London in 1719; having arrived in Charleston around 1736, he settled near Wallace, where his house, Pegues Place, saw a cartel for the exchange of prisoners signed in 1781. No public document links him to Clairac: the link remains a hypothesis.

    Updated
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Further reading

The list of emigrants from Clairac Claude Martin’s record extracts From Clairac to the world The Refuge in figures Those who stayed The networks of departure The lineages All archives