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Translation to be reviewed. This page is a translation of the French original, which remains the reference. Read the French version

The Claude Martin laboratory

Those who stayed

Claude Martin listed those who left. His records also tell, often without saying so, who stayed: a mother making her will in Clairac, a son marrying there, while a brother or a father had “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom). Here are the families split in two that the documents allow us to reconstruct.

The question

After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685), most of Clairac’s Protestants did not leave. They had to abjure and became “nouveaux convertis” (new converts). From 1686, the king instructed parish priests to keep watch on them by drawing up lists; whole families converted. [W30] For Clairac, the “Rôle des nouveaux convertis de la paroisse de Saint-Pierre-de-Clairac” of 1699 is kept at the Archives départementales de Lot-et-Garonne (reference G H 129) [W30]; according to the reference page compiled in 2019, it lists 3,274 names (G09). This document cannot be consulted online: we have not read it.

Without it, another way remains open: the deeds drawn up in Clairac after 1685, in which families declare a relative who had left. Claude Martin recorded twenty-nine of them from the town’s notaries (G05), and cites others in his text on the refugees in Dublin (G04).

Method

  • Divided family: a document names both a member present in Clairac (or its jurisdiction) after 1685 and a relative who had left the kingdom.
  • Stayed: only the person who makes the deed in Clairac (testator, spouse, party to an agreement) or whom a document says stayed. An heir who is merely named is not counted: nothing says where he lived.
  • Same statuses as the research lab: confirmed (the document says both), probable (one of the two is only said to be “absent” or is inferred), hypothesis (only the name links the people). Names are written as in the sources; namesakes are never merged.
  • Limits: the deeds recorded by Claude Martin run from 1690 to 1711; they do not say whether those who stayed abjured, or when. The abjuration registers and the 1699 roll remain to be consulted.

Results

Documented divided families
36
Confirmed families
30
Probable families
3
Hypotheses
3
Named people who stayed
45
of whom fathers and mothers
23
Named people who left
50
Those who left named in Claude Martin’s list
37
Families documented by Claude Martin’s records
31

What we observe. Those who stayed are most often the parents, and above all mothers, widows making their wills in Clairac; those who left are their children. Several wills set aside the share of the child who left in case he returns to France, such as that of Marie Pauzie, mother of Pierre Metge, in 1710. The ties are not broken: Claude Martin notes that the merchants who took refuge in Dublin “restaient en contacts étroits avec leur famille et leurs concitoyens restés à Clairac avec lesquels ils commerçaient” (stayed in close contact with their families and fellow citizens who remained in Clairac and with whom they traded) (G04); in 1752, a refugee in Ireland still asks her brother-in-law in Clairac for wine.

Records

The divided families

Each record gives those who stayed and those who left, with the deed and its date. “On Claude Martin’s list” marks a person who left who also appears, with the same surname and first name, in Claude Martin’s list of emigrants. [L] Destinations are those written by Claude Martin or by a confirmed deed; probable connections appear on the research lab’s records.

  • Confirmed

    Balguerie

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Pierre Balguerie : father (marriage notice, 3 July 1711)
    Left
    • Pierre Balguerie : son, settled abroad, to Amsterdam
    • Daniel Balguerie : son, settled abroad, to Amsterdam (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources

  • Confirmed

    Barbe

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Jeanne Barbe : mother (will, 10 March 1695)
    Left
    • Abel Barbe : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 10 March 1695, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)
    • Research lab record

  • Confirmed

    Belloc

    A century after the Revocation, a Paul Belloc living in Clairac still trades with a merchant in Amsterdam: the family link with the refugee of 1686 is not established.

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Paul Belloc : relative (power of attorney, 1753)
    Left
    • Moyse Belloc : relative, refugee, to Frankfurt (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources

  • Confirmed

    Bourges

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Anne Dumaignon : mother (will, 14 October 1710)
    Left
    • Mathieu Bourges : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 14 October 1710, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Confirmed

    Brustis

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Daniel Brustis : relative (agreement, 17 January 1691)
    Left
    • Moyse Brustis : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom), to Rotterdam (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Agreement of 17 January 1691, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)
    • Research lab record

  • Confirmed

    Caubet et Miraben

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Jean Caubet : relative (agreement, February 1690)
    • Daniel Miraben : relative (agreement, February 1690)
    Left
    • Isabeau Miraben : mother, “sortie du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    • Daniel Caubet : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom)
    Sources
    • Agreement of February 1690, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)
    • Research lab record

  • Confirmed

    Cazaux

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Marie Dumaignon : mother (will, 1692)
    Left
    • Jean Cazaux : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    • Pierre Cazaux : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 1692, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)
    • Research lab record

  • Confirmed

    David et Brocas

    The will also names a daughter, Marguerite de David, wife of Gabriel de Brocas, doctor of medicine; in 1691, the father, Pierre David, is said to be “absant” (away), represented by his daughter.

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Marguerite Martin : mother (will, 4 December 1690)
    Left
    • Jaques David : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    • Jean David : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 4 December 1690, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Confirmed

    Dayre

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Moyse Dayre : father (will, 14 July 1691)
    Left
    • Moyse Dayre : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom), to London (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 14 July 1691, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Confirmed

    Dehaume, Mérignac et Piécourt

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Marie Caubet : mother (will, 7 October 1692)
    Left
    • Jean Dehaume : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 7 October 1692, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Confirmed

    Delmestre

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Marthe Delmestre : daughter (marriage contract, 19 February 1708)
    Left
    • Jaques Delmestre : father, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Marriage contract of 19 February 1708, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Confirmed

    Dugars

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Ysabeau Descombels : mother (will, 17 September 1690)
    • Jeanne Dugars : sister (will, 15 September 1692)
    Left
    • Jean Dugars : brother, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom), to London (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 17 September 1690, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)
    • Will of 15 September 1692, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Confirmed

    Flouret

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Anne Flouret : daughter (marriage contract, 28 November 1711)
    Left
    • Jean Flouret : father, “fugitif du royaume” (fled the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    • Marie (Flouret) : mother, “fugitif du royaume” (fled the kingdom)
    Sources
    • Marriage contract of 28 November 1711, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Confirmed

    Geneste

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Mathieu Geneste : father (will, 7 September 1697)
    • Marie Belloc : mother (will, 7 September 1697)
    • Marie Geneste : sister (agreement, 7 July 1691)
    • Anne Geneste : sister (agreement, 7 July 1691)
    Left
    • David Geneste : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    • Jean Geneste : brother, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 7 September 1697, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)
    • Agreement of 7 July 1691, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Confirmed

    Labadie

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Esther Conte : mother (will, 22 April 1711)
    Left
    • Pierre Labadie : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    • Isaac Labadie : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    • Jean Labadie : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 22 April 1711, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)
    • Research lab record

  • Confirmed

    Labat (Moyse de Labat)

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Jean Labat : son (receipt, 30 August 1708)
    • Jeanne de Massac : wife (receipt, 15 November 1697)
    Left
    • Moyse de Labat : father, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom)
    Sources
    • Receipt of 30 August 1708, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)
    • Receipt of 15 November 1697, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Confirmed

    Labat de Fortunon et Borderie

    Two letters cited by Claude Martin: in 1729, a brother who had taken refuge in Ireland writes to his sister, demoiselle Borderie, at Fortunon near Clairac; in 1752, Marie de Labat, a refugee in Ireland, asks her brother-in-law, a landowner in Clairac, for a cask of wine, “car elle ne peut supporter la boisson du pays” (for she cannot bear the drink of the country).

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Anne de Labat : sister (letter, 30 May 1752)
    • André Borderie de Bourgade : brother-in-law (letter, 30 May 1752)
    Left
    • Marie de Labat : sister, refugee, to Ireland (on Claude Martin’s list)
    • Labat de Landry : brother, refugee, to Ireland
    Sources
    • Letter of 31 July 1729, cited by Claude Martin in his text on the refugees in Dublin (G04)
    • Letter of 30 May 1752, cited by Claude Martin in his text on the refugees in Dublin (G04)

  • Confirmed

    Lafargue

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Jeanne Planton : mother (will, 14 June 1710)
    Left
    • Isabeau Lafargue : daughter, “sortie du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 14 June 1710, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Confirmed

    Larramière

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Isabeau de Verdier : wife (transfer, 13 September 1691)
    Left
    • Claude de Larramière : husband, “absent du royaume” (absent from the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    • Charlotte de Larramière : daughter, refugee, to Dublin
    Sources
    • Transfer of 13 September 1691, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)
    • Research lab record

  • Confirmed

    Lebrere

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Pierre Lebrere : father (will, 28 January 1710)
    Left
    • Suzanne (Lebrere) : daughter, “sortie du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 28 January 1710, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Confirmed

    Maleprade

    A family from the parish of Marsac, near Clairac. Élie de Maleprade left France in 1685, served the United Provinces and died in Utrecht in 1733; in 1755, his son writes to his cousin “resté en France” (who stayed in France). In 1730, the administration of the property of fugitive Protestants had the property of a sieur de Beauregard de Maleprade of Marsac seized, “sorti du royaume pour fait de religion” (who left the kingdom on account of religion).

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Maleprade : cousin (letter, 20 February 1755)
    Left
    • Élie de Maleprade : father, refugee, to Utrecht
    Sources
    • Catalogue of the Archives départementales de Lot-et-Garonne (2007) [W30]

  • Confirmed

    Merle

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Pierre Merle : father (will, 27 November 1691)
    Left
    • Daniel Merle : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom), to Frankfurt (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 27 November 1691, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Confirmed

    Metge

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Marie Pauzie : mother (will, 4 January 1710)
    Left
    • Pierre Metge : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 4 January 1710, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Confirmed

    Mérignac

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Jeanne Labadie : mother (will, 28 April 1697)
    Left
    • Pierre Mérignac : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom), to London
    • Moize Mérignac : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom), to London (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 28 April 1697, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)
    • Research lab record

  • Confirmed

    Pineau

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Esther Dussollé : mother (will, 19 January 1705)
    Left
    • Daniel Pineau : son, “fugitif” (fugitive), to Dublin (on Claude Martin’s list)
    • Pierre Pineau : son, “fugitif” (fugitive), to Dublin
    Sources
    • Will of 19 January 1705, cited by Claude Martin in his text on the refugees in Dublin (G04)
    • Research lab record

  • Confirmed

    Seilhade et Martin

    Their nephew Daniel Martin, a merchant of Clairac, first stays, then joins his Seilhade uncles in Dublin with his wife and their three children; he dies there on 15 March 1730.

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Jeanne Saffin : mother (will, 8 December 1692)
    • Daniel Martin : nephew (Claude Martin’s text)
    Left
    • Ysaac Seilhade : son, refugee, to Dublin
    • Jean Seilhade : son, refugee, to Dublin
    Sources
    • Will of 8 December 1692, cited by Claude Martin in his text on the refugees in Dublin (G04)

  • Confirmed

    Terson

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Anne Dumas : mother (will, 13 May 1698)
    Left
    • Antoine Terson : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom), to England (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 13 May 1698, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Confirmed

    Thomas

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Suzanne Charlot : mother (will, 14 April 1691)
    Left
    • Jeanne (Thomas) : daughter, “sortie du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 14 April 1691, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)
    • Research lab record

  • Confirmed

    Vernejoul

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Suzanne Salomon : mother (will, 4 September 1711)
    Left
    • Jean Vernejoul : son, “sorti du royaume” (left the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 4 September 1711, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Confirmed

    de Zutte (Zuttre)

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Charles de Zutte : son (marriage contract, 3 August 1711)
    Left
    • François de Zutte : father, “fugitif du royaume” (fled the kingdom) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Marriage contract of 3 August 1711, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Probable

    Boussac

    The deed says Marthe has been “absantée” (gone away) for five or six years, without writing that she left the kingdom.

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Anne Mansé : mother (will, 1 December 1691)
    • Marie Boussac : sister (will, 1 December 1691)
    Left
    • Marthe Boussac : daughter, “absentée” (gone away) (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Will of 1 December 1691, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Probable

    Boué

    The will of Pierre Boué, dictated in Amsterdam, leaves his sister Anne vineyards and a house in Clairac: it does not say explicitly that she lives there.

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Anne Boué : sister (will, 14 January 1699)
    Left
    • Pierre Boué : brother, settled abroad, to Amsterdam
    • Moyse Boué : brother, refugee, to Hamburg (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources

  • Probable

    Caubet et Chrestian

    The deed says Pierre Caubet is “absant” (away), without writing that he left the kingdom; Claude Martin’s list sends a Pierre Caubet to Germany.

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Ysabeau Caubet : wife (acknowledgement, 1690)
    Left
    • Pierre Caubet : brother-in-law, “absent” (away), to Germany (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Acknowledgement of 1690, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Hypothesis

    Denis

    Claude Martin writes that his father “était l’un des plus riches marchands de Clairac” (was one of the richest merchants of Clairac), without saying whether he stayed there after his son left.

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Denis : father (Claude Martin’s text)
    Left
    • Pierre Denis : son, “fugitif” (fugitive), to Dublin (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources
    • Claude Martin’s text on the refugees in Dublin (G04)

  • Hypothesis

    Dubourg

    Only the surname links Jaques Dubourg, who stayed in Clairac, to the Pierre Dubourg on the list.

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Jaques Dubourg : relative (receipt, 30 August 1708)
    Left
    • Pierre Dubourg : relative, named in Claude Martin’s list
    Sources
    • Receipt of 30 August 1708, recorded by Claude Martin in the deeds of the Clairac notaries (G05)

  • Hypothesis

    Pegus (Pigos)

    Jean Pigos, a dyer from Clairac, was given relief in Frankfurt on 2 July 1688; Jean Pegus married at Saint-Pierre de Clairac on 5 May 1695, and his children were baptised there. Only the name links them: a connection suggested by Glenys, still to be proved.

    Stayed in Clairac
    • Jean Pegus : relative (register, 5 May 1695)
    Left
    • Jean Pigos : relative, refugee, to Frankfurt (on Claude Martin’s list)
    Sources

Claude Martin’s part

31 of the 36 divided families are documented by deeds that Claude Martin recorded or cited; the others come from the registers found by the research lab and from a catalogue of the Archives départementales. Of 50 people who left, 37 also appear in his list of emigrants, with the same surname and first name: these deeds are probably one of the sources of his list, although none of his documents says so explicitly.

Without his records of the Clairac notaries, these divided families would remain invisible: foreign registers show those who arrive, not those who stayed.

What could not be established

  • The number of those who stayed: only the 1699 roll would give it name by name, and it is not online.
  • Abjurations: none could be dated for these families.
  • Families whose members all left, or for which no deed has been recorded, do not appear here.

What remains to be requested from the archives

Requests are ready; none has been sent.

  • Archives départementales de Lot-et-Garonne: the 1699 roll of new converts (G H 129); the parish registers of Clairac for 1685-1700 (abjurations); the minutes of the notaries Gadiot, Thoré and Fréron, to check Claude Martin’s records.
  • Archives nationales: the records of Protestants and their property in the diocese of Agen (TT 230).
  • Archives départementales de la Gironde: the administration of the property of fugitive Protestants (intendance of Guyenne).

Do you know of a deed naming a relative who stayed or left? Write to us.

Sources

  • [L] Claude Martin, “Emigrés de CLAIRAC en Agenois Province de Guyenne”, typed list, 3 pages, date unknown — facsimile and transcription
  • [W30] Archives départementales de Lot-et-Garonne, Protestants agenais de Henri IV à la Révolution, exhibition catalogue (Agen, 2007) (PDF), accessed 7 October 2026: archivesdepartementales.lotetgaronne.fr
  • [G] Claude Martin, typed records: G04, refugees from Clairac in Dublin; G05, Frankfurt registers and deeds of the Clairac notaries — Claude Martin’s records

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