“A well researched, informative and helpful book for the many family historians whose Protestant ancestors lived in Northern Europe.” —Federation of Family History Societies Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, many thousands of Protestants fled religious persecution in France and the Low Countries. They became one of the most influential immigrant communities in the countries where they settled, and many families in modern-day Britain will find a Huguenot connection in their past. Kathy Chater’s authoritative handbook offers an accessible introduction to Huguenot history and to the many sources that researchers can use to uncover the Huguenot ancestry they may not have realized they had. She traces the history of the Huguenots; their experience of persecution, and their flight to Britain, North America, the West Indies and South Africa, concentrating on the Huguenot communities that settled in England, Ireland, Scotland and the Channel Islands. Her work is also an invaluable guide to the various sources researchers can turn to in order to track their Huguenot ancestors, for she describes the wide range of records that is available in local, regional and national archives, as well as through the internet and overseas. Her expert overview is essential reading for anyone studying their Huguenot ancestry or immigrant history in Britain. “This is a useful, up to date, practical guide for anyone who has, or thinks they have, Huguenot ancestors in the British Isles. It provides social and contextual assistance along with guidance on what records have survived, where to find them and how to use them.” —Milner Genealogy

France, 1637. Young French Huguenot Ambroise Sicard and his family desperately seek a life free from religious persecution. Determined to travel to the New World, they leave their home in France, bring only a few possessions, and depend on the kindness of strangers to stay safe. Ambroise the Huguenot follows the Sicard family as they bravely leave behind everything they know to come to a foreign, unsettled country. Told from Ambroise's viewpoint, this biography follows the young Ambroise from his home in France and his journey across the ocean to a new beginning in what would eventually become the United States of America. Esther Secor Cleveland, a direct descendant of Ambroise Sicard, thoroughly researched life in France during the 1600s to deliver this compelling tale of her ancestors' courage. With highly detailed information about seventeenth-century local history, people, food, and customs, Ambroise the Huguenot is destined to garner a worthy place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in Huguenot ancestry.

The only comprehensive guide to tracing back to the original refugees and further, in France, with details of methods and sources for all the places where they took refuge.

This scarce work pulls together much important information on early settlers of Jamaica, including seventy pedigrees of early Jamaicans, a table showing the starting date for baptismal, marriage, and burial records as found in all Jamaican parishes, and an early census of 700 Jamaican landowners.