Huguenots of London - by Robin D Gwynn (Paperback)

About the Book

This illustrated booklet details the substantial contribution Huguenot society made to English banking and commerce, and the crafts and professions, in London. It explains why London became England's principal refugee center, and the role of the French Churches. The different communities of Spitalfields and Soho are contrasted, and attitudes to the newcomer refugees and their assimilation to London society is explained.

Book Synopsis

Several hundred Huguenot refugee artists and craftsmen are recorded as working in London before and after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, which marked the height of the persecution of the Protestants in France. This book is an introduction to the range of their artistic contributions, centred on the British metropolis, and the extents of their artistic influence outside London. Huguenots are associated with the London goldsmiths' and silkweaving trades, but their contribution to art education, decorative painting, engraving, sculpture, wood-work, furniture, upholstery, jewellry and watch-making in this period is less well known.

Review Quotes

"An excellent introduction to the subject ... pleasing illustrations of Huguenot craftmanship." TLS

About the Author

Robin Gwynn is a historian of Early Modern England, formerly Reader in History at Massey University, New Zealand. His speciality has long been the study of Huguenot refugees and the French communities in Britain, and in 1985 he was Director of the Huguenot Heritage tercentenary commemoration under the patronage of H.M. The Queen. His books include the widely acclaimed Huguenot Heritage (2nd edn, Sussex Academic Press, 2001), and editions of later seventeenth century letters and consistory minutes of the largest of the many French churches in England.