England
Neuchâtel emigrants to England
Rodolph Huguenin married Margaret Croft in London in 1739 and at least three children were born to the couple and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields: George, Lucy and Rodolph. Their link to the main Huguenin tree has not yet been established.
Another expatriate, Benjamin Huguenin, christened his daughter Mary in the same London church in 1748: we do not know if he was a close relative of Rodolph, although this seems likely.
John Peter and Charlotte Huguenin, children of John Peter Huguenin and his wife Ann, were baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields in 1779 and 1784. Again, we do not know how this family is linked to their Swiss roots.
Moses Huguenin married Martha Kimberley in London in 1785, and the couple had at least 3 daughters: Elizabeth, Letitia and Maria, all baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields.
By the early 1800’s, there were a number of Huguenins in London, mainly recorded at St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Siméon-François Perrenoud (b. Les Ponts-de-Martel, 30 May 1768) married Marie Hauchecorne in London in 1794 and their 12 children were all baptised at Threadneedle Street French Huguenot church. Siméon-Francois’ parents were Frédéric-Louis Perrenoud and Susanne Montandon; his Perrenoud ancestors have been traced back to Jonas Perrenoud, born in La Sagne or Les Ponts-de-Martel in about 1650.
Lewis Jeanneret (born abt. 1775) married Sarah Warren Johnson in Greensted, Essex in 1801 and the couple baptised five children in Bermondsey and London between 1802 and 1812. (It is possible that Lewis was previously married to Mary Anne Pryce and had a son by her in 1798.) The oldest son, Henry, emigrated to Australia, where he married Harriet Merrett in 1832. The 1841 UK census shows Lewis as "James", and his death record is in the name of James Francis Lewis Jeanneret. Lewis' link to his Neuchâtel roots is unknown at present.
Rosette-Adèle Mellier (b. Bevaix, 7 August 1824), a chambermaid, received a passport for London on 13 March 1848. Rosette’s parents were Henri-François Mellier and Marie Agathe Sophie Fardel; her line goes back to Jehannod Mellier, the founder of the Mellier family. Rosette’s brother Henri-Alphonse emigrated to Australia in 1864.
Victor-Louis Jacot (b. Boudry, 29 May 1823) emigrated to England in the late 1840s and married Mary Medhurst in Brighton in 1849. Victor initially worked as a butler but later became a teacher like his wife. They had a daughter, Rosina, then after Mary's death in 1862 Victor married Mary Ann Weaver and had two more daughters, Marianne and Françoise. Victor's parents were Jean-Frédéric Jacot and Marguerite Lausselet; he was a descendant of Jean Jacot, who lived in St-Aubin in the second half of the 17th century.
Maria Christina Ernestina Huguenin (b. Kassel, Germany, 9 May 1835) married Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Emil Seelig, also from Kassel, in Lewisham, Kent in 1865. Their children were born there, and although the parents returned to Germany in later life the children remained in England with the exception of the oldest, Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Brant Seelig, who emigrated to the US. Maria belonged to the Huguenin-Virchaux branch of the family, and her line goes back to the earliest known Huguenin in the early 1400s.
Charles-Sylvain Jean-Mairet (b. Le Locle, 10 February 1841) emigrated to England in about 1872 and married Mary Anne Goldsmith in 1873. They spent most of their married life in Islington and had eight children, whose births were registered under the surname Mairet. Charles was a watchmaker and his oldest son (also called Charles Sylvain) followed the same trade. Charles was the son of Sylvain Jean-Mairet and Sophie Faure; his ancestors in the canton of Neuchâtel can be traced back to the 15th century.
Louis Jacot (b. Le Locle, 7 January 1861), came to England in the 1880s with his brother Edward and sisters Laure and Cécile. Both brothers worked in the watch trade, while Cécile taught French and Laure kept house. They were joined for a while by their younger brother Charles, a jewellery importer, before he finally emigrated to the US in the early 1900s. Louis married Isabella Millner Wilkinson in Birmingham in 1891, and Laure married Joseph William Player in Coventry in 1894. Their parents were Emile Jacot and Lucie Guillaume-Gentil; they were descendants of Abram Jacot who lived in La Chaux-de-Fonds in the mid-1700s.
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