French ancestors need help

[louisemccrea]

Hi

I think my ancestors were originaly from France but i dont know the best place to start.  I believe they came over to Staffordshire in the late 1600's to the early 1700's. I have found stories from other ancestors about the family history and they all start in France one is a priest had a illigitamate child to a young woman belonging to his church another is that the family were Hugenots and the most far fetched is a french Duke had to escape France and went into hiding in Stafordshire during the revolution however i have traced the family back in Staffordshire before the revolution also someone else said they were from the Basque countries.
Is it hard to find French ancestors and i am sure they changed the name slightly when they came over here although it definatly does not sound British.

any tips would be great
Louise
P.S  would i also be best to get a basic french language book or is it quite easy to work out

[jorose]

You can find French genealogical word lists, and with that and some information on the format of French parish records you can usually get by.

If they arrived in late 1600s early 1700s, and they were Protestants, then they are most likely Huguenots.  The Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685 and post that date huge numbers of Huguenots emigrated.

http://www.huguenotsociety.org.uk/ is a good place to start. Try just searching on Huguenot and the surname of the family, or Huguenot + the town in Staffordshire they lived in.  To get back to France you will need to work out where the family came from, but there is quite a lot of Huguenot information online and you may find that your family lines have already been researched.

[louisemccrea]

Hi Jorose

Thanks for that i will try the Hugenot society see what i can find then hopefully i can take it from there.

Thanks Louise

[willow154]

Hi Louise,
Jorose has supplied you with the site I knew about on Hugenot ancestry, so here are some other sites with regard to tracing families in France, in general:
http://www.cyndislist.com/france.htm
Good luck.
Paulene

[louisemccrea]

Hi Pauline

Thanks for the link that gives me plenty of places to start my research hopefully i get somewhere

Thanks again Louise

[Tourmalineviolet]

Hi Louise
I am also searching for an ancestor who was supposedly a Huguenot Count with a surname of Maskery / Maskrey / Mascare etc who also ended up in Staffordshire. there seems to be a similarity with your story of a Duke named Mccrae who ended up in Staffordshire. My ancestor apparently made a living making and selling gingerbread and there was a gingerbread factory in Congleton in Cheshire started in c.1850 by Samuel Maskery, who was a cousin of one of my great times X Grandfathers. I know your entry is 10 years old but I wondered if you have been able to find out any more about your lost French Duke.
John

[Tourmalineviolet]

Hi Louise
Did you ever find out anything more about your French ancestor who might also be one of mine - I messaged you on this forum a few years ago on this but I didn't see a reply
Thanks
John