The book is well worth having and is available online. Just search on "The River Makers"
I don't know if it applied elsewhere or earlier but, around 1700, my wife's Huguenot ancestors recieved refugee benefits in London, and gave their origins as Poitou in France.
There was a Matthew De Pere who married Rebecca Fisher in Moulton, Lincolnshire, on 10 July 1704, who had a son John Depear in 1710. Although a bit earlier, there was a Mathieu De Lespiere born at Thorney in 1669
Baptisms at Thorney: Parents Jean and Ester Iserby/Yserby
Mathieu de Lespiere 4 April 1669
Jean De Lespierre or Lespiere 21 Jul 1672
Joel de Lespierre 10 Jan 1674
Mathieu Yserby 21 Jul 1663 son of Mathieu and Ester Pinchion
Other similar surnames:-
Thorney: Parents Daniel and Anne Le Roy
Daniel De Lespierre 30 Oct 1692
David De Lespierre 28 Oct 1694
David De Lespierre 25 Oct 1695
Jean de Lespierre Or de Lespiere 19 Dec 1697
Benjamin De Lespierre 17 Dec 1699
Benjamin De Lespierre 13 Jul 1701
Canterbury: Parents Francois and Ester Masquelier
Marie de le Pierre 18 Jul 1669 at
Cornille de le Piere 25 Jun 1671
Sandtoft: Parents Joel and Marie Lermite
Ann de Lepiere 16 Nov 1651
Thorney: Parents Joel and Marie Lermite
Daniel Lespiere Or de le Spiere 18 Mar 1659
Susanne de Lespiere 8 Mar 1662
Ester de Lespiere 15 Dec 1667
David
Yes, the "Matthew De Piere" who married Rebecca Fisher in 1704 in Moulton is the one and same Mathieu de Lespiere born 1669 in Thorney to Jean de Lespiere and Esther Yserby. (That was his second marriage, so the timeline fits nicely in any case.) As for Mathieu's brothers, there is no record of a Daniel (the one born 1692 to Daniel de Lespiere and Anne le Roy moved to Crowland and died there), but I strongly suspect the one who married Judith Fisher in 1713 in Moulton was a younger brother of Matthew/Mathieu, and probably born in Moulton. In fact, I might guess Jean de Lespiere and his family relocated from Thorney to Moulton shortly after his first three children were born, though I have no hard proof of this. The Jean de Lespiere junior born 1672 probably died young, where as Joel de Lespiere born 1675 in Thorney is later recorded in Moulton, with a wife Elizabeth. He died there in 1736, and by all accounts seems to have followed the Baptist faith of his wife Elizabeth.
There are a number of individuals with the surnames "De Lespiere", "De Le Piere", "Du Pire", etc. recorded in the French Church of Canterbury from the late 1500s. There are even three Joel du Pire's, though they are all demonstrably distinct from the Joel de Lespiere of Hatfield Chase and later Thorney. However, given the prominence of the name Joel, and the rough equivalence of the surnames, my bet would be that the Canterbury family were close cousins to my ancestor Joel de Lespiere.
Good work, in any case. It's nice to have someone confirm what I've examined, and indeed post it for others to others to view.
