Finding Family: online and in person!A journey to Blois, France  and the Archives Departementales Loir-et-Cher

My journey into the family history began with a letter addressed to my aunt in England. In 2013, when visiting from Australia, we talked about the letter, about her memories, about other members of her family, ………

My brother had researched one branch of the family through the Huguenot Society of South Africa in the 1980’s and he had a comprehensive genealogy of the Le Roux (my mother’s relatives) family from Gabriel Le Roux, born 25 July 1669 in Blois, France. There was mention of Gabriel’s parents, Anne Bourdon and Pierre Le Roux but no earlier details.

Then there was a chance meeting at the National Library of Australia in Canberra. I was introduced to someone who was a member of the Huguenot Society of Australia. I soon joined up and have become a card carrying member of the Society. This group has given expert advice about researching one’s French relatives. I found Anne Mordell’s book, French Genealogy from Afar, most useful.

The book suggested a number of things. Firstly, the importance of familiarising yourself with the area, the physical location and the history. Then exploring the online resources to find clues and documents, and finally have the key questions you want answered before you go to visit the area.

My schoolgirl French improved, use of google translate increased and after about 6 months of researching I decided it was time to do some further investigation overseas.

The Huguenot Library, London

My husband and I travelled to Europe in August 2014 and the London and Blois Archives to find documents that may be relevant. We contacted the institutions and made appointments with the appropriate people - we hoped.

Our first visit was to Kew Archives where we a were able to access the Huguenot Library, managed through the Library of University College, London. Here we explored 12 crates of books, articles and documents that confirmed some of my thinking and made me want to read more about my family in South Africa.

There were pictures of wonderful houses and gardens, many references to wine growing and establishment of the early farms, the role of the VOC and the Council of Seventeen ….. what did all this mean?

When my parents emigrated to Australia in the early sixties, I was a young child and had very little knowledge of the ‘history’ of South Africa other than family stories and recollections. However I do remember my mother mentioning KWV and wine making, but we did not think any more of it at the time!

The archives in Blois

Our second visit was the Archives Departementales Loir-et-Cher, in Blois on the Loire River, in France. We had organised to stay in Blois for a week and made it a family reunion with the aunt from England and cousins from England and New Zealand crossing paths for a few days. As time was limited, with chateaux to visit and places to explore, we gave ourselves two mornings in the Archives.

On arrival at the Archives Departementales Reading Room, we introduced ourselves, and a phone call was made. From that point we were able to speak with a young man, who had perfect English, much to our relief, and was able to find so many useful documents for us to examine, discuss, photograph and photocopy.

That morning we had access to the original bound folios of births, baptisms, marriage and burial records. To actually touch the documents we had seen on line, and have them translated from French script into English was very moving.

Some of these folios were covered in vellum with pages of old music taken from missals. Inside these sturdy sheets of music were records of decisions made by the Protestant communities in the 1600s. It was particularly moving to have my aunt, aged 92 at the time, entranced by seeing the baptism record for Gabriel Le Roux, then hearing the translation into English. He was her earliest known relative at that stage!

The Archives staff also retrieved articles, magazines and documents relating to Mer, a village on the other side of the Loire River. One of particular interest was a map of the old town, superimposed on a modern map. The map showed the sites of 2 temples 1606 and 1670, the earlier one now being located under the current site of a car park (L’Histoire du protestantisme a Mer, by Paul de Felice p232-233).

It became apparent that our family was connected with Mer, so my husband, aunt and cousins set off to explore and imagine ….. We gained a powerful sense of the place, identifying street names, such as Lenoir and Dutems, that are linked to names in our family.

A recent discovery is that Pierre’s sister, Anne, was forced to abjure her faith in the Eglise St Hilaire, which was the very church we had visited, wondering what may have taken place there. Anne is buried in Aulnay, a village, just outside Mer.

Following another lead in the Archives, we explored references to Pierre Le Roux, Gabriel’s father, being a bailiff at Cour Cheverny. A drive around the little village of Cour Cherverny, family photo outside the Marie, and lunch in the town gave us further inspiration to continue the research …. but there were chateaux to explore …… and the research would again have to become online once back in Australia.

Back in Australia

At the end of 2014, the Huguenot Times, the newsletter of the Australian Huguenot Society of Australia, mentioned the forthcoming 2015 International Huguenot Conference in London, and the XVIIth International Reunion of Huguenot Descendants in France. This presented my husband and I with other opportunities to enhance our knowledge of the Huguenots and their unique history.

In August 2015, we decided to link the Huguenot Conference and Reunion in Europe with another visit to the Archives in Blois. This time our objective was to find and translate 11 records of births, deaths and marriages that I had identified online.

A further point of intrigue was a reference to ‘Pommegorge’, a property near Mer that had been linked with the name Le Roux. One book had mentioned the property as belonging to Le Roux in 1530, but there was no source cited for this fact.

I had also found a postcard on the Blois Archives site: 6 Fi 136/47 - Summer Camp Blois "A Pommegorge " Wed. The house of small settlers. Location (s): Mer (Municipality). This presented an image of an ancient house and made a connection to the Le Roux name. We were excited about the prospect of perhaps seeing the place!

Back to Blois and a visit to Pommegorge

Arriving in Blois in 2015, things felt very familiar. There was a sense of returning with additional knowledge, more understanding of the place and the history, but there were still more questions.

Our appointment with the staff at the Archives again excelled expectations. I had emailed my request to see the 11 records and they were found, translated and deciphered. We duly took notes, photographed relevant material and were introduced to other people who were interested in researching the Le Roux name.

Furthermore, the staff at the Archives were able to organise a meeting with the current owner of one property at Pommegorge.

She kindly collected us from the railway station, welcomed us into her home, gave us a guided tour of the property, including a climb down into the cellars.

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We noted the architecture of the original buildings and explored who might have owned the place. Standing on the site where my family may well have stood, all those years ago was quite overwhelming.

She then introduced us to the owners of the larger house, that had featured in the postcard and image I had found on the Blois Archives site.

This large house had probably been built in the 18th century, long after the Le Roux had left Pommegorge. We shared tea and home made brioche, used sign language and much “Frenglish” to convey messages. This was a powerful visit indeed!

It seems there is no documentary evidence to date that links Gabriel Le Roux directly with ‘Pommegorge’, rather Issac is the name on various tax documents held at the Archives. One folio contained evidence of taxes paid by Issac Le Roux to the Count of Blois in the mid 18th century.

Our next stop London ….. for the Conference. The theme of the Sixth International Huguenot Conference held in London in September 2015 was ‘Huguenot Networks in Europe 1550-1800: the impact of a minority’. The topics included:

Huguenots as purveyors of artistic taste London and the Huguenot element in British politics Literary influences in the diaspora Forging communities and seeking a living Protestant solidarity and confessional differences Huguenots in international diplomacy.

The speakers were engaging and the networking opportunities excellent. All of this provided context and background to our knowledge of the Huguenot congregations in Europe and beyond. It was wonderful to meet Pieter Coertzen, examine his book and gain further knowledge of the early settlement of South Africa.

We next travelled to Bordeaux, then Libourne in the valley of the Dordogne, and attended the XVIIth International Reunion of Huguenot Descendants. People came from all over the world and it demonstrated the extent of the spread of Huguenot descendants and their influence across the globe. I was the only South African born Huguenot descendant in the group of about 90 participants.

Now back in Australia, there is a need to complete more online research, and confirm, share information with others, before writing the story of our segment of the Le Roux family history.

Dorothy Brownrigg [Le Roux through the maternal line]March 2016

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent out by the South African Le Roux Familiebond (Le Roux Family Association) to its members

on 28 Feb 2018 Titles supplied by Jimi le Roux, 25 March 2018