Louis DeBay

6th Great Grandfather, 1702 - n/k 

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Louis DeBay was born on 17 March 17902 to Isaac DeBay and Suzanne Rousselet.  He was baptized in 1702 at Esqueheries, Aisne, Picardy, France.  He later fled France as a Huguenot (protestant) refugee.  To find out more about Huguenot refugees click here.  

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Louis married Elizabeth Grosse in 1721.   The marriage record states that Louis was a silk weaver of Bethnal Green.  The marriage was recorded in 'The True Register of the Fleet Marriages'.   At this time, the area surrounding Fleet Prison was popular as a place to marry.   These 'clandestine marriages' took place outside the restrictions of the Anglican Church and so did not require the usual requirements around residency, witnesses, parental consent if you were under 21 or public banns.  Clandestine marriages had very loose regulation; all that was needed was a clergyman and the consent of the bride and groom.  Grooms could be as young as 14 and brides 12!   The illustration above shows a Fleet marriage taking place outside Fleet Prison.  

 

Fleet Prison was originally a debtor's prison and prisoners could pay for the privilege of living in certain areas surrounding the prison known as the 'Rules' or 'Liberties'.    Prisoners could then earn money to pay their debts and earn their freedom.  This led to a situation where clergymen, who needed money to pay off their debts to be released, carried out quick 'no questions asked' marriages for a fee.  By the 1740s, as many of half of the total marriages in London took place in this way.  The illustration above shows a Fleet marriage being performed.  The practice ended in 1745, when an act was passed banning marriage outside an Anglican church, unless you were a Jew or a Quaker.  

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Louis and Elizabeth had five children: Judith, Charles, Jean or John, Marie and Israel.  All the children were baptized at the church known as La Patente at Spitalfields.  This was the French Huguenot Church on Crispin Street.    There may have been 2 more children; Francis and Ann, but this is yet to be verified.   

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I think that Elizabeth died in 1831 and in 1743 Louis married Ann Clenchan. Confusingly, there are 2 marriage records for Lewis and Ann. One is a 'Fleet' marriage in 1743 and one is at St Leonard's Church in 1749. Louis is described as being a weaver of Shoreditch. It is possible that the second marriage was done due to concerns about the legality of the first.  Louis and Ann had three children; William, Abraham and Ann.  Ann passed away in 1757. Her address was given as Webb's Square (Shoreditch). 

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I think that Louis married for a third time in 1760 to Ann Jones.   However Louis died a year later in 1761; his address once again wa given as Webb's Square. 

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Spitalfields and Bethnal Green were home to many French Huguenot refugees. To find out more about this area click here. 

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To follow the story and find out about Louis's son, Abraham click here. 

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