Page:Protestant Exiles from France Agnew vol 1.djvu/194

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178
french protestant exiles.

for Colchester in the first Parliament of George I., and a director of the Bank of England.

The heir of Richard and Anne was Peter Du Cane (born 22nd April 1713, died 28th March 1803), High Sheriff of Essex in 1744-5. He became by purchase Lord of the Manor of Great Braxted; he was a Director of the East India Company and of the Bank of England. He married, 27th May 1735, Mary, daughter of Henry Norris, of Hackney, and was after his death represented by the heirs of his body thus:—

1. Peter (born 1741), who married, in 1769, Phebe Philips, daughter of Edward Tredcroft, Esq., of Horsham, and died in 1822, leaving a son,

Peter (born 19th August 1778), M.P. for Steyning, who died in May 1841, leaving no heirs.

2. Rev. Henry Du Cane, Vicar of Coggeshall, Essex (born 21st September 1748), who married, 4th April 1778, Louisa, daughter of John Charles Desmadryll, Esq., and grand-daughter maternally of Major-General Desborough. He died twelve years before his elder brother, namely, on 16th April 1810. His three sons were:—

(1.) The Rev. Henry Du Cane, of the Grove, Witham, Rector of St. Bennett’s, Paul’s Wharf (born 1786, died 1855).

(2.) Major Richard Du Cane, of the 20th Light Dragoons (born 1788, died 1832).

(3.) Commander Charles Du Cane, R.N. (born 1789, died 1850).

The estate of Braxted Park is now in the possession of the heir of the third of these sons. But following the order of birth, we may note that the late Captain Percy Charles Du Cane, of the Scots Greys (born 1840, died 1873), was the last surviving male heir of the first line; his sisters are, Emily, Mrs. Codd; Louisa Mary, Lady O'Malley; Charlotte, Mrs. Luard; and Anna Maria, Mrs. Wilkinson.

The second line is represented by (1) Richard Du Cane, Esq. (born in 1821), who married, in 1859, Charlotte Maria, daughter of Sir Josiah John Guest, Bart, and Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Guest; (2) Colonel Sir Edmund Frederick Du Cane, K.C.B. (born in 1830), of the Royal Engineers, Inspector-General of Military Prisons, and Chairman of the Commissioners of Prisons. To this line belonged Rev. Arthur Du Cane (born 1825, died 1865), Minor Canon of Wells Cathedral.

The third line is represented by Sir Charles Du Cane, K.C.M.G., of Braxted Park (born in 1825), Chairman of the Board of Customs (formerly M.P. for North Essex, and a Lord of the Admiralty, afterwards Governor of Tasmania); he married, in 1863, Hon. Georgiana Susan Copley, third daughter of Lord Lyndhurst.

IV. Le Thieullier.[1]

Jan Le Thieullier (as already noted) died as a martyr at Valenciennes in 1567 or 1568. His grandfather, Pierre Le Thieullier, is on record as having been born in 1466, and as having married, in 1490 (he being aged twenty-four), Agnes Couillet, aged nineteen. His son, the martyr’s father, was Jan Le Thieullier, husband of Jeanne Mesureur. The martyr’s wife was Catherine Godin, but whether she survived him I am not informed. His family were scattered, but did not take refuge in England. His son Jan retired to Cologne, and of him it is recorded that he married Jeanne, daughter of Jan Trappe, of Tournay, and had a son Jan; that he died in 1593, and that his widow remarried with Jan de Weez, of Frankfort. She was bereaved of her second husband also. In 1605 she came to England as Madame de Weez, with her son, Jan Le Thieullier (born 1591), who now becomes[2] John Lethieullier. Madame died on 24th July 1631, in London. Mr. Lethieullier lived for some time at Great Ilford, in Essex, and married a very young lady of a refugee family, Jane, daughter of John De la Forterie and of Anne de Francqueville, by whom he had ten children. These were not all born in England, the civil wars having driven Mr. and Mrs. Lethieullier to Amsterdam. The family, however, returned and settled at Lewisham, he carrying on his business as a London merchant. He died at the age of eighty-eight, at Lewisham, on 2nd November 1679, and was buried at Peter-le-Poor, London.[3] (His widow died in 1693, aged eighty-two.)

Their eldest daughter, Jane (born 1629), was married, on 22nd May 1649, to Mr.

  1. I am much indebted to George E. Cokayne, Esq., Norroy King-of-Arms, and to Sir Edmund Du Cane, K.C.B.
  2. Although he is the only refugee whom I can find on record, there was probably another, perhaps a brother, father of Christopher (b. 1648). The Historical Register says, “1728, Sept. 18. Died, aged about eighty, Christopher Lethieullier, Esq., father to the lady of Sir Richard Hopkins.”
  3. The refugee’s sister, Catherine, was married, in 1630, to the Pasteur Jacob Desbouverie, of Heilighorn in Holland; another sister, Margaret, died of a fall from a window.