The term _Huguenot_ seems first to have been applied to the Calvinists
about 1560, on the occasion of the Alboise conspiracy; some say the word
was derived from the German _Eidgenossen_, signifying a sworn
confederacy, whilst others say it was founded on the name of Hugues, a
Genevese Calvinist.
That the sobriquet _Huguenot_ was well known and understood as early as
1622, is shown by the existence of a rare tract entitled “La Trompette
de salut aux Huguenots de ce temps, 1622,” written in verse in the
following vein:
Huguenots, l’Eglise Romaine
Vous purgera tous du venin
De la doctrine de Calvin
Et vous ôtera de peine.
In glancing over a collection of British book-plates we shall be struck
with the French appearance of many names, such as the following: Arabin,
Barré, Boileau, Dampier, Ferrier, Martineau, Maturin, Labouchere,
Delarue, Harcourt, Vignoles, Curtois, Poignand, Lempriere, Drinquebier,
Drucquer, Duhamel, Lemercier, La Mallière, Leschallas, Monteuuis,
Laprimaudaye.
David Garrick, we know, was of Huguenot descent, and carried a French
motto on his book-plate.
The name of Le Keux occurs as an interesting one in this connection, as
representatives of the family still exist, whilst its pedigree has been
traced back to one John Le Keux, who married Antoinette Le Quien in the
French church at Canterbury as far back as 25 December, 1645.
In this pedigree it is curious to note how frequently members of the Le
Keux family allied themselves in marriage with the descendants of other
French refugees: thus we meet with the names Didier, Mariscaux,
Mariette, De Ribeaucour, Paillet, and Debonnaire. In 1783 was born John
Le Keux, and in 1787 Henry Le Keux; both became eminent engravers: John
died in 1846, and was buried in Bunhill Fields Cemetery. He was the
father of the late John Henry Le Keux, who was born in 1812, and died
quite recently (February 4th, 1896), in Durham. His fame as an engraver
exceeded that of either his father or his uncle, and although he did not
produce many book-plates, those he did were indeed works of art.
As will be seen from the pedigree published in the _Miscellanea
Genealogica et Heraldica_ the Le Keux family had for generations resided
in, or near Spitalfields, but in 1863 Mr. J. H. Le Keux married a Durham
lady, and henceforward resided in that city till his death.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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