Our next talk will also be in West Greenwich Library on Thursday 25 November at 7.30pm Title: Huguenots, silk and the Greenwich connection.
It was described as the biggest brain drain in history when some 250,000 Huguenots (French Calvinists) fled religious persecution in France at the end of the 17th century.
About 50,000 sought refuge in England, with about 20,000 of them settling in or near London.
Many of these self- described refugees settled in Spitalfields. Here an established silk weaving industry serving rich customers in Westminster and the City of London provided work for the extravagant silk weaving and dyeing skills of the Huguenots.
Some, however, settled in Greenwich where the royal palace and wealthy residents in surrounding streets also offered business opportunities for the hard-working and largely very abstemious Huguenots.
Our Speaker: Greenwich, City of London and Westminster guide Neil Sinclair will explore the connections between the Huguenots of Spitalfields, their compatriots in Greenwich and the Lewisham silk mills which 300 years ago could be found alongside the Ravensbourne River near the Ashburnham Triangle.
At present the Library’s heating is out of action but the manager hopes this will be fixed by 25 November.
Please email Barbara to let her know if you are thinking of coming so she can get an idea of how many seats to put out and how to space them. Refreshments will be available.
The website for Greenwich's Ashburnham Triangle Association
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