| AdminHistory | The former province of Poitou, and in particular the town of Loudun, were notable centres of French Protestantism. The preamble to the Laws or Regulations of the Société du Poitou et du Loudunois, at the beginning of the Society's first account book, records that it was established in London on 2 December 1714, but that it also embodied an earlier society of refugees of the town of Niort, also in Poitou, which had been in existence since 1696. The new society, inspired by others founded by refugees from other provinces, had as its object the relief of aged, sick, infirm or unemployed Protestant immigrants from Poitou. The Society's laws (given in H/M/1/1) establish that it strictly limited membership to natives of Poitou or Loudun, their direct descendants, and other respectable and charitable Protestants wishing to contribute to the funds. Persons barred from assistance by the Society included widows of Poitevins remarried to non-Poitevins, and daughters married to foreigners.
The history of this Society is briefly related by Charles F A Marmoy in 'L'entr'aide des réfugiés français en Angleterre', read at a Conference on 'Le Refuge Huguenot' at Montpellier and printed in the Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire du Protestantisme Français, 1969.
These are, as far as is known, the only surviving records of the society. |