espinet/ espenett - Our Huguenot Ancestors
CHAPTER 2
The Dansays of St. Laurent-de-la-Prée and Fouras
Now the Dansays families from whom we descend, lived near the Biscayan coast of Western France in the Department of Saintonge (now Charente Maritime). The Dansays, were merchants, who lived in the parish of St. Laurent-de-la-Prée, which was part of Fouras, on the right bank of the River Charente, close to it’s mouth. In reality St. Laurent-de-la-Prée and Fouras represented two distinct communes.
The Dansays family became refugees in 1681/2. From the ‘List of Refugees receiving relief through the Threadneedle Street Church, London, between 5 August 1681 and 31 December 1687’, it is clear that Anne Dansays (variously spelt Dancée, Dancé, Dansé and Dansays), wife of François Dansays (my 6th great grandfather), who was described as “a gentleman”, came as a refugee to England before her husband. She came with three daughters (unnamed) aged 6, 3 and 2 and as recorded “big with child”. She was given monetary assistance “expecting her husband to arrive” and the record shows she was paid seven pounds three shillings between 12 October 1681 and 27 January 1682. Previously on 6th September 1681 she had been given one pair of shoes and a pair of “dras” (drawers or knickers). In the records her maiden name was given as Anne Ozanneau (my 6th great grandmother) and although on the church relief books her Christian name was given as Anne, on her Denization papers dated 8 March 1681, her name was Annah Dansays. Her husband François Dansays arrived in late January 1682 and was recorded as having received three weekly grants of ten shillings between 31 January and 21 February 1682, plus a final payment of two guineas “for going to Rye”. For some reason his naturalisation was delayed as his Denization date was 25 March 1688. Denization was a cheaper and less complicated method of obtaining the status of a British subject, but without obtaining the full rights of a natural born subject.
14. Signature of François Dansays
Whilst on holiday on the Ile de Ré, near La Rochelle in France, I visited the La Rochelle Archive Department and managed to find an entry in the Soubise Protestant register (on m/film) for 1678, where François Dansays, the refugee was the godfather (including his wonderful signature), but unfortunately I didn't have the time to find out any more; a good excuse for another holiday in the same beautiful area. Recently I have been able to take photo-copies of other entries of what looked like the baptisms of the Dansays daughters. Unfortunately these pages were barely decipherable (they had been filmed by the Mormons), and of course in old French in a ‘register hand’. I tried to get them translated but no one could make anything of them. I then joined the Anglo-French FHS. and with the help of another member who translated my letters for me, made contact with a Pierre Bergeonneau of the Cercle Généalogique d'Aunis et Saintonge (the local Family History Society), at La Rochelle. I had a super response from Pierre; he certainly spent a considerable amount of his time and effort on the research into the Dansays family, and sent the following details from the Soubise Protestant Registers - these were in individual registers for each year, from 1654 to 1681, except for one missing for 1676 :-
15. Baptismal entry for Anne Jeanne Dansays
“On Sunday, 9 June 1675, has been baptised, Anne Jeanne, daughter of François Dansay and his wife Anne Ozanneau of __ of Fouras, godfather __ Ozanneau, godmother Jeanne Thaune, born the 9 May __ signed ‘X’ Ozanneau, Dansays, Jeanne Thaune”.
16. Baptismal entry for Anne Céleste Dansays
“On 29 August 1679, has been baptised, Anne Céleste, daughter of François Dansays good husband of Anne Ozanneau __ of St. Laurans __ Prée __ __ __ godfather Jean Ozanneau of La Voigr, godmother of Anne, Anne Lloyd - signed Ozanneau, Anne Lloyd, __ Dansays”.
It would seem then, that Mary Dansays (my 5th great grandmother) - more than likely she was baptised Anne Marie, as her sisters were Anne Jeanne and Anne Céleste - was probably born in 1676, the year for which the record is missing, and so we have no written confirmation of her baptism.
Also from these Soubise Registers: Jean Ozanneau (brother of Anne Ozanneau), a gentleman of La Roche, also from St. Laurent-de-la-Prée, had his daughter, Marie Ozanneau baptised on 14 Sept 1680 - the godfather was François Dansays.
The Fouras Protestant Register, which covers the period February 1668 to October 1672 - each year contains very few registrations, and children were baptised several months, or even years after birth. It appears that the Fouras and St. Laurent Protestant population was small; I assume that there wasn’t a designated Pastor, maybe only one who came from time to time in order to carry out baptism and marriage ceremonies. Families who were in a hurry, I presume, would go to the church at Soubise, only a few miles away across the river. There was an entry for the marriage of François Dansays and Anne Ozanneau :-
17. Marriage Contract of François Dansays and Anne Ozanneau
in the Fouras Protestant Register 1674.
“Today, the fourth day of February, one thousand six hundred and seventy four, the marriage has been blessed between François Dansais, merchant, son of his late father, François D'ansais, also a merchant when alive, and of Jeanne Thaune, living at St. Laurent de la Prée, his mother and father on one hand, and Anne Ozanneau, daughter of Pierre Ozanneau, gentleman of Treuil [a hunter, or, perhaps, a gamekeeper] living at the parish of la Roche, of St. Laurent de la Prée, and of her late mother, Elizabeth Manceau, her father and mother on the other hand, and to the said spouse (male) said to be aged 26 years and the said spouse (female) of 20 years and at which the parents and friends named hereafter had assisted at the marriage celebration, namely: Jean Ozanneau, brother of the said spouse (f), Jean Dansais, gentleman of Treuil de Bussacq, uncle of the spouse (m), Phillipe Herv, son of Jean Herv, tax official, of St. Laurans de la Prée and Isaac Chauveau, office assistant, of the said St. Laurent de la Prée and all living there and the said spouse (m) and spouse (f) and parents had signed, also signed in the Register of those present.
F. Dansais Dansais Anne Ozanneau
Ozanneau Phillipe Herv Chauveau”
What a wealth of detail this French marriage record gave. We now know that François Dansays senior, Jeanne Thaune, Pierre Ozanneau, and Elizabeth Manceau were my 7th great grandparents.
Also in the same Register we find another Dansays family that of Pierre (could be the brother of François) Dansays, a gentleman of Treuil de Banac, living at a place called Noble du Treuil at Fouras, and husband of Diane Sauvignon. They baptised their children:-
Dansays on the 23 November 1668.
Jacques Dansays on the 25 September 1669.
Suzanne Dansays on the 1 January 1670.
Marie Magdelenie on the 7 June 1671.
Diane Sauvignon, the mother, died on the 14 August 1672, aged 33 years. On the 16th, François Dansays, a St. Laurent merchant, witnessed these funerals - [written in the plural, so I believe it means this and the next funeral].
“Died on the 28th, and buried on the 29 May 1674, Pierre Dansays, a merchant of the village de la Reuze, St. Laurent Parish, aged 42 years”
At the Departmental Archives (pre 1790 - Courts and Jurisdiction) there is some information about the Dansays families. In particular:-
Year 1654 - Ref B.1363.
“Madeleine Favion Vs Jean Dansays of Treuil de Bussac - against” [it is not clear which person the judgement was against].
Year 1699 - Ref b.330.
“Against Jean Dansays of Treuil de Bussac in the Parish of Fouras”.
Years 1686-1688 - Ref B.1587.
“La Rochelle jurisdiction Baux … Fernie of those of the RPR [Religion Prétendue Réformée - the so-called reformed religion] who have left the Kingdom and have been to foreign countries....François Dansays.....”
Years 1668-1669 - Ref B.1588.
“La Rochelle jurisdiction Baux … Fernie of goods of those of the RPR, fugitives of the Kingdom....François Dansays of St. Laurent de la Prée.”
No date - Ref B.1658.
“La Rochelle jurisdiction - Jacques Jouanet, Catholic, was given possession of some goods and his aunt, Anne Reguand, widow of Pierre Dansay, fugitive outside the Kingdom due to his religion”.
Today Fouras is a French commune in the department of Charente-Maritime (originally Saintonge) at the mouth of the river Charente about 20 miles south of La Rochelle with Le Treuil Bussac in the centre of the town. Both Fouras and St. Laurent-de-la-Prée form the peninsula at the mouth of the Charente known as Fours-les-Bains which extends for three miles out to sea but is protected from rough seas by the three islands of Aix, Oléron and Ré. Fouras was the scene of several clashes with the British Navy, whose most famous was the Battle of Brûlots fought off Fouras and the Île d'Aix in 1809. Fouras is the main embarkation point for the tiny Île d'Aix where Napoleon spent his last days in Europe planning his escape to America after his defeat at Waterloo.
Recently my cousin Nigel Ballard has found some very interesting information about the Dansays family from an article by Antoine Duplais-Destouches in the 1890 edition of the Bulletin de la Societe des Archives Historiques de la Saintonge et Aunis.
Le Château du Treuil Bussac, Fouras.:-
The manor house/château (maison noble) of Le Treuil Bussac is in the parish and castellany (land belonging to a castle) of Fouras. Doubtless ruined between 1346 and 1351 it was only an empty shell in 1375. The present edifice was built on the ruins of an older château ruined by the wars of religion (1562-1589), which had itself been built on a site of a Gallo-Roman villa, traces of whose foundations were found in 1883. Also bronze coins wonderfully preserved depicting Emperors Maximien the Herculean (286-310) and Constantinus the Great had been found in the garden in March 1879. The Château, of very sober appearance [probably means unembellished] was one of the main properties of the family. It is surrounded by a wall flanked by turreted gatehouses, opening on to a courtyard through a double gateway both for pedestrians and carriages dating from 1621. The dwelling/abode built against the wall is reached by a straight flight of steps.
The present manor house/château dates from the beginning of the 17th century rebuilt by the D'Ansays family, descendants of the Protestant 'nobility of gown'. French nobility was split – nobility of sword (military honours) and nobility of gown (academic or commercial honours). In 1633 and 1650 the Lord of the manor of Le Treuil Bussac was Jean-Marc (John Mark) D'Ansays, a bourgeois (person of note) and merchant of La Rochelle, probably married to a young lady from the de la Barre family. But by 1680 Pierre D'Ansays, son of Jean-Marc was Lord of the manor of Le Treuil Bussac. At that time Pierre was married and had four children that we know of. Jean (John) was the eldest, Dianne born about 1663, Marie-Magdeleine born about 1671 and Jeanne born about 1672. After the death of Pierre at Treuil Bussac in 1696 (his death not found in the Fouras parish registers) the estate passed to his eldest son Jean until his death on 14 June 1709. From 1720 the château had passed from the D'Ansays family and was owned by a merchant and mayor of Rochefort.
18. Château du Treuil Bussac (from the rear)
In the early 18th century the D'Ansays family owned numerous properties in the parishes of Fouras and Saint Laurent-de-la-Pree [where François lived] the fief of La Motte, Magnou and land at La Raize) as well as a residence in La Rochelle.
Returning to Fouras in the early 17th century the Fourasins (people of Fouras) worshipped at the Fouras parish church but in July 1633 Pierre Salafranque the Curé (priest) of Saint Laurent-de-la-Prée acquired the living of Fouras by paying a pension of 400 lires to his predecessor. This means of acquisition was not appreciated by the Catholics of Fouras and so for 17 years they worshipped at Saint Laurent-de-la-Prée. In 1650 the people of Fouras started to return to their parish when Curé Pleziac became the incumbent. He remained at Fouras until 1668 when Nicholas Ferrier became the incumbent, but he did not bother about his parishioners who left again and this time responded to the advances of the Protestants.
Since 1673 Royal authority had taken steps to fight against Protestant reformism. To obtain conversions people would be paid six lires and were then exempt from arrears of taxes if they became Catholics. Given the failure of this enterprise in 1680 the king decided that any Catholic who became a Protestant would have all his property confiscated and as well marriages between Protestants and Catholics were forbidden. At this time Colbert de Demuin, the Intendant of Rochefort received orders to learn with great secrecy and with great caution the names of the ministers of the churches of the country, their talent, their property, the profit that they derive from their duties in order to convict. Colbert found out that Fouras had a Protestant Temple since around 1670 and that Catholicism had largely been abandoned as a result of Curé Ferrier.
In 1681 Colbert de Demuin had René Faucqueraud (well known for his zeal against heretics) named to be at the head of the parish of Fouras. Although he put the parish records in order he had been sent to Fouras above all to else to convert the Protestants. Unfortunately he did this, by order of Louvois, the minister of war, with the help of “missionaries in military boots” the term for the Dragoons. This period was known as the 'Dragonnades' in which consisted of quartering mounted troops on the Huguenot's property at the victim's own expense. The troops were encouraged to ill-treat, steal, beat and rape those on whom they were billeted, to compel them to reconvert to Catholicism, with nothing short of their total ruin if they did not. The brutality of the soldiers produced tens of thousands of “conversions” in this part of France.
Pierre D'Ansays of Le Treuil de Bussac was forced to renounce the Calvanist reformed religion under these conditions in 4 October 1681 and later it was the turn of his three daughters to make their conversion to Catholicism on 12 October 1685. As mentioned earlier there was a note that mentioned a Pierre Dansays who was a fugitive outside the Kingdom due to his religion, which may or may not be the same Pierre.
As for the eldest of the family Jean D'Ansays, he wasn't in Fouras around this time, nevertheless he must have already been a Catholic as he was a witness at the abjuration of Jean Ozanneau, a merchant from La Rochelle on 16 October 1685. On 21 January 1698 the marriage of Jean D'Ansays and Marie-Anne Duron the daughter of the late Jacques Duron a merchant from La Rochelle and his wife Sara Perier was blessed in the Church of Fouras. Jean D'Ansays died at Le Treuil Bussac on 14 June 1709 This Jean D'Ansays of Le Treuil Bussac would seem to be the same Jean Dansays, gentleman of Treuil Bussac who was a witness and the groom's uncle at the marriage of François Dansays and Anne Ozanneau at Fouras on 4 February 1674, but a little more research if that is possible would be needed to confirm this.
There is some confusion with regards to the old document of 1890. It has the Pierre D'Ansays of Le Treuil Bussac married to Diane Sauvignon which I believe is for another Pierre who died in 1674 and was probably the brother of our François Dansays.
As in time gone by names were written as they sounded so D'Ansays and Dansays are obviously one and the same though recorded differently.
Although it is not certain how all the different Dansays families and D'Ansays are related to one another each was a merchant living in close proximity to one another. We know that François Dansays (senior) and his son François, as well as Pierre Dansays were all merchants of St. Laurent-de-la-Prée and that Jean-Marc and son Pierre were merchants of Fouras.
It is interesting to note that on 8 March 1681, the date of Denization of Anne Dansays (née Ozanneau), that this was also the Denization date of four Dansays sisters, Diane, Susanna, Mary and Jeanne, from Fouras near La Rochelle. Now Pierre, the merchant, the possible brother of our François had died in 1674, and his wife Diane had died in 1672. It would look as if their children are these four sisters, most probably listed by age; the eldest “unnamed at baptism” could be Diane, as the eldest daughter was often named after the mother, and Jeanne could have been born in 1672 when Diane, her mother died (this is only a conjecture).
