Page:Protestant Exiles from France Agnew vol 2.djvu/384

 Seignoret, £10,000; Baudouin, £3000; Santini, £1500; Deherse, £1000; Dumaistres, £1000, “and to lye in Newgate till paid” (i.e., till they have paid). Mr Seignoret was not ruined. He was one of the original Directors of the French Hospital, named in the royal charter, 24th July 1718, but died in the following year; his Will was proved on 22nd October 1719. He left £600 to said hospital, £100 to James Robethon, and £100 to John Le Clerc Virly. His wife’s maiden name was Elizabeth Got. Being a childless widow, she interested the newsmongers, so that her death was recorded in the Historical Register in June 1734, “Mrs. Seignorett, a French lady, reckoned worth upwards of £30,000” — the Gentleman’s Magazine raised the figure to £40,000, and her Will seems to dispense about £50,000. Mr. Seignoret had a sister Susanne, wife and (in 1718) widow of Marc Anthoine Ravaud, a refugee from Lyons to Geneva; it was his son and namesake who married Susanne, daughter of Major-General La Melonière. Mr. Seignoret’s brother (Christian name not known), perhaps, had been a refugee in Switzerland, but was deceased in or before 1718, and was in that year represented by a son (Mr. S.’s nephew), Pierre, or Peter Seignoret of Greenwich, who married, first, Sara Marie Couvreu (sister-in-law of Henri Gaultier), and secondly, Marguerite Allix (see the pedigree of Seignoret, Ravaud, &c, by Henry Wagner, F.S.A.).

&#42;&#8270;* The Will of Mrs. Elizabeth Seignoret, alias Got, “translated out of French by Ph. Crespigny,” was proved by the two executors (each of whom received £500), Peter Seignoret, Esq. (the nephew named above), and James Gaultier, Esq. (brother of Henri), on 2nd July 1734. She says, “I recommend my soul to God, my Creator, hoping that after my death it will be received in His holy Paradise, in consideration of the merits of Jesus Christ, my Saviour, who died for the remission of the sins of all those who, like me, believed in Him, and put their whole confidence in His mercy.” Her legacies were — £1000 to the French Church of St. Martin Orgars, to be invested for the support of the ministers, and £200 for the poor French refugee members of that church; £2000 to the Hospital erected for poor French Protestant Refugees, to be invested for its maintenance; £50 to the poor of the parish of St. Gregory: £50 to the Charity School of Richmond, in Surrey; £200 to the poor of the French Church in Threadneedle Street; £20 to John Brugneirolle; £100 to Mr Peter Dugua; £100 to Mrs. Susanne Passavant; £500 to Mr. Alexander de la Gorce; £200 to Elizabeth, wife of Mr. John Anthony Merle, and £200 to his daughter Elizabeth; £200 to Miss Elizabeth Gaultier; £200 to Mrs. De Virly; £500 to Mr. James Robethon; an annuity of £50 “to my friend, Mrs. Crommelin, widow;” an annuity of £200 to Elizabeth Blany, daughter of Widow Juvenel of Wandsworth; an annuity of £200 to Mr John Martin Couvreu, residing at Vevay, in Switzerland.

As to relations, there are the following bequests:— £6000 to her nephew, Stephen Seignoret, son of Peter; £12,000 to her niece, Elizabeth Seignoret, daughter of Peter; £11,000 to her nephew, John Lewis Couvreu, son of Mr. John Martin Couvreu; £9000 to her niece, Susanne Bernardine Couvreu, wife of Mr. De Bondeli; £1000 to each of the children of her nephew and of her last-named niece, “who shall be living at the time of my death;” £200 to Mrs. Susanne Kearny, daughter of Mrs. Ferdinand Ravaud, deceased; £1000 to Mrs. Elizabeth Julia Carre; £200 to Mrs. Susanne Anne Ravaud; £200 to Mr. Stephen David Ravaud; £200 to Mrs. Margaret Ravaud. “My silver toilet, my gold repeating watch and chain, set with diamonds, and all my rings, pearls, and jewels, and other trinkets whatsoever,” to the aforesaid Elizabeth Seignoret. The deceased lady had a house in Richmond as well as in London, coachman, footman, and two gardeners. Her residuary legatee was her niece, Marianne Couvreu, wife of Mr. Henry Gaultier.

7. In the Gentleman’s Magazine a death is recorded, 23d November 1739 — “, Esq., Treasurer of the French Hospital, to which he left £10,000.” He was one of the original directors, and was treasurer for twenty-one years (a period of service which was exceeded only by Richard Hervé Giraud, Esq., who officiated for twenty-two years, having previously been secretary for twenty years, and is now the Deputy-Governor). By reference to Mr Dufour’s Will, he seems to have been a man of rank and wealth, and to have lived to a good old age, as his marriage took place in 1681; but that the Hospital received £10,000 is more than doubtful. He bequeathed to the "corporation of the Hospital of the French Protestants £300, in order to pay them what is coming to them by the marriage-contract passed with my ' wife at Paris, the 24th September 1681, by Soyer, a royal notary."

He left to his cousin, James Dupin, an annuity of £56, and the residue of his estate after the payment of legacies; to his cousin, Dina Dufour, £1000, and an annuity of £49; to his cousin, Margaret Guichery, wife of Mr. Henry, the silversmith, £1000, and an annuity of £49; to Mr. James Triquet, £16 per annum; to the widow Charlotte Bleteau, his servant, £10 per annum, which annuity shall, after her death, be paid “to the little Thomas Dufour, son of Captain Thomas Eaton;” to the widow Claud La Cana, £500; to Captain Thomas Eaton, £500; to Mr. Stephen Guyon, £500; to Mr. Peter Le Maistre, £500; to Mr. Caesar