{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\cocoartf1404\cocoasubrtf340{\fonttbl\f0\fswiss\fcharset0 Helvetica;}{\colortbl;\red255\green255\blue255;}\pard\tx560\tx1120\tx1680\tx2240\tx2800\tx3360\tx3920\tx4480\tx5040\tx5600\tx6160\tx6720\pardirnatural\f0\fs24 \cf0 Occupation noted as Tailor in 1674. Information from: http://www.genealand.nl/ \par One of the largest groups of immigrants to England were the Huguenots who came in large numbers during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. \par The Huguenots were Protestants who became known for their fiery criticsms of worship as performed in the Roman Catholic Church, in particular the focus on ritual and what seemed an obsession with death and the dead. They went so far as to destroy Catholic effiges and altars etc. and even some of the Churches. \par By 1562, the estimated number of Huguenots had passed one million, concentrated mainly in the southern and central parts of the country. The Huguenots in France likely peaked at around two million, compared to approximately sixteen million Catholics during the same period. \par In reaction to the growing Huguenot influence, and the aforementioned instances of Protestant zeal, Catholic violence against them grew. \par Tensions led to eight civil wars between 1562 and 1598. \par Persecution became so bad that most of the Huguenots fled the country. Huguenot refugees flocked to Shoreditch, London in large numbers. They established a major weaving industry in and around Spitalfields and the Tenterground and in Wandsworth. The fleeing of Huguenot refugees from Tours, France had virtually wiped out the great silk mills they had built.}