You can also go to www.cavalier-family.co.uk
We begin our ancestors on this particular line of the family of Cavaliers or  with Jean de Gruchet, as I call him, the earliest Cavalier that we can establish as being the common ancestor of all that follow.

CAVALIERS.
The name CAVALIER,(Horseman, Soldier or Gentleman) has been variously spelt in the records that I have been researching, the name appears as, Cavalear, Cavileer, Cavelier and Cavalier. I will be using the latter name throughout.   Chevalier (Knight) is of course a quite separate and different name although some people have confused this name with ours. Quite early in the family tree a Cavalier married a Chevalier but, by this time, the name had been anglicised to Knight.

Le Gruchet in Normandy, is where we find the first of the "Cavaliers" to whom we can claim lineage and it would appear that even as long ago as 1560 the name was quite widespread in that part of France and possibly other parts of Europe.

The family Cavalier were Huguenots and fled France after the revocation of the Edit of Nantes in 1685 if not earlier. Historically this is also linked with "The St. Bartholomew Massacre"

After fleeing France, branches of the family established themselves both in America and several European countries.
Some Cavaliers remained in their adopted homelands in Europe while others, after several generations, emigrated to America.
The reader should be assured that regardless of the origins of the Cavalier family in America, the information on the Cavaliers in France and their lives and eventual departure from that country are almost certainly applicable to every Cavalier in England and in America.
The family of Jean Cavalier who fled France in 1685 is referred to extensively on this site as his is the only Cavalier line for which we have accurate information reaching back to France.

The Huguenot families that first arrived in the Capital lived around the district of Spitalfields. Situated between the docks and the City of London, Spitalfields has always been a place of arrival for immigrants. Some settled in the area for a while before moving on; others stayed behind. Descendants of Huguenots can still be found living here. Arrivals to Spitalfields include the Huguenots, Jews, Irish people escaping the potato famine, people from the Commonwealth countries in the 1950s, and more recently people from Bangladesh and Somalia. Today Spitalfields is known as Bangla Town.

The Huguenot families were mainly either weavers, leather workers, watch and clock makers or silver smiths. They are best remembered in a small, intimate musuem housed in an old 16th century house.

Dennis Severs' House
Few museums manage to give as much life to the atmosphere of the past with as much exactitude than thise private houses which was preserved or completely reconstituted. London is likely to have several houses in which time seems to have stopped.

Most evocative of all the private addresses of East London is Dennis Severs' House in 18 Folgate Street in Spitalfields. It is a reconstitution inspired and carried out by Dennis Severs, and abounds in objects and furniture of originality which Dennis discovered in many of the markets and in odd corners. Dennis even invented a family which lives in the house: a weaving family of huguenots which fled persecution in France in 1688. Noises and odours revive their world. The floor creaks, a fire crackles, a wig hangs on the back of a chair. One hears a servant working on the floor, a horse passes by in the street, in front of the window, evocative odours emanate from the kitchen. It feels as if the family still lives the house; it is as if they had only just left one moment ago. You feel and you know that they will be back. Whilst I visited the house with other Cavalier Friends and later on with Maureen, my wife and her brother John I was particularly surprised by the sound of horses clip-clopping on the cobbles in the street (This phenomenon was produced by the clever positioning of small loudspeakers behind the draped curtains at the windows) looking through the windows showed the 21st century street.


The atmosphere is so convincing that it encourages visitors to keep total silence so as not to break the spell of the place. After his visit, the artist David Hockney was so upset by his experience that he described his visit like one of being re-born.

Walk down the vibrant, bustle of London's Brick Lane, turn into a quiet Georgian side street and you will find yourself outside the old carved oak door of 19 Princelet Street. Inside the noise of the modern world subsides. You are in an other-worldly place, an unrestored interior that has been left untouched for three hundred years.

AN 18TH CENTURY REFUGE
19 Princelet Street was built in 1719 by English builder Samuel Worrell when the area had become a refuge for many French Huguenot families fleeing religious persecution.500,000 managed to escape from France and 50,000 sought asylum in London. By the 18th Century the area of Spitalfields had become known as Liberty. French voices and lifestyles dominated this small street and 19 Princelet Street was home and workplace to the OGIER family, master silk weavers.

The Huguenots moved on and the house was divided into lodgings and workshops.Then Jewish immigrants from central Europe started settling in Spitalfields and by the 1900s the area had a community of 150,000. Jewish people took a lease on 19 Princelet Street and in 1869 a Synagogue, one of the earliest in East London, was built where the garden used to be. One of the main features of this Victorian synagogue is the coloured glass roof through which light filters down. In here, Susie Symes remarks, you could be anywhere in the world, you could easily be in Prague or Venice.

The house is now home to Britain's first museum of immigration. The Spitalfields Centre Charity which was set up in 1983 created the museum and aims to preserve the house. The story of 19 Princelet Street and its inhabitants is entwined with the history of the generations of immigrants arriving in Spitalfields. Susie Symes, Chair of the Spitalfields Centre says, This precious old building has connections with different refugee and immigrant groups and you can still tell stories in here about groups that are much more recent than the people who lived or worshipped here.

Now the house is an educational resource and home to the Suitcases and Sanctuary exhibition.The exhibition explores the stories and experiences of immigrants to the area through the eyes of children and has already attracted over 5,000 visitors. Children from six local primary schools worked with artists, poets and actors to create the poetry and art that is displayed in suitcases around the building in an imaginative medley of paper boats, postage stamps, telephones, newspapers and even potatoes.

Susie Symes, Chair of the Spitalfields Centre says,The exhibition shows us, through fresh young eyes, a variety of cultures and the ways they have enriched life in our area and in London as a whole. The story of all these diverse groups is not only their story, it is our story. It is our shared history as Londoners, as British people.

The Spitalfields Centre needs to raise funds to save this Grade II* building in order that it can be opened permanently. During Refugee Week, the building will be open daily between 16 and 23 June, noon to 7pm. Groups may be able to visit by special arrangement and there will also be a series of open days running in September. Entry is free!  You get a guided tour - quitge an eye opener.

For further details call, call  020 7247 5352  020 7247 5352 or
email  information@19princeletstreet.org.uk

They also have an updated, Website: www.19princeletstreet.org.uk

OLD SPITALFIELDS MARKET
Old Spitalfields Market is one of the oldest markets in London. If you are looking for something original, of excellent quality and value for your money this is the place to be.

Visit Spitalfields on a Sunday, when the traders are out in full force. Although this is a good place for second-hand clothes, books and collectibles, food holds the floor here: organic fruits and vegetables, pickles relishes and preserves, confectionery and home-made breads and wines. The emphasis on the natural extends to crafts, such as unbleached clothing and wooden toys.

Location: Commercial Street, Aldgate, London E1 entry also from Bishopsgate about 100 yards east of Liverpool Street Station

Opening times: Monday to Friday from 1100 to 1500, Sundays 0930 to 1730.

Liverpool Street Tube Station.

THIS IS A WALK AROUND THE AREA OF SPITALFIELDS

(From 1685 Huguenots fled persecution to London many settling in Spitalfields where they worked as silk weavers. These were to be followed by Jews and later Bengalis. In the 1880s the district became notorious as Jack the Ripper's victims were found in its back streets. A hundred years after this Broad Street Station closed to be replaced with the large scale Broadgate development).

ROUTE & WHAT TO SEE

But first when to go - The markets (except Leadenhall) are at their best  on Sundays but very little is open in the City at the weekend (good for taking photos!). For 'open all hours' establishments try Liverpool Street Station and the area around it.

The 4 mile linear walk described begins at London Bridge Station. For the 2½ mile circular walk exit Liverpool Street Station into Liverpool Street and go down Old Broad Street. Left through Bishopsgate Churchyard and cross Bishopsgate joining the route in Houndsditch.

Exit London Bridge Station into Tooley Street. Go through the COTTON'S BUILDING or take an alternative to the Thames Path and go left along this. Take the steps up to London Bridge and cross the river. Outside Adelaide House go down steps to Lower Thames Street. Past the church of ST MAGNUS THE MARTYR turn right to the Thames Path. Follow this left past the former BILLINGSGATE MARKET then go alongside this back to Lower Thames Street. Cross to ST MARY'S-AT-HILL. Take first right into Dunstan's Lane to view remains of ST DUNSTAN'S-IN-THE-EAST church and garden. Return and take the alley alongside St Mary's into Lovat Lane. Go right to Eastcheap and and right along Great Tower Street passing ST MARY PATTERNS. Left into Mincing Lane past MINSTER COURT and the CLOTHWORKER'S HALL. Cross Fenchurch Street into Fen Court and go left along Fenchurch Avenue past LLOYDS. Cross Lime Street into Leadenhall Place and continue through LEADENHALL MARKET. Go right into Gracechurch Street, which becomes Bishopsgate beyond the road junction, passing ST HELEN'S and the LEATHERSELLER'S HALL. At ST BOTOLPH'S church go left through the Churchyard with the former SCHOOL BUILDING and TURKISH BATHS. Go right at Broad Street, right through the Arcade and right along Liverpool Street. Cross Bishopsgate (site of a CITY GATE) into Houndsditch.

Go along Houndsditch turning left through Cutler's Street into the gated CUTLER'S GARDENS site of the East India Company's former WAREHOUSES. Exit through Devonshire Square with the COOPER'S HALL along Devonshire Row. Go right along Bishopsgate past a former FIRE STATION (Now Tescos). By DIRTY DICKS pub turn right into Middlesex Street (aka PETTICOAT LANE) first left through Widnes Street with an old tiled BAKERY. Cross Sandy's Row into the narrow Artillery Passage. At the end is a GEORGIAN SHOP FRONT. Go ahead to White's Row, right along Tenterground and left into Brune Street to view the JEWISH SOUP KITCHEN. Return to Crispin Street with its HOSTEL BUILDING. The Car Park opposite is a RIPPER MURDER SITE. At the end of Crispin Street are the former premises of DONOVANS and DALTONS. Go into SPITALFIELDS MARKET opposite and make your way through to the right. Cross Commercial Street at the crossing into Fournier Street. The TEN BELLS is a Ripper pub and opposite is the huge CHRIST CHURCH by Hawksmoor. Go along Fournier Street with its WEAVER'S HOUSES and at the end a MOSQUE. Go left along Brick Lane as far as the former TRUMAN'S BLACK EAGLE BREWERY. Return and go right down Hanbury Street - another RIPPER site. Left into Wilkes Street and right through Puma Court with the NORTON FOLGATE ALMSHOUSES. Cross and go through the Market again exiting to the right. Go through Nantes Passage, left along Folgate Street and right along Elder Street. Left along Fleur de Lis Street and left along Blossom Street. At the end is 18 FOLGATE STREET - Dennis Sever's time capsule house. Go right along this street, left along Norton Folgate and left to view the remaining properties of SPITAL SQUARE and SPITAL YARD. Cross Bishopsgate into Primrose Street and go left under EXCHANGE HOUSE into EXCHANGE SQUARE. Ahead is Liverpool Street Station but if you would like to explore this area see the article on BROADGATE PUBLIC ART. There are plenty of places to eat and during the summer months there is often lunchtime entertainment in Exchange Square and Broadgate Arena.

MORE CAVALIERS

I PROMISED YOU MORE CAVALIERS THAN ON THE LAST PAGE - HERE