Diversity in Adversity: French Immigrant Identity in Early Modern London

Summary

French immigrant refugees were a large and recognisable segment of the population of Early Modern London. Contemporary accounts indicate that they possessed a distinct and recognisable language, style of dress, and religion. In addition, they were seen to have been employed in specific occupations and of having lived in particular areas. Yet, the excavated and documentary evidence for their ownership of domestic material culture shows, for the most part, few differences between French immigrants and their English counterparts. This challenges the idea that the private, domestic space is a place in which traditional identities and practices are maintained within immigrant settings. Careful analysis, however, reveals the presence of isolated expressions of group identity, and subtle differences in average rates of adoption and retention of particular artefact types. This suggests considerable diversity in how the immigrant experience transformed refugee identity, and holds implications for our understanding identity in the past.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Outside the Wall: Studies in Urban Archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 369