Claude Fonnereau

Claude Fonnereau (22 March 1677, – 5 April 1740) was a French Huguenot refugee who settled in England and became a prominent merchant. He was the founding father of the Fonnereau family in England.

Early life

Fonnereau was born on 22 March 1677 at La Rochelle. He was the son of Zacharie Fonnereau and Marguerite Chataigner.

Career

From 1738 to 1740, he was a Director of the Bank of England.

In 1735 he purchased Christchurch Mansion in Ipswich, Suffolk, from Price Devereux, 10th Viscount Hereford.

Personal life

He married Elizabeth Bureau, also a Huguenot, the daughter of Anne Bureau, and had several children:

• Thomas Fonnereau (1699–1779), a merchant and politician, who inherited his father's estates, including Christchurch Mansion.
• Claudius "Claude" Fonnereau (1701–1785), a doctor who inherited Christchurch Mansion on his elder brother's death.
• Elizabeth Frances Fonnereau (b. 1702), who married Jacques "James" Benezet, also from a Huguenot family, who had settled in London.
• Abel Fonnereau (1703–1753)
• Anne Fonnereau (b. 1704), who married Philip Champion de Crespigny, proctor of the Admiralty court, also from a Huguenot family, who had settled in Camberwell.
• Zachary Philip Fonnereau (1706–1778), a merchant and politician who married Margaret Martyn.
• Peter Fonnereau (1709–1743)
• Marie Anne Fonnereau (b. 1711), who married John Martyn.
• Elizabeth Fonnereau (b. 1712), who married Mr. De Hauteville

Fonnereau died on 5 April 1740 at Hoddesdon.

Descendants

Through his daughter Anne, he was a grandfather of Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny, 1st Baronet, and Philip Champion de Crespigny, MP for Sudbury and Aldeburgh.

Through his son Zachary, he was a grandfather of Philip Fonnereau and Martyn Fonnereau (both MPs for Aldeburgh) and great-grandfather of author and artist Thomas George Fonnereau.

References