From Wikipedia

French migration to the United Kingdom is a phenomenon that has occurred at various points in history. Today, many British people have French ancestry. Most French people live in London and are a mix of students, businesspeople and general economic migrants. French remains the foreign language most learned by Britons.

History

Much of the UK's mediaeval aristocracy was descended from Franco-Norman migrants to England at or after the time of the Norman Conquest. Well known families that originated from the Norman Conquest period, include the Grosvenor family whose original name was "Gros Veneur" meaning (in Norman) "great hunter" or "grand hunter".Their legacy can be found throughout much of London with at least five hundred roads, squares and buildings bearing their family names and titles, and the names of place and people connected with them, including Grosvenor Square and Grosvenor House. A large number of British people are also descended from the Huguenots, French Protestants who in the 16th and 17th centuries fled religious persecution in France. Although a substantial French Protestant community existed in London from the sixteenth century, the suppression of Protestantism in France in the 1680s led to a mass migration of predominantly Calvinist refugees, most of whom settled in London. Divided between Spitalfields in the east and Soho in the west, the French Protestant community was one of the largest and most distinctive communities of the capital.

Population and distribution

The number of French people living in the UK has increased every year since 1991, according to French government statistics.^[1] It jumped by 8,716 in 2006, the biggest gain in at least twenty years. French people are situated throughout much of London, but are particularly found within the Kensington area. There are two French schools - La Petite École Française in West London and the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, situated in South Kensington and run by the French state.

Famous French Britons

• Sir Joseph William Bazalgette, civil engineer of the Victorian era
• Jacqueline Bisset, actress
• Isambard Kingdom Brunel, engineer and creator of the Great Western Railway
• Jean-Jacques Burnel, bassist of The Stranglers
• Philip Hermogenes Calderon, 19th century painter
• George Basil Cardinal Hume, prelate of the Roman Catholic Church (French mother)
• Dido, singer (French mother)
• Hilaire Belloc, writer and politician
• Claude Duval, 17th century Highwayman
• Isaac Barré, soldier and politician
• Benoît Grimes-Viort, fashion model
• Augustus Charles Pugin and Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, Architects
• Eddie Izzard, stand-up comedian and actor of Huguenot descent
• George du Maurier (cartoonist) and his granddaughter Daphne du Maurier (Novelist)
• Davina McCall, television personality (French mother)
• Isaac Casaubon, classical scholar
• Méric Casaubon, scholar
• Jean-Christophe Novelli, celebrity chef
• Michèle Roberts (French mother), writer whose novel 'Daughters of the House' was shortlisted for the 1992 Booker Prize
• Michel Roux, award-winning chef
• Jean-Benoît Blanc, actor
• Louis Theroux, director (Some French ancestry)
• Louis de Bernières, writer (Some French ancestry)
• Roland Joffé, director
• Samia Smith, actress (Some French ancestry)
• Emma Watson, actress (Some French ancestry)
• Noel Fielding, actor and comedian (French grandmother)

References

External links

• French Institute London
• French Protestant Church of London
• France in London - The essential guide for French in London
• Institut français du Royaume-Uni (French Cultural Institute in the UK)
• La Petite Ecole Francaise Primary School
• Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, a large French primary and secondary school situated in South Kensington
• L'école maternelle bilingue Mars Montessori
• London Macadam, a Web site and bimonthly magazine for expats
• London French Rugby RFC
• Reassessing what we collect website – French London History of French London with objects and images