Duchesne, Claude

Claude Duchesne was a Huguenot who left Paris for London following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV in 1685. He was made a Free Brother in the Clockmakers' Company in 1693 and lived in Long Acre in the parish of St Anne's, Soho. There is also a recorded clock which is signed giving the address as 'Dean Street Soho'. Duchesne is thought to have lived until about 1730 and is known to have had at least one son, Antoine, who became a Freeman in the Goldsmiths' Company.