Isaac De Baye

My 9th Great Grandfather, before 1622

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I know very little about Isaac. He was married to Reyne Legain and lived in Esqueheries, Picardy, France. Esqueheries is a village 25 miles from Saint Quentin. His son's marriage record stated that his son, also called Isaac, was a 'Mulquinier' or weaver/trader of linens - it is very probable that Isaac senior was also a Mulquinier. 

Isaac was part of a protestant minority, known as Huguenots, living within Catholic France. There was much religious persecution of protestants, including the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572 and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots during the French Wars of Religion. Whilst we know little about Isaac's life, we do know is that religious persecution was never far away.  

Some refugees had fled to Picardy in the late 1500s from the Spanish Netherlands. Refugees included Armand Crommelin who brought the batiste and linen industry to the town, making Saint Quentin rich. There must have been friendship between the Debays and the Crommelins as Anne Crommelin was godparent to Isaac's grandchild.  

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Isaac and Reyne's son, also called Isaac was born in 1636.