Hello Tony,

Some days ago, whilst looking via Google for something else on the Internet I came across your Marrian website and its 1957 book text. I discovered that it contained the word "Despret"

I am presently the oldest representative of the oldest branch of the Despret family existing in Belgium. One of my sisters living in Paris is fond of genealogy and has proceeded with the genealogic work conducted by our father on the Despret family during his whole life. He died in 2000 at the age of 90. 

I of course downloaded a copy of your 1957 book and mailed it quickly to my sister in Paris.

I was really astonished, I could even say flabbergasted, to read it and to discover that your family originates from some Despret people who used to be forge masters (Maitres de Forges) owning and running blast furnaces in the very north of France and south of Belgium not far from the town of Chimay. This is indeed the origin of our Despret family which seemed to originate from the Belgian town of Liege where they became acquainted with metallurgy and how to create iron before installing themselves as forge masters in the area of Chimay and subsequently blast furnace owners there. That family is rather well traced here as original acts or other types of papers still exist in that area covering a wide period of time.

However, and that was my surprise in reading your book, we had no knowledge at all that some Despret family members left that area to migrate to the UK to proceed there with their metallurgical activity where they had built quite an experience over several generations near Chimay. It is quite logical however and should have been suspected.

In exchange to your book please kindly find attached hereto an article published in some paper here. It is however written in French and the language is already somewhat outdated with never ending sentences cut by commas. It relates to a local forge and blast furnace called "La forge Philippe" which was one of the very first and most important ones owned by the Despret family in the considered area. Other Despret forges followed in the same area and originated from it later on. The dates are in accordance to yours. It describes the history of that forge from the oldest era where pieces of written information could still be found to the final bankruptcy in recent times caused by some Despret who did not mach his predecessors, bought a large castle and spent vast amounts of money to show his strength until he suddenly lost everything.

I scanned the original article and re-built its text with OCR in accordance to its original. I guess it will please those who can read French in your family. They will discover some aspects of the day to day life and local history of your ancestors on the continent. Translating it in English might be worthwhile for all of you. It might indeed be close to describing your own Despret British forges and blast furnaces.  

Funny enough two of my daughters are married to British husbands and both have three children.

I quite understand also that your Despret ancestors had to drop their Despret name in the UK as its pronunciation in English is quite difficult and is too close to "desperate" which is certainly an image they wished to avoid at the time of their installation.

Kindest regards

Michel Despret

Belgium