The surname of Le Keux nourished among the refugees at Canterbury.
Jacques Le Keux of Canterbury had a son, Philippe Le Keux, Pasteur of the French Church at Dover, who was ordained in 1646, the Pasteur
Philippe Delme (who died in 1653) being Moderator; he afterwards removed to Canterbury, where Monsieur Pierre Le Keux was also Pasteur
(1645).
On 25th Dec. 1645, John Le Keux was married in the French Protestant
Church of Canterbury to Antoinette Le Quien, and left two sons, John and Peter. As the male line of John s family failed, 1 begin with
Peter; he was baptized at Canterbury on 6th Dec. 1649, and married Mary Maresco on 7th Aug. 1681, in the City of London French
Church, having established himself in London; his son Peter, born in
1682, died in 1685. The line was carried on by his surviving son,
William. In the Political State of Great Britain I find the following announcement: “2nd April 1723, Died, Colonel Peter Le Keux, at his house in Spittlefields, after a lingering illness, at an advanced age [73]; he was one of the Justices of
* Except for the dates connected with the Commissionership, my sole authority for the above Memoir is Pepys Diary and accompanying materials. The ancestry of St Michel and his sister is described in
Balthazar s Letter to Pepys, dated 8th Feb. 1673-4, and summarized in the Editor s Life of Pepys. SVhy that letter is not given there, verbatim and at full length, I do not understand. It seems to have been printed along with one edition of the Diary, for the late Mr
Burn gives this quotation from it (Balthazar is alluding to his father), “lie for some time, upon that little he had, settled himself in Devonshire, at a place called Bideford, where and thereabouts my sister and we all were born. "
A MISCELLANEOUS GROUP. 129 the Peace for the Tower Liberty, one of the Commissioners of Sewers, one of the Deputy-Lieutenants for the Royal Hamlets, and Lieutenant-
Colonel of the first regiment therein, and one of the Commissioners of the Land Tax for Middlesex ; he married one of the daughters and co heiresses of rich old Mr Marisco." His son William (born 1697, died 1781) was styled “of Hayes, Middlesex," as heir of his mother; his wife was Elizabeth Shewin of East Grinstead. William s son and heir, Peter Le Keux (born 1757, died 1836), married Ann Dyer at
Shoreditch in 1776. His sons were the distinguished engravers, John and Henry.

John Le Keux (born 4th June, 1783, died 2d April, 1846) married Sarah
Sophia Lingard, and was the father of John Henry Le Keux of personal and hereditary celebrity in the same field.
Henry Le Keux (born 1787, died 1868) was a much admired architectural and historical engraver; for his large plate of Venice (after Prout) he received 700 guineas; for plates in the beautiful Annuals, with which our boyhood was favoured, he received large prices ranging
From 100 to 180 guineas. For these facts concerning him I am indebted to The Register for 1869 (Vol. I., p. 132); and on the same authority
I note, that "more than thirty years ago he gave up engraving, and retired to Bocking in Essex, being engaged by the firm of Samuel
Courtauld and Co., crape-manufacturers, for the chemical and scientific department, and he continued in that employment until the age of Si, his health failing a short time before his death." He died nth October, 1868.
We return to the elder son of old John Le Keux of Canterbury, who also was named John ; he was baptized at Canterbury on eighth Dec.
1647, and married in the City of London French Church, on 6th June
1672, to Susanna Didier. He had a son Peter, and a daughter Jeanne.
The son Captain Peter Le Keux, of Steward Street,
Spitalfields,Weaver, was baptized in the City of London French
Church, 17th Feb. 1683-4, and married at St Dunstan s, Stepney, 29th
July 1712, to Sarah Bloodworth, of the Artillery Ground, London; he
Died 20th June 1743, aged 60. His son and heir John Le Keux (born
1721, died 1764) married, in 1746, Hester Williams of East Greenwich, and left an only son, Richard Le Keux (born 12th Oct. 1755) who was buried at Christ Church nth April 1840, aged 84, leaving no heirs of his body. The head of the branch of the family, descended from
William Le Keux and Mary Maresco, took possession of the considerable estate which Richard left, this claimant believing him to be the true heir, and probably confounding one Peter Le Keux of the old time with another. The late Mr Southerden Burn made practical use of his knowledge of French Refugee families by dispossessing him in the interest of the grand-daughter and heiress of Jeanne Le Keux, which
Jeanne was the sister of Peter (born in 1683-4) mentioned above. Mr
Burn informed Mr Le Keux that he possessed documentary proof of the
Rights of this heiress; but an erroneous pedigree was relied upon by
Le Keux; and an action of ejectment was resorted to. It was proved that Jeanne Le Keux (baptized in the City of London French Church,
24th March 1677) was married at St Dunstan s, Stepney, to Francois
Marriette, Merchant, of St James s, Westminster. Her son was James
Marriette (born 1708, died 1759) who married Alice Jones in 1753. He left one child, Mary Anne Harriett, (Anglick Merrit) baptized at St
Dunstan s, West, on 3ist March 1754, and married at St Anne s,
Westminster, on 3ist May 1778 to Isaac Wheildon. Mr Burn put Mrs
Wheildon in possession of the Le Keux inheritance in 1846, she having then attained the age of 92.