In 1731, it seems that this Jean Bellette married Mary Molee (or Molé) at Christchurch, Spitalfields.  

Their move from the Threadneedle St French church to the Anglican Christchurch, and the Anglicisation of Jean to John indicate the gradual assimilation of the Huguenots into the English speaking community.  

John and Mary’s son John Bellette was baptised in 1731 at St Leonard’s, Shoreditch, while their daughters Marie and Elizabeth were baptised at Threadneedle St. 

At the time John and Mary were establishing their family, social change was underway again in Spitalfields.  A decline in the Irish linen industry had caused many Irish weavers to switch to silk weaving, and there was an influx of cheap Irish labour into the area, which threatened to undermine the profitability of the local industry.  

In addition to the industrial tension, religious friction was virtually inevitable between the Protestant Huguenots and Catholic Irish. A further threat came from the importation of French silk during a lull in the long history of wars between England and France, followed by a rise in popularity of Indian cotton, and the importation of printed calicos. 

As the master weavers’ profits dwindled, their labourers suffered the consequences, with a deterioration in pay and working conditions.  It was a struggle to keep wages above subsistence level.  This went against the grain for the Huguenots, who had been taught to regard prosperity as a sign of God’s grace to those who followed their strict Calvinist principles of hard work, thrift and self discipline (the famous Protestant work ethic). 

Excerpt from an unpublished family history written by the submitter, Jill Watson.  Based on research by Robert Nash, secretary of the Huguenot Society of Australia, particularly his paper, “Notes on the Possible Descent of Jacob Bellett (1765-1813)” 13/2/2004