It may be mentioned that a famous sculptor named Germain Pilon (1535-90) lived and worked in Paris about the time of the emigration (presumably not a Protestant, since he escaped persecution). A street in Paris is named after him and his statue appears among the figures of famous artists on the plinth of the Albert Memorial in London. The name Pilon (and Pillon) continues in France to this day.

The first mention of a Pilon in the registers of the French Church at Canterbury is in 1594, and thereafter they appear frequently until well into the eighteenth century. A letter of 1767, still extant, refers to Daniel Pilon and his son Nicholas as trustees of the Church.

This enquiry is concerned however not with the Pilons but with the Pillows who originated with John Pillow, who decided to adopt the new name perhaps about 1750. The name had for some time been spelt either Pilon or Pillon, and a number of French families were anglicising their names during the eighteenth century; the change from Pilon to Pillow is listed among many such changes in the History of the Walloon-Huguenot Church.

Since the writing of Edward Pillow’s letter reproduced above (on the previous page), the record of the family has been continued by a number of its members and passed down to succeeding generations, which have now reached the ninth generation. The Family Tree below has been compiled from old records and from information obtained from as many existing members of the family as possible. I am grateful both to those in the past who compiled and preserved the record and to those who have recently provided information from their own knowledge and enquiries, and especially to Norman Pillow of Luton who has listed all the births and deaths under the name of Pillow indexed at the General Register Office in London from 1837, when registration of births and deaths was introduced, to the present day.