Register Of Baptisms The French Protestant Refugees At Thorney 1654-1727 Refugees were invited to settle in Thorney, in the fenlands, because of their expertise in maintaining drained land, for cultivation and farming. Moving to Thorney offered advantages. Oliver Cromwell declared that if they newcomers bought or farmed lands they were accounted “free denizens of the Commonwealth” Viewable on any computer (PC and Mac) using Adobe Acrobat Reader. This is one of a range of old and rare books scanned by The Genealogy Store