Charles Read

Early life

He was born in the 4th old arrondissement of Paris to Augustine Brulley and her Scottish husband William Read. He studied classics at the collège Louis-le-Grand then trained at the Faculté de droit de Paris. He was received as a lawyer, joined the bar in 1841, and two years later became a magistrate as a substitute for Montélimar. In 1845 he moved to be a substitute for Montargis. The French Provisional Government of 1848 made him sub-prefect of Blaye and Villeneuve-d’Agen and the following year he joined the Ministry for Education and Religions as head of the service for non-catholic faiths.

In that role he intervened in the reorganisation of French protestant churches and took a major part in the preparations for the 1852 decrees which replaced the consistories with presbyterial councils. 1852 also saw him found the Société de l'histoire du protestantisme français - a devout adherent of the Reformed faith himself, he edited the society's Bulletin historique et littéraire for fourteen years and managed its library at 54 rue des Saints-Pères. The Ministry's head Gustave Rouland accused him of favouring the Protestants over the State and so Read left that role in 1857 to become director of the litigation department for the Seine prefecture.