In the course of this work one learns a considerable amount about social history, and one of the fascinating sidelines to emerge from my own research into the Bisson family, is just how few Christian names, or given names, as genealogists whose work crosses religious boundaries prefer to call them, were in common use in Jersey not all that long ago.
The limited use of given names in Jersey during the period from the start of church records of baptisms at the end of the 16th century until birth regitrations were centralised in 1842 is fascinating. It is remarkable that the 613 female Bissons whose baptisms are recorded in that period share only 51 first names, and that reduces to 35 if spelling derivatives are excluded. Of the 51 names, 23 were used only once in 250 years.
The most popular names were Elizabeth (144), Marie (91) and Mary (23), Jeanne (70), Ann and Anne (52), Rachel (42), Susanne (32), Esther (30), Sara (20), Jane (19), Marguerite (17) and Catherine and derivatives (17). No others made it into double figures
Only 79 of the Bisson ladies were given second baptismal names – a fashion which started as late as 1784 in the Bisson families and I suspect that it was not much earlier for other Jersey families.
Male Bissons were slightly more numerous during this period – there were 673 of them. Yet they shared a total of only 48 names, 17 used just the once and seven spelling variations. Only 32 of the male Bissons were given a second baptismal name between 1595 and 1842. Of the total, 511 shared the 11 most popular names, which were Jean (140), Philippe (92), Charles (43), Thomas (42), Edouard (36), Francois (31), Elie (28), George (28), Josue (28), Benjamin (22), and Daniel (21). Abraham and William with ten each were the only others to make double figures.
A partial explanation of the paucity of variety among given names was the very strongly rooted tradition of naming the first-born son after his father and first daughter after her mother. Subsequent children were named after grandparents, where their names differed from the parents’, so variety was somewhat stifled.
Although families were generally larger than today, infant mortality rates were high, and when a son or daughter died young, the next child of the same sex was quite often given the same name. It is not uncommon for a couple to give three or four children the same name in succession. One would have thought that after two children with the same name died in infancy, they might have tried for better luck with a different name.
It will be obvious from the above lists of the commonest names that the majority were of French origin. Jersey in the 16th to mid-19th centuries was very much a French-speaking community. This was as true of St Helier as it was of the country parishes, and the Bissons who were the subject of this analysis were widely distributed throughout the 12 parishes. I have no comparative figures for other Jersey families during this period but the same given names keep appearing among those who do appear in my family tree.
In some families the lack of variety in given names is even more striking. It is a small sample, but my Le Gros Bisson ancestors were exclusively John, Jean and Matthieu from the mid-19th century back to 1530. The three I know of before this date were Thomas, Damian and Robin, names never to reappear even among the siblings of my direct ancestors.
This, and other data I have on different Jersey families, suggests that there was more variety in the use of given names before the parochial registers were introduced. What happened to Genette, Marthe, Noelle and Perrotine? There has certainly been much greater variety in the last 160 years of central registration of births and the French names which were dominant have all but died out and been replaced either by their English equivalents or by the multitude of names of recent introduction.
Turning the spotlight on family names, I have little doubt that those reading this series of articles who bear Jersey surnames as traditional or even older than Bisson and have not yet embarked on their own researches, might be hoping for clues as to the antiquity of their names.
I can offer some clues derived from my own researches, but I must stress that the following information relates only to branches of Jersey families which appear in my own family tree and that of my children through their mother. There may well be lines which stretch back further than my own data shows. The earliest dates shown below for these common Jersey surnames, some now extinct, are of necessity approximate. All were born in Jersey unless otherwise stated.
Ahier – Martin, born in 1380
De Barentine – Drew, born in 1190
Baudains – Cardin, born in St Martin in 1462
Bichard – Sebastian, born in St Ouen in 1565
Billot – Rogier, born in 1562
Le Gros Bisson – Robin, born in St Ouen in 1450
Bisson – Nicolas, born in St Brelade in 1440
Blampied – Gilles, born in Trinity in 1565
Cabot – Colin, born in Trinity in 1464
De Carteret – Guillaume, born in France in 960, his great-grandson Philippe the first born in Jersey
Chevalier – Antoine, born in Trinity in 1490
Dumaresq – Jordan, born about 1300
Falle – Philippe, born in St Saviour in 1415
Gallichan – Jean, born in Trinity in 1627 (this family undoubtedly stretches back much further)
Gruchy – Ralph, born in 1440; Jennette, born 1434
De Gruchy – Jean, born in 1300 (note: Gruchy and de Gruchy are two distinct families)
Hamon – Guille, born in 1500
Hamptonne – Nicolas, born in 1375; his father Thomas, Governor of the Norman Isles, was born in England
Du Heaume – Thomas, born in 1478
Hocquard – Mathieu, born in Trinity in 1630 (this family undoubtedly stretches back much further)
La Cloche – Stephen, living in Jersey in 1320
Langlois – Richard, born in St Lawrence about 1504, son of Raulin. But Philip Langlois was a Jurat of the Royal Court in 1331
Larbalestier – Michael, born in St Helier in 1430
Le Breton – Thomas, born in Trinity about 1450; thought to be descended from Herbert, born in Jersey about 1210. In 1370 William Le Breton was a Jurat of the Royal Court
Le Brocq – Benest, born in St Ouen in 1480
Le Cornu – Philippe, born about 1660 (this family undoubtedly stretches back much further)
Le Cras – Edouard, born in St Lawrence about 1645 (this family undoubtedly stretches back much further)
Le Feuvre – Helier, born in St Ouen about 1573 (the name is mentioned in 13th century Jersey documents)
Le Febvre – Michel, born in St Ouen about 1360
Le Geyt – Noe, born about 1502
Le Masurier – Jean, born in Trinity in 1630 (this family undoubtedly stretches back much further)
Le Quesne – Raulin, born in St John in 1555 (but Gautier Le Quen was a Jurat of the Royal Court in 1318)
Le Rossignol – Guillaume, born in St Ouen in 1500
Le Sueur – Benjamin, born in Trinity in 1578
Lemprière – Thomas, born in St Helier in 1295, descended from Raoul de Lemprière, who settled in Jersey in 1270, and ultimately from Everard de Lemprière, born in France in 970.
Machon – Lucas, born in 1470
Mallet – Jean, born in Grouville in 1450 (William Malet, son of Robert, who held the Fief de Mallet in Grouville in 1170, was taken hostage by King John in 1203)
Marett – Martin, born in 1505 (Ranulph Marett, son of John, was appointed Rector of St Helier by Edward I in 1295)
Messervy – Jean, born in 1280
Morin – Nicolas, born in St Saviour in 1405
Mourant – Drouet, living about 1500 (despite the name’s French origin, the Jersey family is thought to orginate from an immigrant from England in the 15th century)
Nicolle – Guillotine, born in 1410 (In 1331 Colin held land in St Martin and St Mary and Thomas held land in St Brelade; a separate branch of the family adopted the Jersey spelling but originated from an English immigrant, John Nicoll, who was Master Warder of Mont Orgueil and Bailiff in 1494)
Noel – Julian, born in 1525
Payn – Raoul, born in St Lawrence in 1240 (Hugh Payen, living in 1200, was one of the first recorded Jurats of the Royal Court)
Perchard – Jean, born in 1499 (Philippe recorded as a juryman in Trinity in 1331)
De la Perrelle – Jean, born in St Ouen in 1520
Picot – Josue, born in Trinity in 1690 (this family undoubtedly stretches back much further)
Pipon – Nicolas, born in St Peter in 1437
Poingdestre – the lineage can be traced back to Burnulf, born in 1140, but his grandson and great-grandson Geoffroy and Raoul were perhaps the first to settle in Jersey in the mid-13th century
Renouf – Jean, born in St Martin in 1613 (this family undoubtedly stretches back much further)
De St Martin – Jourdain, born in Trinity in 1200
Vibert – Philippe, born in 1490 (Peter Vibert, of St Brelade, is recorded as a member of a jury in 1292)
Other ancient Jersey surnames which do not appear in my own family tree include:
Averty – Jeannette, daughter of Jean, married Jean Filleul early in the 16th century
Bailhache – A Norman family traced to Caen in 1305
Bertram – Richard was a landowner in St Martin in 1331
Filleul – Thomas, settled in Jersey in 1430
Gibaut – early 15th century
Le Gallais – late 14th century)
Le Geyt – early 14th century
Le Gros – late 13th century, but the name is found in Guernsey at the beginning of that century
Le Maistre – early 14th century
Le Marquand – Raoulin was Attorney-General in the 16th century
Le Vavasseur dit Durell – 1497
Mauger – Richard was a landowner in Grouville in 1331
Millais – Geofray Milayes held land in Grouville in 1331
Neel – Richard and Pierre were landowners in St Martin and Grouville, respectively, in 1331
Orange – late 16th century
Pinel – several members of the family recorded as landowners and jurymen in the Extente of 1331. Thomas Pinel was seigneur of Melesches in the previous century but the estate lapsed to the Crown when its owner sided with Normandy when King John ordered landowners in Jersey to make a choice of where their loyalties lay
Richardson – Ralph, presumed to have been an officer in the army of Richard III and a native of England, settled in Jersey in the early part of the 16th century and became a tenant of the Seigneur of Rosel
Robin – Raoulin was a landowner in St Brelade in 1331
Romeril – Servaise, daughter of Clement, married a Marett in the 16th century
Sohier – Jean appears in a Roll of the Royal Court in 1525
Valpy – Several are named in the Extente of 1331
And just a final word about Guernsey. Many surnames are common to both islands, my own included, and yet the families have developed along entirely distinct lines in the two islands over many hundreds of years. In some cases there are thought to be common ancestors (the Guernsey Bissons may have links to the Le Gros Bissons of St Ouen, but this has never been proved) but in other cases the families bearing the same name in the two islands are thought to have descended from separate immigrants from nearby France at different times.
Any readers who have followed this series and think I may be able to help with their own family history research, or have additional information they believe I may be interested in, can contact me by e-mail at mike.bisson@orange.fr.
