Family research
Family research
Jerripedia's unique comprehensive online index to church registers of baptisms, marriages and burials in the island's 12 parish churches from the 16th century onwards was launched in October 2012 as an addition to the index of over 30,000 St Helier baptism registrations from 1842 to 1909 which has been on the site since 2010.
The project is well ahead of schedule and is now nearing completion. All baptism records (with the exception of a small batch in St Helier) are now indexed and the addition of these missing records, plus the marriage records for Grouville and Trinity, and Grouville burials, is scheduled for the end of June, which will complete the pre-1842 records. At the same time our searchable database will also contain a full set of records, providing a second means for family historians to locate their ancestors. A project to add further records beyond 1842 is now under consideration.
This section of the site is the heart of Jerripedia for those interested in researching their family history. Use the menu on the left below to navigate to the various sections. The family pages provide information on nearly 300 Jersey families, including all the major ones, such as de Carteret, Dumaresq, Payn, Bisson. The pages give the origins of the family names, when known, the earliest occurrences in Jersey, links to family trees and also to lists of births and baptisms.
There is also a separate link to an alphabetical index of over 1,000 family trees, and another to a selection of the more important trees for those seeking to trace their ancestry back through prominent Jersey families with records pre-dating the Parish Church registers.
Main subjects
- Church records database
- A-Z index to nearly 300 family pages
- A-Z index to over 1,000 family trees
- Comprehensive list of Jersey surnames
- Derivation of Jersey surnames
- Baptismal names popular in Jersey
- Guide to using church records for family research
- Useful resources for family historians
- Other Jerripedia resources
- Selected family trees
- Fascinating histories of Jersey families
- What's your story? - aspects of Jersey family history researched by the Jersey Archive
Donkipedia
Jerripedia's sister site Donkipedia also contains much valuable information for those researching their families in the Channel Islands. Surnames which are common in both islands have a single page providing information about the family in both Guernsey and Jersey (and Alderney and Sark when relevant) and also links to family trees and other information for all the islands. In addition to the family names currently available in Jerripedia, there are additional family pages accessible from the Donkipedia index which may help your research.
Contribute to Jerripedia family pages
Anyone can contribute to Jerripedia's family pages. You can add a new family to the list, add to and amend information on existing family pages, and post your own family tree. It is a simple process, and you can find more information and instructions in the section on adding your family tree
Feature family
Le Breton
One of Jersey's oldest and best researched families is Le Breton. Jerripedia's family page looks at how the family may have reached Jersey, the history of the family as written by early 20th century historian and genealogist the Rev J A Messervy, and includes several family trees, one of which contains the famous Jersey actress Lillie Langtry. And can the family trace its ancestry back to Norman knights, one of whom was involved in the assassination of Thomas a Becket? Or did they simply cross the sea to the island from Brittany?
Recent additions
Jerripedia's family pages are being added to all the time. Here are a few of the recent additions:
New family trees will be found on the following pages:
There are additional baptism listings for
