Census Dates

Screenshot of my Davey ancestors Isaac W. Davey and his wife Ann (nee le Breton) and their 7 children living at 14 Lempriere Street (AKA The Eagle Tavern)

One of the most useful sources of information when I am researching my Channel Island Ancestry is the  population census taken every ten years. What we don’t always know is the exact date that the census was taken on.

UK CENSUS DATES

Here is a website which gives you the date of the UK Census dates: UK Census dates.

JERSEY CENSUS DATES

1891 Channel Island Census - 5th April 1891

GUERNSEY CENSUS DATES

1901 Census – St. Peter Port, Guernsey – 31 March 1901

Useful information found in Census records:

  • Name of head of household
  • occupants of household
  • address
  • occupants age – occupation/living means – marriage status/school attendee – years married – nationality of occupants (and father’s nationality)
  • who their neighbours are (they could be more relations!)

Here are some interesting Census records for you to browse:

1841 Census Channel Islands

1881 Census: Residents of Jersey General Hospital (Also known as The Workhouse at the time – information includes: inmates, nurses, cooks, boarders, domestic servants and so on.)

Note: I will update this post if I come across the further dates for when the Jersey census was taken every ten years.

Published in: on June 8, 2012 at 2:48 pm  Comments (3)  
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100 years Anniversary of the Titanic

Today is the hundred year anniversary of the tragic sinking of the passenger liner RMS Titanic.

As usual, when I read about these kind of events, I wonder to myself, were there any Jersey people involved. According to the records on Ancestry.com there are a few Guernsey and Jersey people on the list. Here they are.

From Jersey:

UK, RMS Titanic, Deaths at Sea, 1912 – Name: P Ahier – Birth: abt 1892 Jersey – Residence: Southampton

From Guernsey:

UK, RMS Titanic, Deaths at Sea, 1912 – Name: H Ingroville – Birth: abt 1891 Guernsey – Residence: Southampton

UK, RMS Titanic, Deaths at Sea, 1912 – Name: A Whitford – Birth: abt 1875 Guernsey – Residence: Southampton

From Channel Islands:

UK, RMS Titanic, Deaths at Sea, 1912 – Name: Harry Williams – Birth: abt 1884 – Residence: Channel Islands

 

I also wonder what kind of coverage the local Evening Post (first publishing in 1890) would have written about this awful event.

Jersey and it’s locals with its seabaring history would have been no stranger to tragedy at sea. Even so, such a momentous trip held a lot of hope and sense of achievement, which was lost in an incredibly quick amount of time.

 

To find out more about the Titanic visit the link www.rmstitanic.net

Published in: on April 15, 2012 at 2:06 pm  Comments (2)  
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Mary DeFrance

According to the research myself and my friend Kelly have been doing, our ancestor, my great, great, great, great grandmother, Mary DeFrance died on the 6th February 1858. One hundred and fifty four years ago today. For me, researching our female ancestors is really exciting, for they can be hard to trace. This is mainly because the females adopt their spouses surnames. They are therefore quite hard to find in the records if you do not know who they marrried. In this case Marie  married William Davey. How they met is unknown, but from the pieces I have managed to unravel I have created my own story which may one day be proven to be true or incorrect.

  • Marie DeFrance was born in St. Peter Port, Guernsey about 1782. Her father may be Thomas DeFrance born circa 1765.
  • In 1789, the start of the French Revolution takes place. I wonder how this affects the islanders, as thousands of French aristocrats apparently flee to Jersey, expanding the size of St. Helier dramatically.
  • In 1804, Marie marries William Davis/Davey in Guernsey. William, I believe has sailed over from England (he was born in West Coker, Somerset). Maybe for work? I do know that at some time William’s occupation is that of a ‘Carter’. This is not a job that was seen as doing well in the world.
  • Unusually for those days, they do not have a child until 1811 (7 years after marriage), Thomas Davis/Davey. Maybe she had given birth to earlier babies but I have not found any record of them.
  • In 1813, Rachel Mary Davis/Davey is born in St. Helier. So we now know they have left Guernsey for Jersey, Channel Islands, UK. Only the baptism records have been found regarding Rachel, so I do not know what becomes of her.
  • In 1816, William George Davey is born in St. Helier, Jersey (notice the spelling Davis is no longer used).
  • In 1819, Mary Ann Davey is born. She goes on to marry a George Le Breton.
  • In 1821, my great great great grandfather is born, Isaac William Davey. His godparents are William Leto and Catherine De France (later she is Catherine Leto)
  • In 1832, their is a cholera epidemic which sweeps through the town and outskirts. Marie’s husband writes his Will & Testament at this time, as I am sure do many others. In the record Marie’s name is spelt Mary. This english way of spelling their names was sometimes purposely done to blend in with the locals.
  • the rest is unknown..

Then at 2am on Saturday 6th February 1858 Mary dies at her home at 14 Lempriere Street. Fanny Sampson was present. I do not know who Fanny Sampson is yet. She died of ‘vieillesse – old age’ at 76 years old, which suggests to me that she was a tough old girl!

Where she is buried is unknown at the moment, but it is on my ‘to find out’ list.

If you think you are connected to Marie DeFrance or know more about her life, I would love to hear from you!

Published in: on February 6, 2012 at 3:02 pm  Comments (3)  
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Muratti Final 1933

My great grandparents watching Jersey and Guernsey play football.

Seventy eight years ago today, on the  20th April 1933  my great grandmother Florence Anna  Gallienne (sitting at the top) and her husband Henri Yves Rabet (to her right) watched the Jersey football team play against Guernsey for the annual Muratti Final.  Florence is 28 years old and Henri is 30 years old when this photo is taken. By this time they have been married  for 9 years and have had five children. Florence is to have sadly died only 3 years after this photo was taken.

What is great about this photo is that it gives you an insight into your ancestors leisure times and social activities. The fact that they both went to watch football together shows a shared social interest (although I am presuming that Florence enjoyed watching football, I may be wrong!) It also makes sense that later on in time their son Henry (who was 3 at the time of the photo) was mad about football and played well in the school team.

New St. Junior 1940 - 1941

Henry Rabet Jr. is sitting in the front row, first on the right. Notice the date on this photo, I wonder if it was taken just before Jersey was occupied by the Germans during World War 2? It is likely that this may have been New Street Primary’s football team (the school no longer exists). Henry was living at 45 New Street, Jersey with his father the time this photo was taken.

Anyway, I know very little about the Muratti football games and therefore had to do a little research online. The Muratti is the annual men’s football competition which began in 1905 and is between Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney. The only years where the Muratti did not go ahead was during World War One 1915 – 1919 and World War Two 1940 – 1946.  The teams wear their island colours of green and white (Guernsey) and red and white (Jersey) and blue and white (Alderney).  I came across the website: Guernsey  FA and amazingly enough they have a History section which includes the Junior Muratti Guernsey Team and results:

Date & Place: 1933 April 20 – Jersey

Score: Jersey 4 Guernsey 2.

Team players: R Le Tissier, E Sauvage, W Breton, N Brouard, C Guilbert, G Taylor, H Duquemin, W Stevens, R Martel, S Robert, E Le Flocq.

These are the Guernsey players and I don’t recognise any family names. I couldn’t find the list of players for the Jersey team, but I will try and find them. The website was a great find as it confirmed the date of the Muratti, plus Florence’s grandfather was born in Guernsey so maybe she had family playing in one of the teams???

If you recognise anyone else in either of the photos, I would love to hear from you!

Published in: on April 20, 2011 at 3:15 pm  Comments (2)  
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