Baker

Origins of surname

Although this very early English surname is occupational, it does not always relate to a maker of bread. It comes from the old English word boeccure. There are a number of possible origins and these include an official with special responsibilities for the baking ovens in a monastery or castle, as well as the keeper of the communal kitchen in a town or village, since most of the humbler households had no cooking facilities other than a pot over a fire. The right to be in charge of this service and to exact money or loaves in return for its use was, in many parts of Britain, a hereditary feudal privilege. Less often the surname may have been acquired by someone noted for specifically baking fine bread or as an owner of a kiln for the baking of pottery or even bricks. The surname is first recorded in the late 12th Century, and early records include Robert Bakere, a witness in the Assize Court Rolls of Lancashire in 1246.

Early records

The name first appears at Le Bakere in Jersey records in the 14th century, but this does not necessarily mean that it was of French origin. It is more likely that the name Bakere belonged to an English immigrant, possibly a soldier, and that the 'Le' was added in an island to help it fit in with local style.

Baker baptisms are found as early as early as the 1670s in Grouville, and the family next appears in St Brelade, St John and St Helier registers in the early 18th century.

Although nearly 200 baptisms and births were recorded in Jersey up to the early 20th century, it is difficult to assemble Baker family trees because the name has long been very common in England and a significant number of Baker immigrants came to Jersey, particularly in the 19th century. St Helier registers show numerous Bakers from the West Country marrying local girls, and also a number of soldiers.

Variants

• Baker
• Le Bakere, 1340

Family records

Family trees

• Descendants of Thomas Baker
• Descendants of Thomas Baker - 2, different Thomas
• Descendants of Thomas Palmer Baker, different Thomas
• Descendants of Jean Baker
• Descendants of William Baker
• Descendants of William Baker and Elizabeth Perry, different William Added 2016

Church records

Tips for using these links

• Baker baptisms in Jersey
• Baker marriages in Jersey (groom)
• Baker marriages in Jersey (bride)
• Baker burials in Jersey

Newspaper records

• James Baker elected St Helier Vingtenier in 1848

Great War service

• Baker family members who served in World War 1

Occupation records

• Baker Occupation identity cards
• Ronald Henry Bell Baker, Deported during the Occupation after being convicted of receiving stolen property

Family wills

• Baker family wills from 1663 to 1980 held by Jersey Archive

Family histories

• David and George Baker
• Margery Baker: Actress, teacher and television director

Burial records

• Baker burial records 1820-1978

Family businesses

• Amy and Baker were trading at 16 Queen Street in the 1880s and '90, predecessors of Frederick Baker which would become established across the street
• Frederick Baker and Sons, 20th century Queen Street department store - family tree
• Noel and Porter, King Street department store acquired by the Baker family in 1953
• John Samuel Baker, Locksmith
• C Baker was a chemist at 15 King Street in the early 1880s ...
• ... and at No 16 later in the decade
• Wilfred Baker was a milliner at 55½ King Street in the 1900s and 1910s
• Watchmaker J A Baker was at 3 Queen Street in the 1880s
• Watchmaker J Baker was at 26 Queen Street in the 1890s

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  1850

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  1852

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  1881 advert

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  1886

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  1890

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  An 1895 advert for Baker's pharmacy

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  Baker undertakers at 56 New Street about 1895. Mr Baker was the inventor of a window blind pulley

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  J Baker, cabinet maker and upholsterer in business at 28 New Street in 1837

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  1881 advert

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  1873

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  1896

Family album

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  Sgt J F Baker, photographed by Ernest Baudoux

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  Another Baudoux photograph

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  The Baker family of Jersey moved to Essex and are pictured here on a charabanc outing in Epping Forest in about 1915

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  Funeral card for Horatio Pitter Baker

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  Funeral card for Horatio Baker's wife Emma Adeline, nee Thurnell

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  1919 wedding of Mabel Louise Sarah Baker and Henry Perry, with Mabel's father Horatio Pitter Baker behind her

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  Harry Erith Baker (1864-1932)

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  Thomas Baker (1878-1949) and Mabel Maud Single (1878-1962)

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  Violet Edna Baker

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  Architect Eric Baker in 1977

Family gravestones

Click on any image to see a larger version. See the Jerripedia gravestone image collection page for more information about our gravestone photographs. Images of gravestones in other cemeteries will be added progressively.

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  Almorah cemetery

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  Almorah cemetery

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  Almorah cemetery

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  Old Mont a l’Abbe cemetery

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  Old Mont a l’Abbe cemetery

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  Mont a l’Abbe cemetery

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  Mont a l’Abbe cemetery

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  Mont a l’Abbe cemetery

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  Mont a l’Abbe cemetery

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  Mont a l’Abbe cemetery

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  Mont a l’Abbe cemetery

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  Mont a l’Abbe cemetery

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  Mont a l’Abbe cemetery

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  Mont a l’Abbe cemetery

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  Mont a l’Abbe cemetery

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  St John’s Church cemetery

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  St John’s Church cemetery

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  St John’s Church cemetery

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  Sion cemetery

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  Sion cemetery

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  St Brelade

Tips

The church record links above will open in a new tab in your browser and generate the most up-to-date list of each set of records from our database. These lists replace earlier Family page baptism lists, which were not regularly updated. They have the added advantage that they produce a chronological listing for the family name in all parishes, so you do not have to search through A-Z indexes, parish by parish.

We have included some important spelling variants on some family pages, but it may be worth searching for records for a different spelling variant. Think of searching for variants with or without a prefix, such as Le or De. To search for further variants, or for any other family name, just click on the appropriate link below for the first letter of the family name, and a new tab will open, giving you the option to choose baptism, marriage or burial records. You will then see a list of available names for that type of record and you can select any name from that list. That will display all records of the chosen type for that family name, and you can narrow the search by adding a given name, selecting a parish or setting start and end dates in the form you will see above. You can also change the family name, or search for a partial name if you are not certain of the spelling

The records are displayed 30 to a page, but by selecting the yellow Wiki Table option at the top left of the page you can open a full, scrollable list. This list will either be displayed in a new tab or a pop-up window. You may have to edit the settings of your browser to allow pop-up windows for www.jerripediabmd.net. For the small number of family names for which a search generates more than 1,500 records you will have to refine your search (perhaps using start or end dates) to reduce the number of records found.

New records

Since August 2020 we have added several thousand new records from the registers of Roman Catholic, Methodist and other non-conformist churches. These will appear in date order within a general search of the records and are also individually searchable within the database search form

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