Godfray family page
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This family has been long established in Jersey. With a record of a spelling variant in 1200, it qualifies as one of the very earliest surnames in the island Ada Rebecca Godfray with Cyril Bacon
Record Search
You can also select marriages or burials. Select the name you want and when the list of records is displayed you can easily refine the search, choosing a single parish, given name(s) and/or start and end dates. 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 recordsFrom August 2020 we have started adding records from non-Anglican churches, and this process will continue as more records, held by Jersey Archive, are digitised and indexed. Our database now includes buttons enabling a search within registers of Roman Catholic, Methodist and other non-conformist churches. These records will automatically appear within the results of any search made from this page. A--B--C--D--E--F--G--H--I--J--K--L--M--N--O--P--Q--R--S--T--U--V--W--X--Y--Z
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Origin of Surname
This family name originates with the personal name Godfrey, or Godefroi, the leader of the first Crusade.
The personal name Godfrey, is ultimately of Old German origin, as "Godafrid", a compound of "Guda, Goda", god, with "frithu, frid", peace. There was a corresponding Old English given name, "Godfrith", but it was not common, and most of the modern surnames derive from the Norman form of the German name, "Godefroi, Godefrois", introduced into England after the Conquest of 1066.
The given name is recorded in its Latinized form in the Domesday Book of 1086, as "Godefridus", and the surname development includes Alan Godefre (1252, Huntingdonshire), and Maud Godefray (1277, Nottinghamshire).
The first record of the name is that of Symon Godefrei, which was dated 1221, in the "Charters of Ely", Suffolk, during the reign of King Henry III.

Early records
Godfray is found in the Assize Roll of 1309.
Over 850 baptisms of Godfrays and variants are in our database, starting as early as 1546.
Payne's Armorial of Jersey
This family settled in Jersey some time previous to 1600, in the person of Drouet Godfray. His son, Humphrey Godfray, as appears by family tradition, based on documentary evidence, having sold some landed property in the county of Northumberland (whence his fether had emigrated), purchased an estate in the parish of St Martin, near St Catherine's Bay. Thence, in the middle of the last century, the representative of the elder branch of the family, Philip Godfray, removed to Anneville, on his marriage with Sarah, daughter and eventual heiress of George Messervy. Their eldest son, Philip Godfray, on the death of his mother, inherited this estate, and in 1773 married Frances, the daughter and heiress of Francis Fauvel, a member of a wealthy insular family. The eldest son of this marriage, Philip Godfray, was for several years Constable of St Martin.
Variants
- Godefroi
- Godfrey, 1528
- Godfray, 1668
- Godfroy 1461
- Godefre 1402
- Godeffre 1363
- Godeffroy, 1331
- Godefrei 1381
- Godefrey, 1309
- Godefreye 1540
- Godefridi 1229
- Godefrithis 1200
Family records
Family trees
- Descendants of Jean Godfray and Elizabeth Nicolle
- Descendants of Jean Godfray - 3 Another, more extensive, version of the above from a different source, added 2019
- Descendants of Bernabey Godfray
- Descendants of Jean Godfray
- Descendants of Jean Godfray - 2 Added 2017 , a different Jean at the head of a tree going back to 1581
- Descendants of Philip Godfray links to the above and follows a different descent from the early 18th century
- Descendants of Thomas Godfray
- Descendants of Edmund Godfray
- Descendants of Edouard Godfray
- Descendants of Edouard Godfray - 2 another descendancy Added 2018
- Descendants of Philippe Godfray Added 2021
Church records
- Godfray baptisms in Jersey
- Godfray marriages in Jersey (groom)
- Godfray marriages in Jersey (bride)
- Godfray burials in Jersey
Biographies
Newspaper records
- Philip Godfray, 1848 land valuer
- Charles Godfray appointed to reservoir planning committee in 1848
- John Godfray on committee to examine Constable of St Helier's accounts in 1848
- Francis Godfray sworn in as Constable of St Saviour in 1848
Great War service
Family wills
Burial records
Family homes
- Le Pré au Portier, Grouville
- Bel Air, St Mary
- Grainville Manor, St Saviour
Family businesses
Family album
Click on any image to see the full-size version
A portrait of mother and daughter by Ernest Baudoux
A Mrs Godfray and her daughter photographed by Ernest Baudoux
A Godfray family portrait photographed by Ernest Baudoux
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
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
Starting in August 2020 we are adding 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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