Origin of Surname
Although the surname Morin is quite distinct from that of Morel, it appears that they may have a similar derivation, from the ancient French for dark-skinned or wearing dark clothing. It was probably used first as a given name Morin or Maurin.
The name Morin is common in Normandy. There is a record of a Gaukelius Morin in 1257 and Nicholaus Morin in 1267.
The first record of the name in England is that of Robert Morin, dated about 1140, in the Documents relating to the Danelaw for the city of London, during the reign of King Stephen.
Early records
The earliest record to survive in Jersey is in a Close Letter dated 1236 in which Willielmus Morin is mentioned as the heir to Alesia and her sister, daughters of Robert Morin, who will have lived in the 12th century.
In the 1331 Extente Stephanus Morin was listed as a juror for, and holding land in, St Saviour. The Morins of that parish were influential in the Middle Ages. Pierre Morin was a Jurat 1408-1432 and Lieut-Bailiff 1435-1437; Guillaume Morin Jurat 1408-1425; Nicolas Morin Jurat 1445-1460 and another Nicolas Jurat 1470-1475. The first Jurat Nicolas Morin was probably the Baillif of this name, 1460-1467. Their St Saviour home was known by their name Morin, now called Le Mourin, and passed to the Dumaresqs, known thereafter as the Dumaresqs du Morin. Close neighbours were a branch of the Messervys, described as "d`auprès du Morin," which property later had its own name, La Pierre des Trois Milles" or Three Mile House, from the three-mile stone set on their land: Manuscript notes by Guy de Gruchy.
The family survived long enough to appear in the earlier baptismal records from 1597, but died out in the early 17th century. The name was reintroduced to England, and possibly also the Channel Islands, by Huguenot refugees later in the 17th century. It is thought that other Norman Morins migrated to Jersey in the 19th century. The following names also predate the baptism registers:
- Perrez Morin was born in St Saviour about 1410
- Nicholas Morin was born in Jersey in about 1420
- Helen Morin was born in about 1425, the daughter of Nicolas Morin, of Le Muorin, St Saviour (1405- ) and Perronelle Le Febvre. Helen married Johan Poingdestre (1411- ) and they had two sons, John and Damian. Helen died in January 1477 and was buried in the parish of her birth
- Jeanette Morin was born in Jersey about 1483 and married Guille Le Roux in 1503
- Ralph Morin was born in St Helier about 1514 and married Catherine La Cloche there in 1540
Strangely for a family which has been present in Jersey for such a long time and, due to reintroduction, still is today, there are only 23 baptisms on record from 1597 to 1915.
There is a record, possibly not accurate, of a Guillaume Morin born in Guernsey in 1330. The name was common in Castel in the 17th century
Variants
- Morin, 1236
- Mourin, 1489
- Moryn 1528
- Mouryn, 1470
- Morrin 1461-78
- Muorin
- Moran
- Morain
Family records
Family trees
Church records
- Morin baptisms in Jersey
- Morin marriages in Jersey (groom)
- Morin marriages in Jersey (bride)
- Morin burials in Jersey
Biographies
- Nicolas Morin, Bailiff of Jersey 1459-1468
Great War service
- Albert Edwin Morin (1873- ) son of Louis and Mary, ex-RMIJ, Private RFC, RAF
- Alfred Francis Amice Morin (1898- ) (St H) son of Frank and Emily Mellish, Private, Cameron Highlanders
- Charles Morin (St B), Corporal, Canada
- Francis Morin (St H), Private, Worcestershire Regiment
- Francis Philip Morin (St P), Driver RFA
- Harold Francis Morin (1897- ) (St H) son of Frank and Emily Mellish, Corporal RAOC
Family wills
These wills created by members of the Morin family are now held by Jersey Archive. By visiting the archive site and using the names, dates and reference numbers shown here, it is possible to view a copy of each will. You will have to subscribe to the Archive's online service to do this. To find out more about this collection, which covers the period from 1663 to 1980, and how to search for your family's wills there, visit our Jersey wills page
- Pierre Morin - 19 January 1934, D/Y/A/95
- Rose Morin - 7 May 1921, D/Y/A/81
- François Morin, Pied du Côtil, Bellozanne, St Helier - 23 August 1940, D/Y/A/107
- Rose Morin, Vingtaine des Augres, Trinity, widow - 12 April 1926, D/Y/A/86
Burial records
Family album
Ethel Morin 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
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
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