Origin of Surname
The name originates from the town of Carteret on the west coast of Normandy's Cotentin peninsula, but how the town came to have this name is less certain. It appears to originate from the same pre-10th century Old French root as the surname 'de Chatelet', meaning 'one who lives by the fort', or from a place of the same or similar spelling.
An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import by William Arthur, published in New York in 1857, suggests that it is of Gaelic and Welsh origin and means the place or town of the castle.
Another researcher also suggests that name meant the dweller at the castle or fortified place, but adds that it was used as an occupational name for a carter, a transporter of goods, originally rendered in the Latin form carrum.
The name does not feature among the most numerous surnames in modern day Normandy.
Early records
The family was well established as one of the most important land owners in the Cotentin peninsula by 1000 AD and it moved to Jersey in the late 11th Century, and built St Ouen's Manor, from which their influence rapidly spread out across the whole island. They were to become by far its most important family for centuries and brought fame and infamy to Jersey the British Isles, Europe and eventually America.
It was Sir Renaud de Carteret (b 1065 in Carteret), the first of several Seigneurs of St Ouen to have that Christian name, who is credited with taking the parish of Saint Ouen by sword and building the manor.
His line can be traced back to his great-grandfather, Guillaume l'Oiseleur de Carteret, who was born in Carteret around 960.
The name appears in the Extente of 1274 and two de Carterets are listed in the Jersey Chantry Certificate of 1550.
Variants
- Carteray
- Charteray
- Carteres
- Cartred
- Katereck
- Karteret
- Quarteret
- Malet de Carteret, a surname assumed by Malet descendants of the de Carterets of St Ouen's Manor
Accuracy of information
We have been aware since they were posted that some of the information in the family trees below disagrees with information on the de Carteret family's Cercle de Carteret website. Our trees have been thoroughly researched over a long period by de Carteret descendants around the world and are believed to be as accurate as any family information stretching back over such a long period can be. We would ask anyone who believes any of the information in our descendancies to be inaccurate to leave a note with the details, on the discussion section of the page in question, so that any discrepancies can be investigated further. We have already updated some of the trees following the receipt of reliable information and are always happy to do so.
Further updates were made during 2016, particularly in regard to the Vinchelez de Haut and Trinity branches. We continue to add and correct dates as and when time is available to research the 500-plus baptisms in the Jersey church registers.
There are more Jersey family trees in Jerripedia (over 3,400 at August 2021) than anywhere else, and we take their accuracy very seriously. Hardly a week goes by when we are not adding new trees or editing existing ones. Anybody with any suggestions to make about alterations to the trees is invited to contact us by sending an email to editorial@jerripedia.org. Please use Jerripedia as the subject for your email.
Important marriages
It is the marriages between members of the de Carteret family and immigrants to Jersey from important families in Medieval Britain, that allows many islanders to trace their ancestry out of Jersey.
- Philippe de Carteret to Margaret Harliston
- Philippe de Carteret to Margaret Newton
- Philippe de Cartetet to Marguerite d'Aubigne
- Philippe de Carteret to Rachel Paulett
Family records
Family trees
- Descendants of Nicolas de Carteret
- Descendants of Guillaume de Carteret, 960
- Descendants of Philippe de Carteret (1452-1500)
- Baronial branch
- Sark colonists
- Vinchelez de Haut branch
- Vinchelez de Bas branch
- Trinity Branch
- De Carteret St Ouen, St Brelade and St Saviour branches
- Descendants of Francois de Carteret
- Descendants of Jean de Carteret (1486)
- Descendants of Jean de Carteret (1541- )
- Descendants of Philippe de Carteret and Elizabeth Guerdain
- Descendants of Jean Mallet, ancestry of the Malet de Carteret Seigneurs of St Ouen in the 19th-21st centuries
- Descendants of Jean de Carteret
- Descendants of Samuel de Carteret, a Sark family
Church records
- De Carteret baptisms in Jersey
- De Carteret marriages in Jersey (groom)
- De Carteret marriages in Jersey (bride)
- De Carteret burials in Jersey
Family histories
- The de Carterets, from Payne's Armorial of Jersey
- The de Carteret family
- de Carteret family history
- The de Carterets and Sark
- The Trinity de Carterets
- de Carterets of St Ouen, St Brelade and St Saviour, a history of lesser-known branches by the Rev J A Messervy
- De Carteret biographies
- Royal Family's descent from de Carteret family
- Philippe de Carteret (1400- )
- Philippe de Carteret (1452- )
- Helier de Carteret (1480-1561) - 1 Bailiff of Jersey
- Helier de Carteret (1480-1561) - 2, expanded biography
- Helier de Carteret (1532-1584) Colonised Sark
- Sir Philippe de Carteret, Bailiff at the outbreak of the English Civil War
- Sir George Carteret - a summary of his life, supporter of Charles II and founder of New Jersey
- Sir George Carteret, biography from Annual Bulletin of La Société Jersiaise
- Sir George Carteret 2, from A Biographical Dictionary of Jersey
- Sir George Carteret 1643-1646
- Philip de Carteret (1639-1683) First Governor of New Jersey
- James Carteret, Governor of New Jersey
- Philip de Carteret (1733-1796 Circumnavigator
- Philipe de Carteret, circumnavigator, second article
- Charles de Carteret
- John CarteretBailiff
- Robert Carteret, Bailiff
- Amice de Carteret
- Edouard de Carteret
- Sir Edouard de Carteret - 1
- Sir Edouard de Carteret - 2
- Francois de Carteret
- Geoffroi de Carteret
- Jean de Carteret
- Jean de Carteret (1552-1608)
- Josue de Carteret
- Philippe de Carteret (1432-1470)
- Philippe de Carteret (1452-1499)
- Philippe de Carteret (1620-1662)
- Philippe de Carteret (1620-1665)
- Philippe de Carteret (1626-1672)
- Philippe de Carteret (1650-1693)
- Philippe de Carteret, Bailiff 1682-1693
- Philippe de Carteret, Bailiff 1661-1662
- Sir Philippe de Carteret Silvester
- Renaud de Carteret
- Sir Renaud de Carteret
- George William de Carteret
- Edward Charles Malet de Carteret
- Charles Malet de Carteret
- Philippe Carteret RN
- Jutize and de Carteret family history
- The de Carterets of St Ouen's Manor: An examination of the main de Carteret lineage by Peter Bisson, with some controversial views on how it started
Société Jersiaise Library records
- Bertram records in La Société Jersiaise Library, including references to members of the de Carteret family Added 2018
Great War service
Family wills
Burial records
Occupation records
World War 2 casualties
Emigrant to Canada
Family homes
- St Ouen's Manor
- Trinity Manor
- Vinchelez de Haut Manor
- Vinchelez de Bas Manor
- Handois Manor
- La Hague Manor
- Les Buttes, St John
- Le Grand Catelet, St John
- Le Marinel, St John
- Carteret Farm, Grouville
- St John's Manor
Family album

Click on any image to see the full-size version
An unknown Miss de Carteret photographed by Ernest Baudoux in the 19th century
Family businesses
Family gravestones
Memorials to prominent members of the de Carteret family inside parish churches. In the top row, on the left, inside Holy Trinity, is a memorial to Edward de Carteret, Bailiff of Jersey, who died at the age of 64 in 1682. Usually known as Sir Edouard de Carteret, he was the first of two 17th century Bailiffs of that name. Why his name was anglicised on this memorial, which clearly dates from some time after his death, is not clear. It may be that it was erected as late as the 19th century, when it was fashionable to anclicise the given names of Jerseymen of previous eras
The picture on the right of the top row shows the memorial to Abraham de Carteret in St John's Church. He was a contemporary of Sir Edouard and Seigneur of St John when he died at the age of 31 in 1681.
On the left of the second row is a photograph of the memorial to Elie de Carteret, of St Ouen, in St Peter's Church. The Latin inscription shows that Elie, who is also found as Elias, died in 1640. The memorial also includes his wife, Elizabeth, nee Dumaresq
On the right is the St Ouen's Church memorial to Philippe de Carteret (1583-1643), Bailiff and Lieut-Governor, who famously died at Elizabeth Castle on 23 August 1643 having taken refuge there during the English Civil War. He was buried inside the castle, and his body was moved to St Ouen the following year
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
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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
Links
- Cercle De Carteret - De Carteret Family forum