Deffains

Deffains family page

This family came to Jersey in the 19th century, from Brittany, and probably from the Cotes d'Armor department in the north-west of the region. It is still present in the island today. The 1901 St Helier register entry for the marriage of Joseph Marie Deffains and Anne Marie Herve Record Search Direct links to lists of baptisms, marriages and burials for the Deffains family can be found under Family Records opposite. If you want to search for records for a spelling variant of Deffains, or for any other family name, just click below on the first letter of the family name you are interested in. This will open a new tab in your browser giving you a list of family names beginning with that letter, for which there are baptism records in our database of half a million church and public registry records. 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 records From 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 If you can help with information about the Deffains family, please contact editorial@jerripedia.org, using Jerripedia as the subject of your email. We are particularly interested in information which will help create further family trees, family histories and photographs A blue link anywhere in the text will lead you to another page with more information on this family

Origins of surname

This is a name from the Cotes d'Armor and Ile-et-Vilaine departments of north Brittany. It identifies someone from a locality called Fain or Fains. There is a commune called Fains in Ile-et-Vilaine. The name may also be associated with the old French for fin, meaning 'end' and refer to someone living on or beyond the boundaries of a village.

It could also, it is suggested, be derived from fein, the old French for hay.

Early records

We are not entirely confident in the connection between the Joseph Deffains who is at the head of the first family to settle in Jersey and Joseph Jean Marie Deffains, and his ancestors from Plemy, Cotes d'Armor shown in the tree below, but we think there is a strong likelihood that this is the same family.

Variants

• Deffains, the variant common in Jersey
• Defains
• Defain
• Deffain

Family records

Family trees

• Descendants of Pierre Deffains

Births and baptisms

None of the Deffains children born in Jersey up to 1915 was baptised in an Anglican church

Great War service

Notes on our list, abbreviations used etc

• Joseph Deffains (1899- ) (Tr), son of Joseph and Rosalie, Gunner, Royal Field Artillery

Family wills

These wills created by members of the Deffains 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

• Deffains : Joseph Francois , of La Tourelle, Gorey, St Martin - 18/Jun/1951 , 08/Oct/1963 , D/Y/B1/76/21
• Deffains : Joseph Marie , Rosary Cottage, St Lawrence - 17/Aug/1935 , 15/Apr/1936 , D/Y/A/98/113
• Deffains : Marie Francoise , nee Le Moine, widow of Joseph Francois Deffains, of La Chaumiere, Sion, St John - 14/Dec/1964 , 20/Nov/1965 , D/Y/B1/92/3
• Deffains : Peter Paul , of Belle Vue, St Lawrence and formerly of Green Lodge, St Lawrence - 01/Jun/1963 , 12/Oct/1976 , D/Y/B1/247/40
• Deffains : Raymonde Beatrice , wife of George Philip Merhet, of The Elms, St Mary - 29/Nov/1978 , 08/Oct/1980 , D/Y/B1/332/10
• Deffains : Walter John Noel , of La Pointe, Vinchelez, St Ouen - 08/Mar/1940 , 28/Feb/1963 , D/Y/B1/72/72

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

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  St Matthew’s, St Lawrence

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  St Matthew’s, St Lawrence

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  St Lawrence

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  St Lawrence