Origin of Surname
Dorey may be a name given to a man with golden hair (doré), or it may be short for Theodore. It is also suggested that it may derive from the old French for goldsmith or gilder.
A Dorey descendant and researcher has sent us this explanation:
- "The reputed origin for the surname “Dorey” is that the Duke of Normandy recruited blond, golden-haired men for his army from Scandanavia, hence the name Dore (or Doré). The original Dorey men in Jersey may have been sent there as part of the garrison to man Mont Orgueil Castle.
- "The reason for recruiting the men from Scandanavia may have been that, like the Popes in Rome who hired Swiss guards, the Duke did not trust men from the local population in Normandy to safeguard his interests.
- "My name is Dorey and my DNA analysis by Ancestry indicates that approximately 50% of my DNA still originates from Scandanavia and nearby regions, which tends to confirm the legend for the origin of the name Dorey. It would also suggest that families of the garrison at Mont Orgueil were part of a rather close community that tended to intermarry."
The name is common in Normandy and there is a record of Willelmus Dorey in 1198.
Early records
- Sire Jehan Dorey, Johan Dorey and Richard Dorey are listed in the Jersey Chantry Certificate of 1550.
- Catherine Dorey was born in St John in 1494 and married Clement (or Thomas) Pinel
- Marie Dorey was born in Trinity about 1564, the daughter of Thomas Dorey (1535- ) and Michelle Gallichan
- Guillaume Dorey was born in St Saviour about 1573 and married Catherine Falle
- Jean Dorey was born in St Ouen about 1612
- Matthew Dorey was born in Trinity about 1634.
- Elizabeth Dorey (1660- ) Trinity, d of Mathieeu (1634- ) m Helier Lempriere
- Magdelaine Dorey (1684- ), Catherine Dorey (1681- ) and Anne Dorey (1701- ) were daughters of Philippe and Esther Ahier
- Sara Dorey (1702- ) was the daughter of Pierre and Sara Le Cornu
- Jean Dorey (1501- ) m (1525) Marie de Gruchy. Their son Helier was born in 1526.
The Dorey family is also found in Guernsey
Variants
- Dorey, 1668
- Doré
- Dorée
- Dorel
- Doret
- Dorez
- Le Dore
Family records
Family trees
- Descendants of Pierres Le Breton (1482- ), Le Breton-Dorey link in the 16th century
- Descendants of Jean Dorey
- Descendants of Jean Dorey - 4, same Jean as above, longer descendancy
- Descendants of Jean Dorey - 3
- Descendants of Jean Dorey (2)
- Descendants of Matthieu Dorey
- Descendants of Philip Dorey
- Descendants of George Dorey
- Descendants of Thomas Dorey
Four new trees from James Brannan in 2023
The addition of these trees requires revisions and deletions in existing trees, which will be undertaken as soon as possible
- Descendants of Thomas Dorey of St Helier
- Descendants of Jean Dorey of St Saviour
- Descendants of Helier Dorey
- Descendants of Jean Dorey of Trinity
Church records
- Dorey baptisms in Jersey
- Dorey marriages in Jersey (groom)
- Dorey marriages in Jersey (bride)
- Dorey burials in Jersey
Family histories
Newspaper records
Great War service
- Elias George Dorey (1894-1917) son of John and Elizabeth Amy Dorey, Gunner, RA, Killed in action
- Dorothy Dorey (1890- ) (St H) daughter of Thomas and Margaret Louise Dorey, British Red Cross
Sons of Thomas Dorey and Gertrude Emily Giffard
- Edgar Alick Dorey (1886-1976) (Tr) husband of Olive Kathleen Giffard, Sergeant, RGA
- Lionel Gifford Dorey (1883- ) (St H) Captain RGA
- George Binet Dorey (1888- ) (Tr) son of John George and Esther Jane, husband of Phyllis Coles, Lieutenant, Canadian Field Artillery
- John Dorey (St H), Sergeant, Canada
- Joshua Emile Dorey MC (1891- ) (St Mt) son of George Dorey and Ann Le Gros, husband of Lillian May Mallet, Lieutenant, Canadian Infantry, wounded twice. Military Cross citation, April 1918: 'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He led his platoon with remarkable coolness, and when held up by a machine gun, he at once gave the order to rush the post, with the result that the whole crew of ten men were killed and two guns captured. His leadership and splendid dash during the attack were most outstanding.'
Notes on our list, abbreviations used etc
Occupation records
Family wills
Burial records
Family properties
- Bras de Fer, Trinity
- La Fontaine, Ville a l'Eveque, Trinity
Family businesses
Thomas Dorey was agent for Scottish Provincial Assurance in Hill Street
1887 advert from L'Almanach de la Gazette de Jersey
Family album
Click on any image to see the full-size version
Lilian Amy Dorey (1919-2007) daughter of John Amy Dorey and Lillian Mary, nee Baudains (1886- )
Hilda Alice Starck, nee Dorey (1879-1959)
Dorey family members with potatoes ready for export
A postcard sent to Miss A Dorey, at Almorah Crescent, in 1911. She was probably Amanda Alice Dorey (1858- ), a spinster living alone at Mount Wise, Almorah. She was the daughter of Philippe Dorey (1819- ) and Marguerite, nee De La Haye (1830- ), of Trinity, and was born on 6 November 1858 and baptised the following February. She reduced her age by three years on the census return in 1911.
Sisters Jessie Isabel (1913-1983) and Marie (1912-1993) Dorey, daughters of plumber John Dorey (picture in box above) and Mary Hue, nee Le Mottee
Eric Dorey (3rd from right) and his colleagues 'somewhere in France' at Christmas 1939
Someone has later added to the names on the back of the photograph that this was taken in 'Rhiems', presumable Reims, to the east of Paris
MrDorey's Kedive'sPrimrose
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1879-1959.jpg)
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Occupation curfew cards
A curfew pass issued to George Dorey during the Occupation as a member of the Honorary Police [2]
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
Almorah cemetery
Almorah cemetery
Les Quennevais cemetery
Trinity Church cemetery
Trinity Church cemetery
Trinity Church cemetery
Trinity Church cemetery
Trinity Church cemetery
Trinity Church cemetery
Trinity Church cemetery
Trinity Church cemetery
Trinity Church cemetery
St Mary’s Church cemetery
Old Mont a l’Abbe cemetery
Old Mont a l’Abbe cemetery
Old Mont a l’Abbe cemetery
Old Mont a l’Abbe cemetery
Old Mont a l’Abbe cemetery
Mont a l’Abbe cemetery
St John’s Church cemetery
St John’s Church cemetery
St John’s Church cemetery
Surville Cemetery
Surville Cemetery
St Lawrence
The grave of Great War casualty Elias George Dorey at Ruisseau Farm Cemetery, Belgium
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
Notes and references
- ↑ Jean Dorey, (1831-1872) writer. Of a family of La Blanche Pierre, St Lawrence, Jean Dorey wrote under the pen names of JD, JDR and Jean des Ruettes, in Jèrriais, French and English. He was also the author of a book. A number of sayings, nursery rhymes, and poems were left in a manuscript which passed to Frank Le Maistre and is today in the library of La Société Jersiaise. He was an author in French and English of historical, genealogical and art articles on various subjects. During the course of his life he worked with the Chronique de Jersey, Jersey Independent, l'Imprimerie de l'International in London and also in France for the paper, Le Phare de la Loire.
- ↑ This card is held by Jersey Archive. Visit The Archive online catalogue for more information. A subscription may be needed to view some of the site's content
