Janvrin

Origin of Surname

This is a name from the Mayenne region of France, and also Manche and Calvados in Normandy, which is a diminuitive form of the old French jenvre, coming from the Latin juvenior and simply meaning 'junior'. It was originally coined to indicate the youngest of the family.

Early records

There appear to be two distinct families in Jersey, plain 'Janvrin' and 'Valpy dit Janvrin', but there is much confusion between the two, with some Valpy dit Janvrins recorded simply as Janvrin. It is also not clear whether there was a third family line known simply as 'Valpy', before one emerged in the 19th century.

Baptism records start in the mid-16th century with both Valpy and Valpy dit Janvrin and the registers contain a total of 168 of the former and 445 of the latter.

Given that the earliest of all records are for plain 'Janvrin' in the parish of St Brelade, and that Valpy dit Janvrin was still in use in the 19th century, J Bertrand Payne's assertion (see below) that the surname graduated from Valpy dit Janvrin to Janvrin is called into question. However, eminent 20th century historian Joan Stevens, in her Old Jersey Houses, supported Payne`s view, stating that Valpy dit Janvrin is the older form of the name.

Variants

• Janvrin
• Janvri, it is not clear if this is a true variant or a slip of the Rector's pen
• Valpy dit Janvrin
• Valepie dit Janvrin
• Valpie dit Janvrin

Payne's Armorial of Jersey

Known originally as Valpy-dit-Janvrin (a duplicate mode of nomenclature far from uncommon in the island, but of very uncertain origin), this family has been settled in the parish of St Brelade for several generations. In the church of that parish exists an elaborate mural monument, with medallion bust, to the memory of Francis Valpy-dit-Jauvrin, Jurat of the Royal Court, and in the churchyard is the vault of the family, where the deaths of several of its members are recorded.

A small islet in Portelet Bay, near Noirmont Point, is named L'islet Janvrin, from the following melancholy incident. Captain Philippe Janvrin, arriving in his ship from an infected port, was obliged, with his crew, to perform quarantine in the bay, and being there attacked with the plague, died within sight of his home, without one interview with his wife, children, or friends.

• Mathieu Valpy-dit-Janvrin was born in Jersey about 1513, and had a son, also Matthieu.

Family records

Family trees

• Descendants of Daniel Valpy dit Janvrin
• Descendants of Philippe Valpy dit Janvrin, extended version of above tree
• Descendants of Nicollas Janvrin, same family as two above but different source, more branches and researched with reference to parish registers
• Descendants of Jean Janvrin, the family of the settler in the USA

Church records

Tips for using these links

• Janvrin baptisms in Jersey
• Janvrin marriages in Jersey (groom)
• Janvrin marriages in Jersey (bride)
• Janvrin burials in Jersey

Family histories

• The Janvrin family of Jersey, a family history compiled by Roland de Caen
• Janvrin's Island, the story of the Janvrin family in Canada
• John Janvrin, another article about the family emigrant to Canada

Newspaper records

• W Janvrin had a lucky escape after falling from his crane at the Harbour in January 1920

Great War service

• Aime Ferdinand Jeanvrin, Jersey connections unclear
• Daniel Clarendon Marmaduke Janvrin, L-Cpl Australian Infantry

Family wills

• Janvrin family wills from 1663 to 1980 held by Jersey Archive

Emigrants to Canada

• Hamon and Janvrins's petition for land in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
• Janvrin and Company's petition for land in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

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  Early Janvrin arms researched by Julian Wilson

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  Later arms recorded in the Victorian era

Family album

Click on any image to see a full-size version

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  1860-1870

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  1900-1910

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  1900-1920

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  Esther Elizabeth Marett, nee Valpy dit Janvrin, 1805-1876)

Family businesses

Family homes

• Belle Vue, St Aubin
• Le Coin, La Haule

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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  Almorah cemetery

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  Almorah cemetery

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  Mont a l’Abbe cemetery

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  Mont a l’Abbe cemetery

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  St Brelade Church cemetery

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  St Brelade Church cemetery

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  St Brelade Church cemetery

Places

• Janvrin's Tomb

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

Notes and references