Origins of surname
Although this surname is so close in spelling to the common Jersey surname Le Quesne that it would suggest a common link, that is not believed to be the case.
Quesnel is believed to be a variant in Normandy and Picardy of 'Chesnel', and is, indeed, derived ultimately from chesnel, French for 'young oak', as Le Quesne is derived from chesne, French for oak. But the names are believed to be distinct, and that is almost certainly the case in Jersey, although both surnames have a long history in the island.
Early records
Baptism records for the Quesnel family start in St Brelade as early as 1574 and during the 1570s and '80s Thomas, Andre and Clement Quesnel, possibly brothers, were raising families there. There certainly appears to be a close connection, at least between Andre and Clement, who married into the Le Filliastre family, probably to cousins. We have put them into the same tree (below) with a warning that there may not be as close a family connection as indicated.
The family had been established in St Brelade for some time earlier because there is a burial record for an unknown child of Perrin in 1561, and Perrin died in 1562. It is possible that this Perrin was the father of Thomas, Andre and Clement.
Tragedy hit the family in 1583 when Guilmin Quesnel, three of her children, including Andre, Andre's wife and one of their children, were all buried on 1 November having died of plague.
Quesnel records are very disjointed and, although there are undoubtedly records missing, it appears that this original family died out and that the Jean Quesnel who married Jeanne Le Vavasseur dit Durell in St Helier and raised a family there in the late 17th century was probably an immigrant from France rather than a descendant of the St Brelade family. There are strong indications that there were further Quesnel immigrants in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Variants
- Quesnel, 1331
- Kesnel, 1309
Family records
Family trees
Church records
- Quesnel baptisms in Jersey
- Quesnel marriages in Jersey (groom)
- Quesnel marriages in Jersey (bride)
- Quesnel burials in Jersey
Great War service
Sons of Albert and Selina
A fourth son of Albert and Selina is known to have seen war service, probably William, but details are not available
- Percy Edward Quesnel (1897-1917) Corporal, Devonshire Regiment, killed in action
- Albert Frederick Quesnel DCM (1892- ) CSM Machine Gun Corps
- John Albert Quesnel (1889- ) (St P), Gunner RFA, wounded
Family wills
These wills created by members of the Quesnel 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
- Charles Quesnel, St Helier, Clerk in Holy Orders bequeaths to the Dean of Jersey £500 for the poor; to the Jersey General Dispensary £500; to the Jersey Female Orphans Home £500; to the Home for Infirm and Aged Women £500; to the Jersey Home for Infirm and Aged Men £200; to the Benefit Society for the Merchant Seamen of Jersey £200; to the Benevolent Fund of the Jersey Industrial School £700; to Dr Barnardos Homes, London £1,000; to the Société Jersiaise £200; to the London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews £100; to the Church Missionary Society of Salisbury £200 - 7 July 1909, D/Y/A/68
- Jane Quesnel, 2 Les Vaux Villas, St Helier, widow of James White - 17 November 1943, D/Y/A/111
- Julia Quesnel, Pendyffryn Hall, Penmaenmawr, Carnarvonshire - 25 April 1929, D/Y/A/89
- Julie Quesnel of St Helier - 1 February 1875, D/Y/A/38
- Marie Quesnel of St Helier, widow of François Joseph Baeteus - 13 September 1865, D/Y/A/32
- Mary Quesnel née du Gruchy, Villa Bijou, Georgetown - 6 May 1938, D/Y/A/102
- Mary Quesnel of 29 Midvale Road, St Helier - 15 October 1898, D/Y/A/57
- Michel Quesnel - Copy of a marriage contract between Michel Quesnel of St Helier, son of Jacques and Catherine Martin his wife and Marie Esther L'Honoré, daughter of Gabriel L'Honoré, marchant of Caen and Madelaine Le Chevalier of St Peter includes conditions for the decease of either parties 21 March 1822 - D/Y/A/19
- Nancy Quesnel 3 February 1852 - D/Y/A/27
Burial records
Family businesses
Jacques Quesnel's silver mark
1830 - by Charles William Quesnel
1781 - by Jacques Quesnel
1820 - by John Quesnel
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
Mont a l’Abbe cemetery
Philadelphie cemetery
Philadelphie cemetery
The grave of Great War casualty Percy Edward Quesnel at Gorre British and Indian Cemetery, near Bethune
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
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