Guiton family history
Guiton family history
Pierre Philippe Guiton
The first member of this family in Jersey was Jean Guiton, who married Marie Simoneau on 8 April 1758 in the Parish of St Helier. The family settled in this parish and flourished there, becoming small tradesmen, with a few making names for themselves in various fields, including that of Methodism.
Refugees
Jean and Marie were shown in the St Helier church register as 'refugees' with no further detail. They were presumably religious refugees, as their descendants tended to marry into known Huguenot families for the next generation or two, before becoming integrated into the general population.
There is a family tradition that Jean Guiton was a direct descendant of the hero of the siege of La Rochelle in 1628, but according to Jean Guiton et Le Siege de La Rochelle, by Pierre Blanchon, a copy of which is in the library of La Société Jersiaise, the original Jean married twice but only had five daughters.
He apparently had no brothers, but many cousins, so it is not impossible that our Jean Guiton, although appearing in Jersey over one hundred years later, could be a descendant of one of these.
Jean died in 1785, leaving a will proved in 1795. £5 tournois was left to the poor of the parish, with one third of his estate to his wife, who was the executor and was to pay for his burial, and the rest divided between his five surviving children, the sixth, Pierre, having died in 1783.
In 1790 Francois, his second son, bought a house in St Helier, selling it in 1797. In 1800 he and Jean Jacques bought adjoining pieces of land, part of Jardin de La Rue du Val, in the Fief of Meleches. In 1800 Jean, the eldest son, bought a house in the same fief.
The Guiton family was very closely associated with the Methodists in Jersey. Methodism arrived in the islands by way of Newfoundland, two local men having been influenced in that country by Lawrence Coughlan. When they returned to Jersey in 1775 they started to share their experiences with friends. Wesley visited the islands in 1787.
The death at her home, Grove Place, of Jeanne Montbrun, the second wife of Jean Jacques Guiton, Jean's fourth son, was noted in the Chronique de Jersey in February 1867 with the words: 'After a long, exemplary Christian career and an illness of 36 hours, at the age of 84'.
Property bequests
In the settlements of her property in 1867 her house at 10 Grove Place went to her eldest grandson, Philippe Henri Guiton, son of Philippe. Philippe, her only son, became a Wesleyan pastor and married Louise de Jersey, who was born in St Peter Port, Guernsey.
Philippe took part in the Methodist mission to France, where his children were born, later returning to Jersey, where his family was included in the 1871 census. Jean Jacques' second daughter married Henri de Jersey, who, according to the book And we are yet Alive, by May Morley, about the Morley family and Methodism in the Channel Islands, was the grandson of Henri de Jersey of Guernsey, a first generation Methodist who was the host of Wesley on his visit to Guernsey.
Henri de Jersey junior was one of the young men who offered to work in the Midi in France, establishing Methodist societies throughout France and Switzerland. Of Philippe and Louise's several children, two, Paul Albert and Jules, became Wesleyan ministers.
The next Guiton of whom some details are known is Pierre Philippe, son of Pierre, whose parents were Jean Jacques and his first wife, Marie Romeril. In the Jersey Times and British Press Almanac of 1908, and the Almanac Nuvelle Chronique de Jersey of 1909, he is listed as a Solicitor of the Royal Court, head of the Chamber of Commerce, Churchwarden of St Helier Parish Church, an Arpenteur Public, a Greffier of the Cour Ecclesiastique and an Agent of the Imperial Assurance Company.
This list of his interests shows a great involvement with the honorary system in Jersey. Up until the 1881 census he was evidently unmarried, living with his sisters Eliza Jane and Eleonore, at 39 Broad Street.
Evening Post
Jean, Jean Jacques' eldest son, married twice. By his first wife Harriet Guilleaume he had two children, Harriet and John Marett. John Marett had seven children according to the 1871 and 1881 censuses. The third, Walter Ernest Ingram Guiton, was one of the founders of the Evening Post. He is shown in the 1881 census as a master printer, employing one man and three boys.
The Evening Post was founded by H P Butterworth and colleagues in 1890, with offices in King Steet. They teamed up with Walter, who was the main driving force of the venture.
Francois, the second son of the original Jean Guiton, was born in 1794 and was also involved in Methodism. He was a draper by trade and was highly commended as a 'cultured Christian gentleman and revivalist of the best type' by R D Moore, in his book Methodism in the Channel Islands. He was well known as a preacher and the author of Histoire du Methodisme Wesleyan dans les Isles de La Manche.
Francois' brother Jean was another member of the Guiton family involved in the honorary system, as evidenced by a notice in the Chronique de Jersey of 28 October 1868: 'The body of Jean Guiton, one of the surveillants of St Helier, was found floating near rocks at La Collette on 16 October'.
It was not easy to identify him at first. He was probably paddling but died from a ruptured blood vessel in the brain. A native of St Helier, he lived in the Charing Cross area. His brother Pierre, a retired mariner who lived with him, died within three weeks, to Jean's nephew James Guiton became principal heir in 1869. The ubiquitous Pierre Philippe Guiton was his executor.
James, according to the 1851 census, a draper like his father, was also described as a commercial traveller in the 1871 census. His family was absent from the 1861 census. By 1881 the family had increased to five children, the last three born in Clinton, Iowa, USA.
Two of the brothers eventually left Jersey to work in Canada. William Horace, attended Victoria College for one year when he was 12. His two sons also attended the college, and served in the Great War and after with distinction. Details of their early careers are in the Victoria College Register 1852-1929.
Philip Perchard Guiton, the youngest son of Francois and Catherine Perchard, was a corn and flour merchant at 31 Bath Street. His son Emile Frederick was the secretary of the States Telephone Department and secretary of the Chamber of Commerce. He was also the honorary secretary and curator of La Société Jersiaise. He was a keen and talented photographer and many of his photographs are in the collection of the Société.
Two other Guitons from Jersey are mentioned in The Quiet Adventurers in Canada by Marion Turk. One was a curate in the Anglican Cathedral at Montreal and later a missionary to India, where he died. His siter Emily also went to Montreal. No dates are given.
There are very few Guitons left in Jersey but it is certain that the family name is flourishing elsewhere.
