La Cloche of St Saviour
La Cloche of St Saviour
From The Islander (1930s), by Charles Langton
15th Century origins
La Cloche was established in Jersey before 1470 when the family lived on the Fief Melelsches in a house previously owned by Thomas Fouques.
By the end of the 16th century, profits accruing from the three big mills, Moulin de Malassis, Moulin de Grand Vaux and Moulin Louis Paul, alias Bertram, enabled them to relax from business activity and devote time to take a more active part in the political life of the island.
Benjamin La Cloche, Seigneur of Fief es Debenaires and Constable of St Saviour 1587-93, married Collette Nicolle, daughter and heiress of the Seigneur of Longueville, and his son Benjamin, a Jurat, enhanced the family freeholds by acquiring, in 1612, the Fief du Buisson from Thomas de Soulemont. A patent of incorporation, dated 29 April 1617, distinctly states that these fiefs are held direct from the Crown and owe suit of court at the Chief Pleas of Heritage.
The fief of Longueville remained in the family until 1741, when, through failure of male issue, it passed by marriage to the Durells, and during this period of 139 years, several Jurats, Constables and Rectors succeeded to continue political activity.
Jurat Benjamin La Cloche, 1612-54, left an interesting diary, published by the Societe Jersiaise, which contains many references to Longueville and accounts of the interminable disputes between various seigneurs over the question of individual seniority. This trouble of precedence frequently developed into family feuds, and cases dragged on, not only in the local Court but in embittered appeals to the Privy Council.
George La Cloche, a succeeding Seigneur is the unfortunate member whose heraldic effort in St Saviour’s Church has the unenviable reputation of perpetuating, in stone one of the most consistently erroneous shields to be found in Jersey.
Colombier rebuilt
His namesake George, (1681-1742) rebuilt the famous Colombier at Longueville and so, in a way, redeemed the family name by erecting a monument in stone of lasting honour and utility.
The Rev Stephen La Cloche, Rector of St Lawrence 1650, Rev John La Cloche, Rector of Trinity 1800, and Matthew La Cloche, Constable of St Helier, are representatives of another type of local activity.
An incident opf great genealogical importance occurred in the middle of the 18th century when Francis La Cloche, son of John, migrated to England. He anglicised his name and so became the founder of an English family of Bell.
