The Le Touzel family and Wrentham Hall
Le Touzel family
and Wrentham Hall
The fascinating story of the Le Touzel family of Maison La Croix
(now known as Wrentham Hall) was recounted by Alex Glendinning
in three parts on the Rootsweb Channel Islands genealogy
website in 1999. This website is now defunct
Marie Barbenson had the house built on land purchased from Philippe Aubin on May 30 1820. The contract mentions a house and grounds, a courtyard, a vinery and a kitchen garden - most of this must have been demolished to make way for Wrentham Hall. It also included a number of substantial fields in the neighbourhood. The purchase cost eight quarters, three cabots and five and a quarter sixtonniers of annual wheat rente and payment to Her Majesty the Queen (the Crown owned Le Fief L'Abbess de Caen, on which the property was located) of 27 sous in cash, estimated as the value of five sixtonniers of wheat. As is quite common in Jersey contracts, payment also had to be made for a substantial amount of small rentes on the property, to members of the Le Seelleur family and others.
The original purchase was not enough to accommodate Marie's plans and in December the same year, she purchased adjoining land of one vergée and 38 perches from Philippe's sister Ester Aubin. She received four quarters and seven cabots of wheat rente annually for it.
Huguenot origins
Jean Le Touzel of St Saviour, the grandson of a Huguenot refugee, and a Major in the Jersey Militia, married Elizabeth du Parcq of Grouville at St Saviour's Church on November 6 1768. They had two sons baptised there, Jean (1769) and Charles on October 20 1773. The former followed his father's career, also becoming a Major, and the latter studied for Holy Orders and was appointed Rector of St Martin in 1799.
An entry in the registers, probably written by him and dated October 20 1803, records that he was married in Alderney on July 19 1801. An excerpt lists both parties and their parentage: "Rev Mons Charles, fils du feu Jean Le Touzel de St Saviour, et Delle Marie Barbenson fille de Nicollas, Justicier de Aurigney".
14 children
Altogether Charles and Marie had fourteen children, all baptised in St Martin between 1802 and 1818, twelve of whom would survive to adulthood. They were: Marie, Henriette (the letter writer), Elizabeth Marguerite, Caroline, Charles Philippe, Jean, Nicollas, Thomas, Ann Matilda, Charlotte Amelie, buried 1 April 1814, Amelie Charlotte, Henry buried 3 August 1816, Henry Auguste and George.
The Rev Charles Le Touzel was buried at St Martin on 19 August 1818 after a fall from his horse. There is a stirring obituary to him in the Chronique de Jersey of Wednesday 14 August, the day of his death, reporting that he was a diligent visitor of the sick and a great orator, both in the Church and in the States Chamber, and was sympathetic to the cause of the Methodists in the Militia, who refused to drill on a Sunday and had to appeal to the Privy Council in 1798 in order to be exempted. In his private life the Rector "offered an example to all of the virtues he preached. A respectful son, an attentive husband, a good father and a sincere friend, he lived in peace with all the world and acquired the respect and benevolence of all the inhabitants of St Martin."
One evening the previous November, Rev Le Touzel had been riding home after a town meeting of the Roads Committee. In the pitch darkness, around six o'clock in the evening, his horse was startled by another passing it at speed and reared up, causing a collision and throwing him to the ground. He lay, semi-conscious, in the pouring rain, until found many hours later by a man passing with a lantern. Since that day he had been bed-ridden.
Marie brought up the family on her own until she married again in St Martin on 25 February 1823. Her new husband was Thomas Jean Beaugie, son of Thomas Beaugie and Jeanne Messervy of St Martin. By then Wrentham Hall was probably finished.
Illegitimate children
Two children were brought to St Martin Parish Church for baptism on 24 July 24 1825. The first was born on 5 December 1823, the mother was Caroline Le Touzel and the child was named Thomas Beaugie. The second was born to Elizabeth Marguerite Le Touzel on 14 January 1824 and named Elizabeth Beaugie. The eldest daughter, Marie, also had an illegitimate child, Charles Isadore Marin, baptised 2 May 1824. There is a mystery here; were the first two children named Beaugie after a beloved step-father?
Frequently unmarried mothers were hauled before the Ecclesiastical Court for punishment (usually penance in their Parish Church).
Caroline, Elizabeth and Marie were all summoned by the L'Avocat Promoteur on 14 June 1824 to respond to the presentation of the Churchwardens of St Martin for "paillardise" - bearing an illegitimate child. They failed to appear and the Court ordered that they be summoned to the next sitting on June 28.
On that day the Court was presided over by Rev George Bertram, Vice-Dean, Rector of St Martin and Charles Le Touzel's successor. He must have been embarrassed by a second non-appearance and ordered they must attend the next sitting on pain of excommunication. The next sitting came round on October 11 and still no appearance, so a minor excommunication was ordered to be announced publicly in the Parish Church. I searched the Ecclesiastical Court books up to to the end of 1834 and there is no further mention of them, or of Thomas Beaugie, so the identity of the children's father remains a puzzle.
Both Elizabeth Marguerite and Caroline found husbands in later years. The former married Jean Mollet on February 23 1831 and the latter, Jean Hubert on April 29 1833 - both in St Martin. They had been accepted back into the Church.
Marie leaves Jersey
Their mother Marie Barbenson had left the Island, as she is recorded as dying in Guernsey on 13 May 1829. Her body was taken to Alderney and buried at St Anne's Church on the 16th. This indicated a return trip to the Land Registry was necessary, to find the arrangements she made for the disposal of her property.
Contracts
This led to a number of interesting contracts listed under "Thomas Jean Beaugie ca uxor", the last two words translate as "on behalf of his wife". Women had few rights in the 19th century and on the whole the menfolk acted on their behalf.
The first is dated 8 January 1825 and is an agreement between Philippe Godfray, holder of the power of attorney of both Thomas Jean Beaugie and Marie Barbenson, and Jean Brehaut, concerning the sale of the buildings and land bought five years before from the Aubins.
Another contract, dated 8 June 1826, is between Thomas Jean Beaugie, eldest son and principal heir of Thomas Beaugie and Jeanne Messervy, and Jean Beaugie, his youngest brother. It concerns the sale of the older's fin d'heritage, all he has inherited from his parents for "quatre mille huit cent livres, argent de le Roi". Marie Barbenson is also mentioned quitting her dower rights.
Powers of attorney
The mention of powers of attorney in the contracts led to a search of the Livres des Procurations, or records of Powers of Attorney. Because so many of these came from overseas and could take a number of years to arrive and be registered by the Royal Court, the books are not in strict date order and I found the following three by sheer luck.
In early 1823 Marie Barbenson gave power of attorney to Jean Le Gallais, giving him the right to administer her affairs in Jersey. Later that year a Tutelle (appointment of a guardian) of the under-age children of the Rev Charles Le Touzel shows Marie Barbenson being removed as tutrice and replaced by Philippe Le Gallais. Finally, a Guernsey power of attorney, of 11 October 1823, was given to Philippe Godfray. She appears to have left the Island, but unfortunately we do not know if she went with, or without, her husband. The children remained behind, the older ones in the care of their tuteur.
Marie's son Thomas Le Touzel became a master mariner, married Nancy Payn at St Martin on 30 July 1833 and his daughter Nancy married Elias Ogier, who would be blamed for a devastating fire in Halkett Place in 1866; but that's another story.
Report to Royal Court
The first indication that Thomas Jean Beaugie had been discovered to be the father of two of his step-children's babies, appears in September 1823, when the Royal Court received a report from the Constable of St Martin. He had been informed by Philippe Le Gallais, tuteur of the children of the late Rev Charles Le Touzel that Caroline Le Touzel and Eliza Le Touzel, two of his pupils, were pregnant by Beaugie. At this point the Constable had not been able to locate him. The Court ordered that a Prise de Corps (literally find the body) be announced and published. All masters of vessels were warned not to transport this man out of the Island upon pain of punishment.
Beaugie was not found until November 1825. On the 28th he was brought before the Court, having been off the Island on business and, unaware that he had been found out, had been arrested immediately on his return.
The Court report begins by repeating the details from 1823, adding that he was accused of seducing Caroline and Elizabeth, who were under age at the time. Their mother ... "was at the time of the seduction, the wife of the said Beaugie and, because of this, he has committed incest with his stepchildren."
1825 trial
After a number of short appearances, which repeat what has gone before, and always end with the prisoner being remanded in custody, the final trial took place on 2 December 1825.
A detailed report appears in the Chronique de Jersey and includes the testimony of all the witnesses. The two girls went first. Caroline was 19 and confirmed she had a child who would be two years old on December 5, her step-father was the father. One night, when she was asleep with her sister Eliza at her mother's house in St Martin (then referred to as La Maison de la Croix - now Wrentham Hall) her step-father came into their room and seduced her. Eliza, now 20, stated that she had a child who would be two next January, and the same thing had happened to her. Prior to that occasion Beaugie had come and knocked on their door many times late at night.
Charles Bertram stated that two years previously he had placed Eliza as a children's nurse with his brother-in-law, Captain Dixon of St Aubin. There it was discovered she was pregnant and initially she refused to name the father, until she was spoken to by Charles' wife. Tearfully she admitted her step-father was responsible and that her sister was also pregnant. Charles Bertram's wife, Françoise Dalton, gave evidence that she had accompanied her husband to St Aubin, where Mrs Dixon had become worried about Eliza, who spent her nights crying, which could be heard all over the house.
Mrs Perchard of St Saviour stated that she had accompanied relatives of the girls and some other women to Mrs Campbell's house. The Campbells being cousins to the Le Touzels, had taken in Eliza after she had lost her job with the Dixons. By then the word had got out and Caroline was there too. Under cross examination from the old ladies, both girls admitted that Beaugie was responsible.
At this point the tuteur of the children, then only 17 and 18, must have been notified and he reported Beaugie to the Constable.
Childrens' disobedience
Evidence was also given by the Rev William Charles Gallichan, who knew the family, having been one of the individuals involved in the appointment of the tuteur, Philippe Le Gallais. He stated that Marie Barbenson's daughters had not been very obedient to her as they had been growing up and had become worse after her marriage to Beaugie.
The Court also heard from the Carpenter, Philippe Hubert (this was the man who persuaded Henriette Le Touzel to hide a letter in the newly erected house, referred to in my previous article). He stated he had never seen the girls behave badly in his presence. Others followed who repeated this statement, including the domestic staff Marie Godfray and William Gow. Robert Sanford, a friend of Beaugie, stated he had always found the conduct of Eliza and Caroline to be "very modest and very decent".
Three individuals who had worked with Marie Barbenson, Esther Luce, Elizabeth Downer and George Vardon also spoke up. Esther said she had never heard anything bad about the girls, they never went out without the permission of their mother. Elizabeth had nothing bad to say about them except the fact that they did not always come when their mother called and George observed that they behaved "in the same way as any other children".
The only negative evidence against the girls was given by their sister Marie who, when asked if her sisters were disobedient to their mother, replied "yes".
Prison, fine and banishment
There followed the summings up and, as the defence had failed in their attempt to assassinate the character of the girls, pleaded for mercy from the Court. The Jury only took five minutes to come to their verdict, Beaugie was found guilty and sentenced to prison for six months, the last eight weeks on bread and water, fined £50 sterling and banished from the Island for five years. On December 29 the Court ordered the confiscation of all his effects in order to ensure his fine was paid.
Beaugie's case was used as an example in J Bowditch's "Treatise addressed to the British House of Commons on the History, Revenue, Laws and Government of the Islands of Guernsey and Jersey" - published in London in 1836. This case set a precedent, being the first of its kind to be held in Jersey and necessitated a new law to be drafted for future incidents of this type.
He refers to the sale of Beaugie's property to meet his fine and court costs as "pillage" and reports on his unsuccessful attempts to gain the balance of funds owed, through an appeal to the Privy Council, presumably when he returned to Jersey after his term of punishment expired.
The bill is itemised in the appendix, apart from the £50 fine itself, there were charges of £1 12s 6d for the 'prise de corps', £1 12s 6d for the production of copies, £1 10s for their distribution, costs involved in ferrying Beaugie to and fro from, and keeping him in, prison; four law clerks' time, the Constable and the Procurer General's costs and the Greffier's expenses collecting nine depositions. The total being a further £26 5s 6d.
The Privy Council were informed that "credit had not been given for several items sold at the sale" but they retorted that there was no appeal in criminal matters decided by the Royal Court and Beaugie remained unsatisfied.
Sons
On the positive side, Charles Le Touzel and Marie Barbenson's son Thomas married Nancy Payn in St Martin and had three children. They were James Charles Le Touzel, born in St Helier in 1838, George Frederick Le Touzel, who was born the following year and Nancy Eleanor Le Touzel, born in 1840.
James left the Island in his mid twenties to visit relatives in the Gaspé and never came back. He lived in Bermuda for three years, where he met and married Ann Catherine Packwood, the daughter of a local man, at St George's Church on the Island. Their eldest daughter, Ann Elizabeth Le Touzel, was born there around 1869 before the family moved back to Canada. James set up as a salt merchant in Goderich, Ontario, and with the profits bought Cherry Dale Farm, Benmiller, nearby. Ann was the grandmother of Susan Hillhouse of Cincinnati, Ohio who provided me with James' portrait and the picture of his farm.
His family grew to include three more daughters and two sons, the eldest, John Robert Le Touzel, became a doctor, practising in Canada, Ontario. James died in 1929 and is buried in Goderich.
