The Priaulx Library - Guernsey's Genealogy Center

Just a reminder that the heart of genealogy archives is the Priaulx Library, in St. Peter Port, Guernsey. This is where a large de Mouilpied file is located, in addition to many other old Guernsey Family names. Blondel has a very large file there as well. The Priaulx Library is where almost all the historical records are held in Guernsey and the staff there are professional and prompt.

At The Royal Court House, visitors have access to the Greffe, which houses all charters granted to Guernsey since 1394, in addition to ancient archives.

The following web-sites are suggested as good starting points for research
on Guernsey born ancestors.

The Priaulx Library
www.priaulxlibrary.co.uk

La Société Guernesiaise
www.societe.org.gg/sections/familyhistory.php

Alex Glendenning's award winning web-site
http://user.itl.net/~glen/guernsey.html

GENUKI is the entry point for all research for the United Kingdom & Ireland.

The Channel Island pages:
www.genuki.org.uk/indexes/CHIcontents.html

Telling Tales - Maybe Your Ancesters on Guernsey

Just in from Susan, geneaolgy researcher on Guernsey...her new book called "Telling Tales: Guernsey news, views, ideas, snippets and gossip from the early to mid-1800s”. Not sure if a de Mouilpied is in there, but maybe another Guernsey ancestor is. You can always write her and ask for a list of names I suppose. Looks like a nice anecdotal book to have.

Click here to go to her website and book page

Are you looking for a de Mouilpied relative? Let me know. I'll post it here.

Looking for Marthe de Mouilpied, Ollivier

This from Susan Patt:

I've been enjoying looking at your De Mouilpied blog. I am in the US but have a Guernsey Mariette/Marriette ancestor, Jaques, who married Ann Ollivier, dau of Samuel Ollivier & Marthe de Mouillpied. I have the baptismal records for 2 children of Samuel Ollivier & Marthe de Mouillpied (1720's) in St. Martin's. The marriage record for my ancestor, Anne, lists Samuel Ollivier & Marthe de Mouillpied as being "of La Fosse".

Beyond these details, I've not found any other direct link to the ancestors or siblings of this Marthe De Mouilpied! I have read through land records and church records but to no avail as of yet. It seems like Marthe would likely have been born not much later than 1700 considering the age of her children as well.

In addition, I do have mention of a Daniel De Mouillpied in late 1700's, also connected to my Marriette family as well as a Jeanne De Mouille-pied, listed as a godmother, to my ancestor Daniel Mariette, b 1754. (St Peter Port church)

I would be delighted to learn if you ever see my Marthe de Mouilpied or if you run across the following allied Channel Island names: Mariette/Marriette, Olivier/Ollivier, Blanche, Tourtel.

best wishes for a rich and rewarding research!! susanpatt@mac.com

Nhill Cemetery, Australian de Mouilpieds

Just to follow the previous entry, I came across this site listing the de Mouilpieds who are buried in the Nhill Cemetery, located in Victoria, Australia. Photographs are also available.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ausvsac/Nhill.htm

They are:

DE MOUILPIED Arthur
DE MOUILPIED Eva Olive, Henry John
DE MOUILPIED Henry W, Mary J
DE MOUILPIED Hugh
De MOUILPIED Ruby Alma, Albert Thomas
DE MOUILPIED William G
DE OULPIED J L, Gwendolene Ivy

Hope this helps.

de Mouilpieds in Australia by Elizabeth Crawford

The Australian Connection.

Hello, my name is Elizabeth. I am a descendant of John de Mouilpied, son of Nicolas de Mouilpied and Rachel Martin who emigrated from Guernsey to Australia in 1853.

My husband and I recently visited Guernsey (we emigrated from Australia to the UK nearly 25 years ago) with a view to searching my family history. We also had a very enjoyable holiday. We established that Nicolas de Mouilpied, Rachel Martin and family were at ‘Les Pelleys, Catel’ on the 1841,1851 and 1861 census. Nicolas (son) left for America between 1841 and 1851. Jean (my GG grandfather) left for Australia in 1853. We had the Greff do a land search on ‘Les Pelleys’ and ‘de Mouilpied’. There are two properties in the Catel Parish. The property Nicolas and Rachel de Mouilpied were on was originally ‘Les Pelleys, Rue du Torval’ but from 1948 known as ‘Les Pelleys de Bas’

A very helpful lady at the Priaulx Library directed me to a book titled ‘Guernsey Emigrants to Australia 1828 – 1899’ by David W. Kreckeler. I found the two entries for de Mouilpied detailed below: -

De Mouilpied – Tullock Castle – Melbourne – 1852

Nicholas, 22, carpenter.

Birth. Guernsey. St Peter Port church register. Nicholas de Mouilpied and of Susanne Vidamour his wife, born on the 27^th Dec, 1830.Census. Guernsey, 1851. de Mouilpied. 381. St Peter Port.

Drowned at sea. Guernsey Star, 7^th April, 1853. Drowned,- on the 13^th Oct last, Mr Godfrey, second mate on board the Tullock Castle, on passage from London to Australia, near the Cape of Good Hope. Also, a week after, Nicholas, son of Mr Nicholas de Mouilpied, of this island, aged 22 years.

De Mouilpied – Koning Wilem II – Melbourne – 1853. John, 20

Birth. John de Mouilpied, son of Nicholas de Mouilpied and of Rachel Martin his wife, born on the 26^th March, 1822.(Note. John de Mouilpied is twin brother of Thomas)

Census. Guernsey. 1851. de Mouilpied. 255. Catel.

Death. Australia. Guernsey News, 14^th May, 1886. Died. – on the 15^th Jan, at Minyip, Victoria, Australia. John, son of Nicholas de Mouilpied, formerly of Les Pelleys, Guernsey, aged 63 years and 9 months.


I am not sure where the first one fits in. Maybe someone else will recognize the line. The second is my Great Great Grandfather.

The following entry is from the following website: -http://www.geocities.com/mepnab/d/d8.html?200917?200928 which lists Australian Pioneer Families

De Mouilpied

John De Mouilpied came c 1860 with Emma Stirling, and lived at Geelong.

2 children

1. Henry William De Mouilpied c 1858
2. John De Mouilpied 1861 #2859 lived 17 days

Henry William De Mouilpied c1858 wed #3571 to Mary Jane Bennett from South Australia, and lived at Nhill, then Yanac
3 children

1. Henry John De Mouilpied 1887 #30676
2. Mary Elizth De Mouilpied 1896 #24581
3. Gina May De Mouilpied 1899 #14840

I am concluding at this stage that John arrived in Australia as a single man as there is no entry for Emma Stirling in ‘Guernsey Emigrants to Australia 1828 – 1899’. It looks like John met and married Emma Stirling within a few years of arriving in Australia in 1853.

In the entry on Debby’s blog for May 4, 2009 Dianne Lockett mentions 6 children for Henry William de Mouilpied. I have been ‘trawling’ the Victorian Births, deaths and marriages online (website:- https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/bdm/home) and found that Henry William had at least 9 children. I also found 2 more children for John and Emma.

My trawling revealed the following: -

Jean (John) de Mouilpied b.1822 (Guernsey) d.1886 (Minyip)

m. Emma Stirling b. 1835? d.1920 (Warracknabeal)

Lived in Geelong, 1860. 4 children

1. Henry William de Mouilpied b.1859 (Geelong)

m. 1886 Mary Jane Bennett b. 1869 Lived at Nhill

2. John de Mouilpied b. 1861 (Geelong) lived 17 days
3. John Thomas de Mouilpied b. 1875 d. 1959

m. Daisy Hill b. 1885 d. 1959

4. Mary Emma de Mouilpied b. 1877

m. 1905 George Alex Newell.

NB: - The entries for John Thomas and Mary Emma record their parents as John de Mouilpied and Emma Starling.

Henry William de Mouilpied b.1859 (Geelong)

m. 1886 Mary Jane Bennett b.1869

Lived at Nhill. 9 children

1. Henry John de Mouilpied b.1887 d. 1952

m. (1916) Eva Olive Harris

2. William George de Mouilpied b. 1890 d. 1957
3. Albert Thomas de Mouilpied b. 1892 d. 1972

m. 1919 Ruby Alma Zerbst d. 1971

4. Mary Elizabeth de Mouilpied b. 1896 Yanac

m. 1917 Reg Albert Kohn

5. Arthur de Mouilpied b. 1896 d. 1924 Nhill
6. Gina May de Mouilpied b. 1899 Yanac

m. 1918 Frederick David Olney

7. Ida de Mouilpied b. 1901 Yanac
8. Hugh de Mouilpied b. 1903 Yanac d. 1942

m. 1928 Ethel Eva Iris Hutchings b. 1912 d. 1935

m. 1938 Mary Catherine Short

9. Annie de Mouilpied b. 1906

Henry John de Mouilpied and Eva Olive Harris had twin boys who died within a couple of days and 4 girls. My mother is the youngest daughter.
I would love to hear from anyone else from this line. Please contact me on elizabethcrawford333@googlemail.com

Joseph's Wayward Tombstone Found

This is an amazing story. A friend from Manchester,NH, Dick, sent me this link to an article about a couple finding the original tombstone for Joseph de Moulpied.
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=d67ff604-65b8-463e-8dac-000b332bca20
In the event that the paper stops the link, I will copy the article below:

By MARK HAYWARD
New Hampshire Union Leader
Saturday, Jun. 13, 2009

MANCHESTER – John Crawford made a rather odd discovery when he was clearing brush beside the house he moved into this past winter.

When his rake hit something solid, he was sure it was a piece of granite. But when he cleared the brush and a discarded Christmas tree, Crawford discovered a misplaced tombstone -- complete with a name, birth date and death date.

"It kind of freaked me out a little bit," said Crawford, who moved into the house at 42 Garfield Road about four months ago. His home is two houses from the corner of Calef Road and the sprawling Pine Grove Cemetery.

"It really doesn't make sense for this to be over here at all," Crawford said. "That belongs in a graveyard, not beside my garage."

The 20-by-15-inch stone bears the name of Joseph DeMoulpied, who lived from 1824 to 1903, according to its inscription.

While the city Parks, Recreation and Cemeteries Department could give no explanation of how the stone ended up beside the garage, information is available about DeMoulpied.

He was born in Guernsey, a small archipelago in the English Channel, according to a geology blog maintained by the DeMoulpied family. He eventually left the islands for Canada and served as an Anglican minister in Quebec.

Three of his children emigrated to America, and DeMoulpied showed up in Manchester in a 1900 census, living with his son Alfred.

John Crawford made a rather odd discovery when he was clearing brush beside the house he moved into this past winter. (DAVID LANE)

Cemetery workers removed the stone from Crawford's yard Wednesday, and it is has been placed in storage, said Judith Aron, cemetery supervisor at Pine Grove. When a burial is scheduled for the family lot, the cemetery will inform the family of the stone and ask them what they would like to do, she said.

She could not explain how the stone ended up at the Garfield Street home.

Cemetery records said Joseph was buried March 22, 1903, at Lot 2520, which he had purchased himself. In May 1915, the remains were removed and re-interred in the family plot -- Lot 3703 Chapel Lawn.

A large monument on the lot has the family name with a slightly different spelling -- DeMouilpied.

The house that Crawford rents has a large, fenced-in yard filled with an old travel trailer, a scrap pile and a storage shed. After discovering the DeMoulpied stone, Crawford combed the yard and found nothing else connected with the cemetery, he said.

He said he's glad to have discovered the stone.

"It's good I found it," Crawford said. "He's a minister; I'm sure he was a good man. Put him back where his son is."

The DeMoulpied blog said Joseph is buried alongside the family of his son Charles. Alfred has a separate plot, according to the blog, which is written by Debby DeMoulpied.

"What a life he must have had," wrote Debby, DeMoulpied's great-great-grandaughter. "Early-mid 1880s in quiet Guernsey and then taking such risk to move to Canada to minister with the hardships of such a remote area.

"And then finishing his life in bustling Manchester, the heart of millyards and the Industrial Revolution."

What fun!

John and Henry de Mouilpied in Australia

Dianne Lockett has written and kindly sent some photos regarding the John and Henry connection in Australia. The photo is actually of Mary Jane Bennett who married Henry William de Moulpied.

The photo (if I have this right) is, from left to right:
Mary Elizabeth b. 1896
Mary Jane Bennett b. 1866 in Kingston
Gina May b.1899
Hugh b.?

More below from other sites:

John De Mouilpied b. 1822, d.1886, (from Guernsey, son of Nicolas b. 1791, and Rachel Martin) came c1860 with Emma Stirling, and lived at Geelong
2 children	1. Henry William De Mouilpied c1858 2. John De Mouilpied 1861 #2859 lived 17 days
Henry William De Mouilpied c1858 wed 1886 #3571 to Mary Jane Bennett from South Australia, and lived at Nhill, then Yanac
3 children	1. Henry John De Mouilpied 1887 #30676 2. Mary Elizth De Mouilpied 1896 #24581 3. Gina May De Mouilpied 1899 #14840

Children
Henry John DeMouilpied (Born: 1887)
William George DeMouilpied (Born: 1890)
Arthur DeMouilpied (Born: 1894)
Mary Elizth DeMouilpied (Born: 1896)
Gina May DeMouilpied (Born: 1899)
Ida DeMouilpied (Born: 1901)

There appear to be more children according to another document but darn if I can get it up for now. Will try in another entry.

Can anyone add to this? Do you descend from anyone here? Please help fill in the lineage.

Thanks Dianne!

Additional Early Marriage Corrections for Thomas, to Michelle and Rachel Roberts

Here comes some sleuthing clarification from Cousin Kathy. On both early genealogy charts, (on the left of this blog) in the fourth generation you see Thomas marrying Michelle Robert. Well he did, but according to the family records in Guernsey, he also married Rachel Robert, probably a sister. Cousin Kathy recalls Rachel was first. Whew. According to the records, Michelle had 4 children, 3 girls starting names with "M", and one son. The 2 charts differ in total children. It appears one died within a year and the next child carried the same name, looks like Nicolas, from whom I descend.

Also, on the recent family chart, one of Thomas's daughter is listed as Laurence. It should be spelled Lorence (female name) married to Jean (male name for John). Confusing I know.

Cousin Kathy has created a large GED file that I hope to get on line soon. Stay with me!
Thanks Kathy for all your hard work. Also, if anyone on Guernsey wants to look any of this up, we would love it! Thanks.

deMouilpied Family Chart

I have heard from cousin Jane in England. She has sent this de Mouilpied Family chart. It's not a comprehensive genealogy tree, so if you are not on this don't worry. I have seen this before floating around and it's a good one. Jane comes from Marguerite, then Florinda down in the right lower part of the chart. Where do you fit in?
CLICK ON THE CHART AND IT WILL ENLARGE AND BE VERY CLEAR.

Looking for Le Gros - Good Jersey Name

Andrew from Canada is a descendant from Joseph deMouilpied and looking for more family information. Andrew comes by way of Emily de Mouilpied b.1849, Joseph's oldest child. Emily married John Le Gresley, 1867, another close Guernsey family. They had a daughter Edith Emily Le Gresley b. Oct. 4, 1872.

Edith went on to marry John James Le Gros, apparently an old Jersey name. The Le Gros name still remains in St. Peter Point, Gaspe, Canada, as the Le Gros House seen on the left side of this blog. They had 6 children: John Arthur b. 1897; Gladys Muriel b. 1903; Doris Emily b. 1905; Sydney James b. 1907; Winnifred b. 1909 and Harold b.1912. This Le Gros name is what Andrew needs help with. (Andrew comes by way of Sydney)

John James Le Gros had a father who was also a John James Le Gros who was born abt. 1840 in St. Mary, Jersey (the other Channel Island) His father was Thomas LeGros, b. 1811 also in St. Mary's, Jersey. And this is where Andrew needs help, he just can't seem to go back before Thomas.

Does anyone have information about the Le Gros family from Jersey?
Does any one know any one in Jersey who can help?

I know Guernsey has a fantastic library with Family Names on file filled with genealogy information. Does anyone know if Jersey's Library does the same?

If you are a descendant from Edith Emily Le Gros, Andrew has a great lineage and chart created. He also has documents about marriages, burials etc. And Andrew is enthusiastic. His email is:
aoreilly@shaw.ca

The Minstrel Blondel de Nesle - The Blondel and de Mouilpied Connection

Thomas deMouilpied, b.1780, d.1873, married Marie Blondel, b. 1786, d. 1849. I'm not sure when they married, but safe to say probably before their first child. If anyone has that information ... do tell please.

Though the focus here is deMouilpied, this Blondel family story is just too good to not blog about, it's amazing really. Marie Blondel descends from one of the more prominent Guernsey families on the Island, including the Blondels who once occupied the famous Le Gron House in St. Saviours. Her documented lineage goes back to the 1200's. A Balif Blondel is listed on one of the earliest Guensey Documents dated 1204 when Guernsey became independent from France. But there's more to the story - The Minstrel Blondel.

The Legend about Blondel de Nesle is one of the most romantic stories in English History. Books and articles have been written, and even a musical by Tim Rice. Blondel really was a minstrel, a troubadour, (trouvere in french) with over 20 songs and poetry, some archived in the British Museum and Oxford. Blondel was Minstrel to the infamous King Richard I of England, also known as The Lionheart. (the Disney movie Robin Hood talks about King Richard away on crusades, that's the one!) The most lengthy recently written book is called "Blondel's Song" by English writer David Boyle, worth every word on each page (called The Troubadour's Song" in the U.S.). Basically, Blondel rescues King Richard I and the rest is... history. All the links will bring you up to date on the available information about Blondel.

So what's the intrigue? The intrigue is that I grew up hearing the story about Blondel the Minstrel and being told, without a doubt, that we were direct descendants. Okay, so maybe my father was nutty about these stories passed down through the years...BUT. Why did so many other cousins, with whom there has only been recent contact, grow up hearing the same story? Cousin Kathy, Deb, Audrey, Rose-Mary and more, all have heard the same story. Cousins in England and Guernsey too. Kathy has an old letter talking about the Minstrel. I'll try to put it up on the blog next time.

The family story goes that the King rewarded Blondel with Property on Guernsey, unfortunately this would have to date from around 1200; almost impossible to find such records. Some legends have Blondel born in Picardi, France, but there is no record or proof of Blondel or other famliy lineage being from that area. The bulk of early Blondels, like de Moulpied , originate from Guernsey, over 1000 years ago.

My father told me the story several times, that he had heard himself, each time welling up with tears over the romantic possibility that we were descendants. So, much to my excitement, when I found our connection to Marie Blondel, I took heart that perhaps we really are descendants.

So my question to descendants of this marriage between Thomas deMoulpied and Marie Blondel, or descendants of Guersney Blondels, have you been told you were a descendant from the Minstrel Blondel de Nesle, the famous Troubadour??

To recap descendants:

Thomas deMoulpied married Marie Blondel and they had 7 children:
Marie 1810-1891;
Thomas b.1812, married Elizabeth Torode (another well known Guernsey name);
Rachel 1814-1873;
Jean (John) b.1816;
Sophie 1818-1852;
Charlotte 1821-1909, married Francis de la Mare; and
Joseph 1824-1905, married Sophie Ogier (my great great grand parents).
Thomas, Charlotte and Joseph were the only ones we know that had children.
Do you know more?

Need Help Finding deMouilpieds? Susan from Guernsey Ancestry to the Rescue

There's a new Pro in town and her name is Susan Ilie who hosts the website Guernsey Ancestry.com. Susan is basically a professional "looker upper" or rather a family history researcher. Any one who has tried to get information from anyone in Guernsey knows it can be challenging. Not anymore.

Susan has developed a great website (I love the logo!) with lots of information, fee options and terrific links. (Really, these are all the links you'll ever need) So if you run into a road block, here is someone who might help. Good Luck Susan and if you come across any de Mouilpied scoop, let us know! So check it out: click ... Guernsey Ancestry.com

Looking for a Daniel de Mouilpied from Around 1770's

Hello all. Sorry for the long hiatus but the holidays certainly slowed things down. So here we go, back on track...


Stuart Roberts from Australia has written asking about a Daniel de Mouilpied from Guernsey. Here is part of his email:

"Do you know who Susanne de Moulipied is, as a Susanne De Moulipied married my great great Grand Father James Robert on the 28th July 1828 and I'm wondering if they are the same person.( as mentioned in previous blog) My Great Grand Father, Rowland de Jersey Robert emigrated from Guernsey to Australia in the late 1800s. The Robert line is as follows, thus if you know of any intersections please let me know.
James Robert (b. 1791 in Guernsey, St Martins) & Susanne De Mouillepied (b. 1800)
My email address is (stuart@robert.com.au)
Susan’s father is Daniel De Moulipied. Do you have any information on who this Daniel De Moulipied is?"

So there you have it. Does any one have this information about a Daniel de Mouilpied maybe born in the 1770's or so, in Guernsey, who had a daughter Susanne b. 1800?
Please email Stuart and me too please, we would all love to know.
Cheers to all, thanks for reading.