The Chevalier (or Shevalier) family of Saint Helier, Jersey
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In an effort to learn more about my Shevalier/Chevalier ancestors from the Isle of Jersey, I found a 1902 article written in French, published on the Société Jersiaise website here. Believing it may provide some information about the family, I used Google Translate to translate it to English as best as I could. The transcription can be read below, or grab a drink and sit back and listen on YouTube:
CHEVALIER, de St Hélier.
This ancient Jersey family, whose name was written Chevalier, Cheuallier, or Chevalier, etc. or, abbreviated, Chlr, is probably indigenous. The Extente (1271) mentions "the forfeiture" of Jourdain Chyvalir, of the parish of Saint Mary; it also shows that Matthew called Chivalir, a priest, owned land at Saint Martin (Extente of 1274, pages 20 and 21).
In 1381 Robert Chevalier was one of the Jurors for the Extension of this date, for the parish of Saint Martin (Extent of 1831, page 1).
In 1507 the name of Antoine Chevalier, of Saint Hélier, appears in the oldest Rolls of the Royal Court (Catel, book 1), and it is he who is the ancestor of the particular branch with which we are concerned in this notice.
Let us be honest, it is not only in Saint Hélier that we find, in the 16th century, representatives of the Chevalier family: they were established in most of the parishes on the island, and especially in Saint Ouen, Saint Pierre, Saint Jean, Saint Brelade, Saint Laurens, etc. [1]
In 1543 we find in the Rolls (Catel, Book 9) the name of John Chevalier alias Knight, of Saint Laurens, who perhaps belonged to a Chevalier family, several members of which were at that time settled in Southampton. When Jerseymen went to live in England, they often translated their patronymic names into English: thus De Ste Croix became "Holy Cross", Blampied was metamorphosed into "White Foot", La Cloche was transformed into "Bell", Syvret into Savory, etc.
There is on the King's fief, at La Moye, Saint Brelade, a piece of land called "the Fief Chevalier" (Register, book 6, folios 341 and 346 v., 1624).
In the 15th and 16th centuries several representatives of this family were ecclesiastics: for example Sire Raulin (or Ralph) Chevalier, of the parish of Saint Helier, priest in 1498; Sire Richard Knight, also of Saint Hélier, deacon in March 1517-8 (see Bulletin of 1890, page 416-418); Sire Jacques Chevalier, Rector of Grouville, 1548-1565.
Master Olivier Chevalier, Regent of Saint Anastase around 1525, and until about 1558, had probably studied at a University. It seems certain, according to the "Inquisition" of 1538, that he was at that date filling the office of Attorney-General of Jersey. He had married (in 2 marriages, we believe) Philippine, daughter of Thomas Botterel and Guillemine Hue, and aunt of Clément Botterel, Lord of the fief ès-Payns, who was Constable of Saint Ouen, 1601-1609.
The widow of Mr. Olivier Chevalier and her son Helier Chevalier had to support a long lawsuit against Mr. Jean Paulet, Dean, concerning the possession of a house called "the house of Goués" where Mr. Olivier C. "was holding the glue". See Catel, book 9, the Saturday after October 14, 1560, the October 24 and the Wednesday after December 10, 1560: these Acts are printed in the 25th Bulletin, pages 300 and 301.
We have every reason to believe that Mr. Olivier Chevalier belonged to one of the branches of Saint Pierre. But we do not intend, in this notice, to give a history of this particular family: our aim is to deal especially with the branch of Saint Hélier which gave the country Jean Chevalier, the Chronicler.
Jean Chevalier was born, as we shall see later, around 1589; he was the son of Clément Chevalier and Jeanne Malzard. In 1624 we find him mentioned in the Rolls as Officer of the Constable of Saint Hélier (with another Jean Chevalier who was the son of Guillaume). A few years later, on 28 September 1638, he was sworn in as Vingtenier of the Vingtaine of the City.
Let us note that Clément Chevalier, elder brother of the Chronicler, had preceded him in the functions of Vingtenier of the Vingtaine of the City. Jean Chevalier exercised them during difficult times: the political dissensions which divided England had their repercussions in Jersey, and the island was torn apart by the struggles between Royalists and Parliamentarians. Chevalier remained faithful to the royalist cause, for which he doubtless had to suffer a lot: he himself recounts in his Journal how he refused, in 1643, to the parliamentary leaders, the keys to the Arsenal of Saint Helier, despite the death threats to which he was subjected by Philippe Le Boutillier.
At the end of 1651, when the Republicans seized the island, Jean Chevalier had to resign the position of Vingtenier. In 1665 he was sworn in as one of the Officers of Saint Hélier for the Extent of 1668.[2] He also became, and remained until his death, Deacon of the parish of Saint Hélier.
It is very regrettable that due to the insufficiency of contemporary documents, the life of the Chronicler is so little known. Only two historians give some details about him: Rev. Edouard Durell in the Notes he added to the History of Jersey, by Philippe Falle, and Mr. Hoskins in his book entitled: “Charles II in the Channel Islands”.
We have little to add to what these historians say relative to the Chevalier Manuscript and its author; let us be allowed, however, to give here some impressions that the reading of the work has suggested to us.
Jean Chevalier was certainly a serious, religious, intelligent and methodical mind; he had doubtless received an education uncommon at that time, and, being keenly interested in politics and the prosperity of his country, he had set himself the task of carefully noting, day by day, the principal events of the struggle between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians. This undertaking was not the easiest: it was a question of both relating what was happening on land and at sea, in Jersey and Guernsey, and even in England; of giving an exact and impartial account of the cruises made by the frigates of the King, armed by Lord George de Carteret; to speak of the supplies of Château Cornet, besieged by the Parliamentarians of Guernsey, etc.: such seems to have been the program of our Chronicler, and one can only admire with what conscience, what precision, what accuracy of detail he acquitted himself of his voluntary task.
Evidently his position as Vingtenier put him in a position to be informed quickly and surely on what was happening in the island in general and especially in Saint Helier; the town, though very small at that time, was nevertheless in some way the centre of the public life of the country.
Furthermore, by his marriage with Marie La Cloche, daughter of Edouard La Cloche, of Saint Helier, he was allied to several of the best families of the island. The Rev. Etienne La Cloche, Rector of Saint Ouen, was his brother-in-law; and Benjamin La Cloche, Lord of Longueville, Juré-Justicier, his first cousin, had married one of the sisters of Messire Philippe de Carteret, Knight, Lord of Saint Ouen, Bailiff and Limit-Governor.
Jean Chevalier was therefore highly connected in a social as well as political point of view. It is therefore impossible for us to share the opinion of Hoskins who calls him, in a passage of his book “Charles II in the Channel Islands”, “a subaltern parochial officer, whose most authoritative source of information could have been little more than second hand backstairs gossip”. This gratuitous malignity did not prevent Hoskins from drawing extensively on the Chevalier Manuscript; he recognizes, moreover, from the preface of his work, that the Jersey chronicler is entirely trustworthy.
We have already said that the aim of our author, in writing his Journal, was above all political. It is true that, from time to time, he approaches other questions, but he does so very soberly and, so to speak, with some repugnance: gossip and tales are not to his taste. It is even much to be regretted that he has so rarely deviated from his political program, because we would have liked him to speak to us about himself, his family, his profession, etc. It is in vain that one would seek information on this subject in the work of Jean Chevalier himself. Also we would have had the greatest difficulty in identifying it through its many contemporary homonyms, since the following notes, evidently written by one of the Chronicler's sons, are included in the Manuscript:
November 1675. My mother Marie la Cloche, wife of my father Jean Chevalier, died aged 83 years.
On November 30, 1675, Jean Chevalier died aged 86 years.
This data is fully confirmed by the Burial Registers of the parish of Saint Hélier, of which here are two extracts:
Marie de la Cloche wife of Jean Cheualier Deacon died was buried on the 23rd of November 1675.
Jean Cheuallier Deacon aged Eighty and six years died on the last day of the month of November and was buried on the 1st day of the Month of December 1675.
We see therefore that the Chronicler reached the advanced age of 86 years and that he survived his wife by only eight days. We can also conclude that he was born around 1589, but it is impossible to fix the exact date of his birth, because the Registers of Saint Hélier do not begin until 1596.
Let us also note that, shortly before his death, the Chronicler presented for baptism, on September 6, 1674, his great-grandson, Clément Chevalier, who became Constable of Saint Hélier in 1717.
After these few details on the author of the Manuscript, let us return to his work and recall that it includes the period of 1643 to 1651, and ends with the arrival of the Parliamentarians in October 1651. Chevalier appears to have intended to continue his Journal for a few years: this is evident from several passages in the Manuscript and especially from an allusion to a new volume in which he intended to speak of a crown that Messire George de Carteret, Bailiff and Lord-Governor, had placed on the bell tower of Saint Hélier.
It even seems probable that he had taken the notes with the aim of writing another volume; but, for some unknown reason, he was doubtless unable to carry out his project, and his notes were lost.
In 1645, when he was about 56 years old, he speaks, in passing, of the weakness of his eyesight: "mes yeux ja teruis" (my eyes are faded); this is perhaps the reason why he would not have continued his interesting narrative beyond 1651. What a pity he did not! There are so few sources of information in Jersey for the period between 1652 and 1655; the Rolls of the Royal Court and the Estates are almost all missing for these few years when the Parliamentarians came back to power and doubtless introduced many changes which it would be interesting to know. Chevalier would not have failed to inform us about this little-known period of our history; he would have carefully related the main facts, without counting the ordinary or extraordinary incidents which would have been found “in the course of his Journal”, according to an expression which is familiar to him.
But, while expressing regrets, let us be grateful that we have, in the work of Jean Chevalier, an infinitely precious contribution to the history of our country during the civil wars of the 17th century.
According to tradition, the house of our author was situated on the Market Place, near the place where the offices of the “Chronique de Jersey” are today. This is confirmed by an Act (the States of March 22, 1697-8, allowing Mr. Clément Chevalier, descendant of the Chronicler, to rebuild his house, situated at the top of the Market, in order to make it more convenient”. There were pillars in the old house and in their place he laid the foundations of the new one. Furthermore, the Act tells us that, as a Prison had just been built in the city, the cage was removed; the latter, we are told, was in the way of the view of the house of the said Knight. The States decided to erect in place of the cage a pedestal, with five or six steps, on which a dial would be placed (States, book 3, date cited).
The new residence of the Knights bore the initials C.C. (Clément Chevalier) and the date, we believe, of 1715, still legible a few years ago; these indications disappeared during some repairs undergone by the building. The property in question was inherited by the Heinery family.
We have reason to believe that Clement Chevalier, the eldest son of the Chronicler, was one of the principal merchants of Saint Helier; it appeared interesting to us to note that in 1687 Mrs. William Button (Bouton), née Jeanne Bailhache, was condemned to pay Mr. Clement Chevalier, son Jean, the sum of 100 livres tournois for wedding clothes provided by him (Ex. 69, 17 December 1687).
According to the Registers of the parish of Saint Laurens, Mr. William Button and Mrs. Jeanne Bailhache were married in the island of Sark, in 1684, by Mr. Benoist, Minister of the said place.
Monsieur Clement Chevalier, grandson of the one we have just spoken of, exercised for some years the functions of Centurion of Saint Hélier and, on 11 May 1717, he was sworn in as Constable of this parish, replacing Monsieur Philippe Patriarche (Ex. 85). But he was not to occupy this important office for long, for an untimely death took him away two years later; he was buried at Saint Hélier on 2 May 1719.
His eldest son, Clément-Benjamin Chevalier, became Lord of the fief of Anneville, in 1737-8, on the death of his mother, née Marie Dumaresq. He did not reside long in Jersey, for a large inheritance which he made in December 1722 led him to settle in England. His cousin Temple Chevalier (see genealogy), of Aspall Hall, in the County of Suffolk, who died on 5 Dec. 1722, had bequeathed this property to him by will dated 10th November 1722. Temple Chevalier had sold much of his property in Jersey,[3] as early as 1702, doubtless to purchase Aspall Hall from the Brooke family, of which Lord Cobham was one of the members.[4]
Clement-Benjamin Chevalier (designated in the Royal Court Rolls as Clement Chevalier gent.) therefore settled at Aspall, where his family has continued to this day. Among his descendants, perhaps the best known, were John Chevallier, M.D., who died in 1846, who first cultivated and introduced into practical agriculture the famous barley called “Chevallier barley,” and Temple Chevallier (died in 1873), Canon of Durham and Professor of Mathematics at Durham University. The present representative of the family at Aspall is John-Barrington Chevallier Ecr.
Lord Kitchener of Khartoum and Aspall belongs to the Chevallier family of Suffolk through his mother, née Frances Chevallier, daughter of the Rev. John Chevallier MD,, and aunt of J. B. Chevallier Ecr.
The coat of arms borne by the Chevalliers of Aspall Hall is described as follows: “Argent, on a cross, gules, five escallops of the field”.
The “General Armoury” (Burke, and the Armorial of Jersey, page 331, give another description of the arms of the Chevallier: “Azure, a unicorn’s head, erased, argent; on a chief of the last, three sinister wings, sable”.
See finally, in a Volume offered to the Public Library of Jersey, by J. B. de V. Payen-Payne Ecr., son of the late J. B. Payne Ecr. (author of the Armorial), an engraving representing the arms of the late Jean-Daniel Chevalier Ecr, similar to those found in Burke and in the Armorial.
The Chevalier Genealogy follows this text. I cannot adequately copy the charts found at https://collections.societe.je/archive/books/journal-de-jean-chevalier
1902 - Article 6 - Notices sur quelques anciennes familles jersiaises - Chevalier, de St Hélier
(1902 - Article 6 - Notices on some old Jersey families - Chevalier, from St Hélier)
[1] According to a manuscript by the late Mons. F.G. Callas, G.R. Chevalier, Ecr., of the 65th Infantry Regiment, descended from a family from Poitou, who took refuge in Jersey around 1625 and would, therefore, have no family ties with the other Knights.
[2] See Ex. 56, it dates it to 11 November 1605.
[3] Temple Chevalier gent. & sold much of his inheritance to replace it in England (Ex. 82, May 1711)
[4] See the pamphlet entitled: “Some Family Notes. Compiled by Sir Frederick Lucy Robinson, K.C.B."
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