Le Feuvre

Le Feuvre family page

This surname has been present in Jersey in many spelling variants since at least the 13th century

A Mr Le Feuvre photographed in the 1870s by Ernest Baudoux

Record Search

Direct links to lists of baptisms, marriages and burials for the Le Feuvre family can be found under Family Records opposite. If you want to search for records for a spelling variant of Le Feuvre, or for any other family name, just click below on the first letter of the
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Early Le Feuvre arms researched by Julian Wilson

Later family arms

Origin of Surname

Feuvre is French for smith.

Early records

The name first appears in a Close Letter of 1229, which mentions Ricardus Faber of Faldouet, St Martin. In the Assize Roll of 1309 several Le Feuvres are mentioned.

Clement, Drouet, Guillaume, Jo, Johan, Philippe and Richard are found in the Jersey Chantry Certificate of 1550.

As most Jersey districts had their own smiths, the surname has long been widespread within the Island. Research conducted recently, within 16th century Island Court records, revealed Le Feuvre families in St Ouen, St Peter, St Martin and Grouville, all of which appear to have been quite separate families, unrelated one to another.

Furthermore, another line was added in Jersey by a former Guernsey Jurat, Michel Le Febvre, who had settled in Jersey on becoming Seigneur of a large part of the divided Vinchelez fiefs, in St Ouen, where there was already an indigenous Jersey Le Feuvre family, that of Millais. G.F.B. de Gruchy writes that he "became Seigneur..in or a little before 1382, probably in right of his wife, who was possibly the heiress of Jacquet Hascoul (qv: Hacquoil). His son Michel was a Jurat, 1405/1418, as was his son, or perhaps grandson, Michel, in 1448. After the death of the last of these...Michels, his three daughters divided his estates in 1479. Long litigation resulted..."

The descendants of this Guernsey family favoured the spelling Le Febvre. De Gruchy, in his manuscript notes on the subject of that family wrote: "Of a junior branch of this family was John Le Febvre, anglicised Le Fawer and Favour, Mayor of Southampton, 1514. Another junior branch, descended from the Lemprieres of St Jean la Hougue Boëte, acquired that fief in 1603 and it remained in the hands of their descendants in the female line until the middle of the 19th century."

Of the indigenous Jersey stock, spelt Le Feuvre, was Helier Le Feuvre of Millais, Constable of St Ouen, 1587-1590, and the Cromwellian Jurat, 1655-1660, Philippe Le Feuvre, also of Millais. The latter was incorrectly shown, in the Armorial of Jersey, as having been the progenitor of the St Peter Le Feuvres of La Hougue and Les Niemes, who were descended from a different family. They, in their turn, provided the Island with a Constable of St Peter, 1839-1842, in the person of Philippe Le Feuvre of La Hougue; the Revd. Philip Alfred Le Feuvre, Vice-Dean of Jersey, and the Revd. George Le Feuvre, Minister of the French Church, Southampton, and then Chaplain of the British Embassy in Paris. The latter anglicised his name to Le Fevre. His son, Sir George William Le Fevre, Kt., was Physician to the British Embassy in St Petersburg.

Yet another Le Feuvre family to have left its mark upon Jersey history was that of Leoville, St Ouen, descended from a junior branch of the Millais family, above. The exploits and success of a forbear of theirs, a privateer captain, led to the production of Rectors and several generations, living in St Lawrence, of Seigneurs of the Fief Luce de Carteret.

One branch of the family became known as Le Filliastre (Filiastre) giving rise to the surname Le Feuvre dit Le Filliastre. Their descendants, many of whom were of St Brelade, appear in church records as both Le Feuvre and (Le) Filliastre, which does not greatly assist the unwary genealogist.

Payne's Armorial of Jersey

Nothing, says de la Chesnaye des Bois, in his great and comprehensive Armorial of France is more common than the name of Le Fevre, in the various provinces of the Kingdom. That of Normandy furnishes several, for besides others, are chronicled the names, pedigrees, and arms of Le Fevre of Argentan, Valognes, Carentan, and Rouen".

The name is Latinised Faber, ie Smith; and it seems to answer, by its frequency in France, to our own most familiar English patronymic. In Jersey, this name occurs from a very early period, being mentioned in official instruments of the 12th century. A branch of the family appears to have settled at Southampton, in the 16th century, John Le Feyvre, of that town, then being the representative of this section.

The name has, at various periods, and in various localities, been spelt Faber, Febure, Febvre, Feubvre, Feyvre, and so on, as far as the ingenious rules of permutation and combination can go. In Jersey, the same peculiarity of accent that has corrupted Morant into Mourant, Coutance into Coutanche, Ranulfus into Renouf, etc., has rendered its most usual orthography, Le Feuvre.

Of the various insular families of this name, one for some centuries located in the parish of St Peter, is the most important. It numbers among its members a Jurat of the Royal Court, temp Cromwell. The Rev George Le Fevre belongs also to this family. He passed his academical career at Pembroke College, Oxford, with distinction, and subsequently performed the duties of Chaplain to the British Embassy at Paris, for many years. Here, his self-denying labours, and benevolence, endeared him to a large circle of our countrymen resident in or visiting the French capital. His son, Sir George William Le Fevre, chiefly resided on the continent, and filled, for fifteen years, the post of Physician to the British Embassy at St Petersburgh. On his return to England he was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and received the honour of knighthood. Of his wanderings in Europe, he has left an interesting and clever souvenir in his "Diary of a Travelling Physician", to which literary labour he added others of a professional nature. Obituary notices of Sir G W Le Fevre appear in the various medical serials of 1846. His brother, Dr Henry Belfield Le Fevre, for some time practised in Paris, where he was well known in literary and scientific circles, and is the author of several valuable communications to the Academy of Sciences of that city.

In Jersey, the family is represented by Philip Le Feuvre, of La Hougue, and by George William Le Feuvre, of Les Niesmes, both in the parish of St Peter. In England, by Henry Belfield Le Fevre, of Exeter. And in America, by the Revd. Clement Fall Le Fevre, of Hazlewood, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

A Mrs Le Feuvre photographed by Ernest Baudoux

Philip, Edward and Jack Le Feuvre

Arms (as borne by the Rev Philip Alfred Le Feuvre): Argent, a chevron, gules, between three mullets, pierced, sable; a label of three points, for difference. Quartering: Sable, on a chief, indented, argent, three martlets of the field, for Le Bas; Or, a gonfalon of three pendants, gules, fringed vert, for D'Auvergne; Per fesse argent and or; in chief a dexter hand issuant, ppr., cuffed of the second; in base a mullet of the first, for Poingdestre; Argent, a lion, rampant, sable, armed and langued, gules, for Balleine; Sable, a chevron between three eagles, displayed, argent; on a chief, or, a rose between two fleurs-de-lis, gules, for Remon; Azure, a chevron between three escallops, or, for Le Miere.

• Subsequent research has established that the D`Auvergne quartering should not be present, either through the Le Feuvre or Le Bas lines of descent.
• The last three quarterings are derived from Anne Elizabeth Balleine, an heiress, and mother of the Revd. P.A. Le Feuvre. As she no longer has any descendants, the quarterings are now obsolete.

Crest : A triple-eared stem of corn, ppr.

Arms of Le Febvre of Guernsey, of Vinchelez and St Jean la Hougue Boëte in Jersey: Gules, three escallops or. Their eventual heirs at Vinchelez de Bas, Dumaresq, adopted these arms, in lieu of their own.

Variants

• Le Feuvre, 1299
• Le Feuvre dit Cauchais
• Feuvre 1330
• Le Feuve 1292
• Le Feubre 1528
• Le Feivre, 1363
• Lefeivre, 1329
• Le Feivre 1329
• Le Feyvre, 1309
• Le Fever 1377
• Le Fevere 1309
• Le Fevre 1299
• Le Feybvre 1405
• Fabre 1342
• Fabe 1303
• dictus Faber, 1306
• Faber de Faleduit 1226
• Lefeuvre
• Lefebvre
• Lefevre
• Le Febvre
• Le Febure
• Le Feure
• Le Faber
• Le Feuvre dit le Filliastre

Family records

This picture, probably taken outside his house in Jersey, shows an unidentified John Le Feuvre, at the back, with his family and guest Victor Hugo seated in the centre

Family trees

• Descendants of Helier Le Feuvre (1573)
• Descendants of Jasper Le Feuvre
• Descendants of Nicolas Le Feuvre
• Descendants of Nicollas Le Feuvre of St Ouen (1475)
• Descendants of Philippe Le Feuvre
• Descendants of Pierre Le Feuvre (1550)
• Descendants of William Le Feuvre Added 2019
• Descendants of Clement Le Feuvre
• Descendants of Clement Le Feuvre - 2
• Descendants of Aaron Le Feuvre
• Descendants of Abraham Le Feuvre Added 2018
• Descendants of Philippe Le Feuvre - 2 Added 2018
• Descendants of Martin Le Feuvre: A Grouville family
• Descendants of Philippe Le Feuvre - 3 Added 2021
• Descendants of Jean Le Feuvre Added 2022

• Descendants of Damian Le Feuvre dit Le Filliastre
• Descendants of Damyan Le Feuvre dit Filliastre

Church records

Tips for using these links

• Le Feuvre baptisms in Jersey
• Le Feuvre marriages in Jersey (groom)
• Le Feuvre marriages in Jersey (bride)
• Le Feuvre burials in Jersey

Family histories

• A history of the Le Feuvre family by Mary Ann Minor
• Philip Le Feuvre, politician in the mid 20th century who brought in Jersey's National Insurance scheme
• Le Feuvre family members mentioned in a major history of privateering
• George William Le Feuvre Kt., Physician Added 2020
• Clement Fall Le Fevre Added 2020
• David Le Feuvre, farmer turned journalist and author of Jersey: Not quite British

Newspaper records

• Problems for Capt Le Feuvre while loading cattle in St Malo in 1848
  
  

Great War service

• Le Feuvre family members who served in World War 1

Family wills

• Le Feuvre family wills from 1663 to 1980 held by Jersey Archive

• Le Feuvre burial records 1820-1978

Family properties

• Le Binaud, Trinity
• La Citadelle, St Lawrence
• Manor House, St Lawrence
• Le Coin Cottages, St Brelade
• St John's Manor
• Beau Desert, St Saviour
• Beachleigh Cottages, St Clement

Rogues' Gallery

In 1866 the Chronique de Jersey reported that George Le Feuvre and John Carroll were presented at the Police COurt by Centenier du Jardin, charged with encouraging dogs to fight at the Weighbridge. Witnesses all testified against Carroll and he was fined five shillings, or two days in prison. Le Feuvre was released

Family album

James Philip Le Feuvre, of Le Coin, St Ouen, and his father-in-law Francis Lucas

This postcard, which was sent with New Year greetings in 1907, is notable for the postmark, showing St Ouen as St Owen. Doubtless Ida, who posted it, would, along with most St Ouennais, have been horrified at the anglicisation of the parish name. But this was a period when French was rapidly being overtaken as Jersey's official language, and, to make matters worse, the Post Office was run from England. The recipient of the card was Laura Ann Le Feuvre, who lived at 59 Halkett Place with her elder brothers John Peter and Philip Vibert Le Feuvre. Laura was born in St Ouen in 1875, the daughter of Philippe and Jane, nee Vibert. John Peter was born five years earlier and Philip was the eldest of the trio, born in 1868 according to the census, but we have not found a baptism record. He was head of household, although the property is listed in John Peter's name in the 1905 census. The siblings ran a grocer's shop and lived above the shop. Ida does not appear to have been a family member

This postcard was sent to Mrs Le Feuvre at Le Coin Lodge, St Brelade, in 1909. We have been unable to identify her any further

Family businesses

• John Le Feuvre was a bootmaker at 31 King Street in the 1840s
• Charles Le Feuvre was a baker at 42 King Street in the 1860s
• Jeanne Le Feuvre was a draper at 56 King Street in the 1850s

Family gravestones

Click on any image to see a larger version. See the Jerripedia gravestone image collection page for more information about our gravestone photographs

Tips

The church record links above will open in a new tab in your browser and generate the most up-to-date list of each set of records from our database. These lists replace earlier Family page baptism lists, which were not regularly updated. They have the added advantage that they produce a chronological listing for the family name in all parishes, so you do not have to search through A-Z indexes, parish by parish.

We have included some important spelling variants on some family pages, but it may be worth searching for records for a different spelling variant. Think of searching for variants with or without a prefix, such as Le or De. To search for further variants, or for any other family name, just click on the appropriate link below for the first letter of the family name, and a new tab will open, giving you the option to choose baptism, marriage or burial records. You will then see a list of available names for that type of record and you can select any name from that list. That will display all records of the chosen type for that family name, and you can narrow the search by adding a given name, selecting a parish or setting start and end dates in the form you will see above. You can also change the family name, or search for a partial name if you are not certain of the spelling

The records are displayed 30 to a page, but by selecting the yellow Wiki Table option at the top left of the page you can open a full, scrollable list. This list will either be displayed in a new tab or a pop-up window. You may have to edit the settings of your browser to allow pop-up windows for www.jerripediabmd.net. For the small number of family names for which a search generates more than 1,500 records you will have to refine your search (perhaps using start or end dates) to reduce the number of records found.

New records

Since August 2020 we have added several thousand new records from the registers of Roman Catholic, Methodist and other non-conformist churches. These will appear in date order within a general search of the records and are also individually searchable within the database search form