Messervy Stories

A recent meetup with a Messervy descendant from New Zealand made me think of the differences and similarities between the experiences of my Philippe Messervy (see blog #2) and the New Zealand Philippe Messervy.   The most obvious difference is that of time:   I descend from Philippe Messervy who was born in St. Saviour, Jersey in 1769, while our New Zealand Philippe was born in 1845, seventy-six years later.   My Philippe was a young  single man when he was already in Newfoundland, part of the history of the cod trade, integral to the history of Jersey.   According to Jersey Heritage [1] ,   “...18th century merchants followed the triangular cod trade route leaving Jersey to trade in the Gaspé and Newfoundland, the West Indies and the Mediterranean. Initially the majority went on a seasonal basis but as the century progressed a number of Jersey firms with resident staff were set up.   Charles Robin established the pattern of trade for Jersey firms with the firm based in

  As a child, I was not familiar with many of my Grammy Greig (Elizabeth Mary Messevey) family, but we all knew about her Uncle Bert.  An exotic figure who had travelled to the Far East several times, he was known as an importer of Japanese goods and also was renowned in the family stories as an early provider of electric Christmas tree lights. I recall that Grammy Greig proudly retold how friends and neighbours came to see the tree resplendent with its lights – quite different from the ones we see today, these lights were made up of little animals, cartoon figures  and such.                                                 Photo by Ken Benson. Sample of Messervey Lights.  Of course, more traditional lights also were made. The lights, still unique, were passed to my mother and for some years we were able to put a few on the tree, until all the lights died. Many Messervey descendants of the Nova Scotia branches are familiar with Uncle Bert’s story and have been