Messervy Stories

It’s always fun to find a rogue in the broader ancestral family.   Maximilien Messervy, who was born 25 July 1616 in St. Saviour, Jersey is definitely a scoundrel in the true definition of the word.   He was the son of Jean Messervy and Sara de Carteret, both descendants of prominent, longstanding families of Jersey. As a young man, he was infamous for having eloped to Normandy, France with 17 year old Collette La Cloche, who was a favoured niece of the powerful Sir Philippe de Carteret. Among Collette’s many virtues was her status as an heiress - they married in St. Lo, Normandy and eventually returned to Jersey. In this era, marrying without the permission of the families was a serious offence among the propertied class, or seigneurs.   Maximilien’s father died at the age of 34, meaning that in the inheritance pattern of the day, Maximilien inherited several seigneuries as the eldest son, in 1637 when coming of age.   While this may sound positive, it turned out that

Some time ago, a member of the Messervey Heritage Facebook group provided information on Colonel Nathaniel Meserve, part of the American entourage of Jersey emigrants.  I always meant to do a post on him, and today noted that it was two years ago that Marilyn Griffin Turner provided the post! Nathaniel Meserve was born in Newington, New Hampshire about 1705, the son of Clement Meserve and Elizabeth Jones.   Nathaniel’s grandparents were original New Hampshire settlers from Jersey, Channel Islands.   Following in his father’s footsteps, Nathaniel became a carpenter and joiner and eventually a ship’s carpenter (shipwright).   On 16 December 1725, Nathaniel married his first wife Jane (Sarah) Libby [1]  and they had ten children.   His wife died in 1747 and he married a second time to Mary Jackson a widow and daughter of Judge Jotham Odiorne.   The story goes that Nathaniel enjoyed great success as a shipbuilder and became very wealthy.   He purchased land in Portsmouth