General Information
Researching house history in Jersey can be a long and confusing task. This leaflet is designed to offer suggestions of where to look for useful sources of information.

The Jersey Archive indexes all its catalogued records by name, place and subject. Therefore any place mentioned in the catalogue description of a record will be indexed on the Archive Catalogue on the Open Public Access Catalogue (OPAC), which is available in the reference area of the Jersey Archive and on the Internet. Simply enter the name of the house you are looking for under places on the OPAC. If this initial search proves to be unsuccessful please try entering the name of the area in which the house stands/stood, this may provide valuable information concerning the area surrounding the house. If you are looking for a hotel, public house, shop or school, please enter the name under names on the OPAC.

Amongst the records indexed on the OPAC is a series of testaments of personal property from c.1660 - 1948. All addresses of persons who made testaments during this period have been indexed under places. We also have a complete indexed catalogue of over 30,000 German Occupation Registration cards. Each person living in Jersey during the Occupation was issued with a registration card, which included the details of their current address. These addresses are indexed on the OPAC.

It is always worth checking the OPAC on a regular basis for recent additions to the catalogue.

Access
Each item held by the Jersey Archive has a unique reference code. These references have been included in the following information after the title.
Should you wish to find out more about a certain collection simply go to one of the public Open Public Access Catalogues available in the reference area of the Jersey Archive. Click on reference search and enter the reference under item reference, e.g. L/F/120.

Sources held at the Jersey Archive

Census of Jersey, 1841 - 1901, S/02

Censuses of the population of Jersey were compiled every 10 years from 1841 onwards. Censuses are closed for 100 years from the date of their creation and therefore at present only the censuses from 1841 - 1901 are available for public consultation. Microfilm copies of the census are available at the Jersey Archive. The census includes the following information concerning houses and households in Jersey; Number of House, Name of Street, place, road, or house, and details of inhabitants of the house. The Jersey Archive has indexed the censuses by place and the microfilm number can be found by searching the OPAC.

Listes du Rât, D/AP/AC

Listes du Rât (Rate lists) are available on the open shelving in the Channel Islands Family History section of the reference area, 1861-2, 1929 - 1978 (not inclusive), and from the strongroom through the OPAC under the reference, D/AP/AC, 1880 - 1970 (not inclusive). Rate lists are indexed by persons name under each separate Vingtaine (an administrative unit smaller than a parish). See the Jersey Archive Reader Registration Pack for a list of Vingtaines in each parish. Rate lists include the name of the ratepayer, their address from 1940 onwards and the amount of rât to be paid.

Maps and Plans

Maps are useful sources for approximately dating properties if little other evidence survives. The 1795, Richmond Map shows the units in existence and their position in relation to roads and fields, unfortunately no names of owners are provided. The Jersey Archive holds a copy of the Richmond map (D/AP/B/20-21). The 1849, Godfray Map divides the Island into parishes and vingtaines, all roads and lanes are marked, and country houses are marked with the name of their proprietor. The Jersey Archive also holds ordnance survey maps of Jersey from 1935 and 1942; these maps can be accessed through the OPAC by choosing the Detailed Search option and entering the word maps under subjects.

Clarke Map Collection - L/F/120
The Clarke Map Collection contains nearly two hundred maps of Jersey dating from the very earliest medieval maps through to maps of St Helier in the 1970s. The earliest map in the Collection is a copy of the Gough Map of Great Britain that is currently located in the Bodleian Library and is dated c. 1360. The collection includes maps by several of the most famous mapmakers and publishers of the Seventeenth Century as well as copies of later, more detailed maps of Jersey such as the Richmond, 1795 and Godfray, 1849. The collection contains plans of St Helier Town and Harbour including a copy of a manuscript map showing plans of the Town of St Helier in 1800 and 1860. The maps are now all available for the public to view in the Reading Rooms of the Jersey Archive. Simply enter the collection reference L/F/120 under Reference Search on the Jersey Archive Open Public Access Catalogue to view a complete list of the collection

Public Services Plans - D/AL
Public Services are currently in the process of transferring many of their archive plans to the Jersey Archive for safe storage and public accessibility. So far we have received plans of the Opera House, Mont Orgueil, the Jersey Railway, the States Building, road widening schemes, various hotels, the harbours and many public buildings. These plans are being catalogued as they arrive at the Archive, the growing collection will provide an invaluable resource for building work in the Island.

Almanacs L/D/21/A

The Channel Islands Family History Society currently owns a set of Almanacs, which have been deposited at the Jersey Archive. Almanacs date from the beginning of the 19th century. The first volume of the set belonging to the CIFHS dates from 1863. Almanacs give lists of residents with their addresses and trades. Early almanacs contain lists of landed and rate-paying inhabitants of Jersey with their addresses. Almanacs are still published today by the Jersey Evening Post.

Land Registry D/Y/K & S/06

Sir Walter Raleigh instituted registration of documents at the Public Registry in 1602. From this date all contracts of immovable property are recorded in the registers of the land registry except partages. Partages concern the division of land between heirs and were included in the registers from 1840 onwards. Contracts generally concern the transfer of property from one individual to another. They often give detailed descriptions of the land or piece of property involved in the transaction, which include details of neighbours land bordering the property. (See Jersey Archive Information Leaflets - Understanding Contracts) Wills concerning land and property were registered from 1851 onwards at the Public Registry. The land registry consists of volumes called Tables, which act as personal name indexes to the Livres. The Livres contain copies of the transactions.
The Judicial Greffe has now deposited the original Tables and Livres registers from 1602 to 1963 with the Jersey Archive. There are also microfilms (S/06) of the registers available to view in the Audio Visual Area of the Jersey Archive.

PRIDE System

The Public Registry Index and Document Enrolement (PRIDE) computer system allows you to search the Public Registry volumes from 1800. The system is administered and housed at the Public Registry, with a terminal available for use at the Jersey Archive. The registers have all been indexed and by using the search screen, you can search the registers according to the names of the parties involved with the transactions and, after 1984, the name of the house. The registers have all been digitally photographed and once you have identified the transaction you wish to view, you are able to view the digital image of the register.

Cour d'Héritage, D/Y/C1

The Cour d'Héritage is one of the divisions of the Royal Court of Jersey. It deals with cases relating to title (right) to real property, the ownership of immoveable property and its division on intestacy, the annulment of hereditary contracts and boundary disputes. At its opening session or Chief Pleas (Chefs Plaids) in each term the Seigneurs assist at the Assise d'Héritage where they answer for their fiefs. This is a remnant of an ancient custom when feudal magnates were called to assist with the deliberations of the court. Before 1967 the Prévots and Chefs Sergents of the Fief du Roi also attended this court to make their reports and before the mid sixteenth century so had the Prévots and Sergents of the Bas Fiefs. Originally held three times a year the court was reduced to two sittings in 1771 and to one in the 1980s. The Registers of the Cour d'Héritage, 1506 - 1971 are available at the Jersey Archive. Transcripts of the registers from 1506 - 1587 are also available at the Jersey Archive (D/Y/C1).