The Family of Philip Jeune

&

his wife

Elizabeth Le Veslet

 of St Helier, Jersey

Both Philip JEUNE and his wife Elizabeth Le VESLET were born on the British Channel Island of Jersey.

Philippe Jeune was baptised in the parish church of St Helier on 8 October 1796.¹ He was a son of Philippe Jeune and his wife Jeanne Le GALLAIS. The boy's grandparents Phillipe Le Gallais and Jeanne QUEREE (the widow of Phillipe Jeune) stood as sponsors.

Elizabeth Le Veslet was the only child of Elie Le Veslet and his wife Elizabeth Le MAISTRE, later of St Saviour, Jersey. Elizabeth was born on 23 January 1812, and privately baptised at home on 30 January 1812, so there must have been concern that she might not survive.² Later, on 12 February 1812, she was  publicly baptised in the St Helier parish church. Sponsors identified at the time of her public baptism were noted to be William ANLEY, a 'gentleman', and Demoiselle Elizabeth D'AUVERGNE, wife of Philippe Le VAVASSEUR dit DURELLE.

Philip was principally a sailor, and at the outbreak of war between the United States of America and Great Britain in 1812, the ship on which Philip was sailing was captured by the first American fleet out of Boston after war had been declared. His ship was bound for Newfoundland, having departed from London. Philip and the rest of the crew on his ship - the Neptune, were transported to Boston harbour, where they were detained for several weeks. Philip and his fellow crew members - (the British ones, that is, the American men had been commandeered to serve in American warships) were ultimately exchanged for American sailors the British had captured, and were transported by cartel from Boston to Newfoundland. In the 1840s, in a travelogue written about the Island of Jersey, Philip was noted to have remarked on the excellent time he had spent in Boston as a guest of the Americans.

Later in life, Philip managed the Union Hotel adjacent to the Royal Court on the Royal Square in St. Helier, Jersey. Elizabeth [nee Le Veslet] Jeune owned the Hotel by inheritance from her father, Elie Le Veslet. Philip was variably identified as 'Captain' and 'master mariner' during this period.

Philip Jeune and Elizabeth Le Veslet were married in the St Helier parish church on 30 July 1826.³ Both were said to be 'of St Helier' at that time. The Register shows no other details about the couple - not their occupations, not their parents' names, nothing!

Philip & Elizabeth are known to have had 10 children, all born and baptised in St Helier:

• Elizabeth, baptised 7 March 1828; married William PRITCHARD; died 9 July 1863 - one son known
• Phillipe, baptised 30 September 1829; died Victoria State, Australia, 1898 - believed unmarried
• John Elias, baptised 2 October 1831; buried 10 October 1831
• Alfred, baptised 1 January 1834; may have married in England, 1870; died at sea enroute to Australia 1874
• Louisa, baptised 11 October 1835; married John Bazin BABOT 1858;  died Camberwell, England, 1919 - no children known
• Mary, baptised 26 July 1837; buried 24 August 1837
• Edwin, baptised 17 July 1839; buried 25 July 1839
• Amelia, baptised 3 March 1841; married Charles THOMAS; died Marylebone, England, late 1902, after an extended stay at the Middlesex Hospital, Mortimer Street - 2 children known
• Edwin, born in St Helier, 4 January 1843; married Martha Jane Allen in New Carlisle, Quebec, in 1874; died in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1929, after 3 weeks in St Joseph's Hospital - 3 children known. Edwin was trained for seafaring, but opted instead for clerical work. In the 1870s, while working at Paspebiac as a clerk for one of the Jersey interests that extracted fish and other resources from Quebec's Baie des Chaleurs (Robin & Company), he met and married a girl who had been born in New Carlisle on the south shore of the Gaspe Peninsula - Martha Jane ALLEN (for more about Edwin & Martha Jane, please see the article "The Family of Edwin & Martha Jane [nee Allen] Jeune").
• Edmund, born 21 October 1847; died Waverly, New South Wales, Australia, 3 June 1891 - at least 3 children known.

Daniel AUBIN was one of the enumerators responsible for parts of St Helier, during the 1841 Census of Islands in the British Seas. His Enumeration District was Number 11, and encompassed "Houses between Hill Street, Snow Hill, Queen Street, Brook St, Library Place, Broad Street & Bond Street". The Royal Square was contained within this Enumeration District, and on Census Day (Sunday 6 June) Elizabeth Veslet [sic] was identified as the 'Hotel K[eeper]' at the Union Hotel. But this was not Philip Jeune's wife Elizabeth - this was Elizabeth [nee Le Veslet] Jeune's mother Elizabeth [nee Le Maistre] Le Veslet, 60 years of age. Enumerated as residents of the Hotel were Philip Jeune, 40 years old, identified as a 'Merchant'; his wife Elizabeth, 30; and their children Elizabeth, 13 years old, and Philip, 10. Also residing in the Hotel on that date were several female servants, and many guests from England and France - a banker, a doctor, a clergyman and his family, and several merchants.⁴

 On Census Day in 1851 (Sunday, 30 March) Philip Jeune was identified as the 53 year old 'hotel keeper' at the Union Hotel on the Royal Square. His wife Elizabeth was there, 39 years old; and one son - Alfred, a 'sailor' 19 years old, as well. As in 1841, there were also a number of servants residing in the Hotel, and guests from Canada, England and France - a couple of soldiers, a farmer, a manufacturer, and 3 merchants, one there with his wife.⁵

Census Day in 1861 (Sunday 7 April) found Philip & Elizabeth [nee Le Veslet] Jeune still in St Helier, but this time at a home designated as No. 1 Victoria Place. Joshua John [HUBERT ?] was the enumerator for Enumeration District No. 31, which encompassed all of those "Houses between Lempriere Street (East), Devonshire Lane, Aquila Road, Great Union Road, Poonah Road, Journaux Street, and Devonshire Place".  Philip was noted to have been 64 years old. Elizabeth his wife was 49. Within their household on that day were their married daughter Elizabeth Pritchard, 33; son Philip Jeune, 30; unmarried daughter Emelia Jeune, 20; and son Edwin, 14. Also resding within Philip's household was a 56 year old widow, a 'house servant' named Elizabeth FAUVEL.⁶

Edwin Jeune, 28, umarried, was the only one of Philip & Elizabeth [nee Le Veslet] Jeune's children in their household on Census Day in 1871 (Sunday, 2 April). On this date, Peter MOURANT, the Enumerator for Enumeration District No. 37, found the Jeune's living in part of a house at 51 Clearview Street. Philip, noted to have been a 'retired merchant capt[ain]' was 73 years old; Elizabeth his wife was 58; and son Edwin was said to be a 'clerk - newspaper office'. The other occupants of the house at 51 Clearview Street was 72 year old Elizabeth Fauvel, a widow of 'no profession'; her unmarried 50 year old daughter Elizabeth Fauvel, a 'schoolmistress'; and two young boarders - 13 year old Harriet LANGLOIS, and 7 year old Arthur ALBERT, both 'scholars'. It's not clear at the time of writing this, whether the 70 year old widow named Elizabeth Fauvel who was occupying part of the house at 51 Clearview in 1871, was the same person as the 56 year old widow named Elizabeth Fauvel who was living in with the Jeune's as a 'house servant' in 1861. The Enumeration District in 1871 encompassed all those "Houses between Upper part of Great Union Road, Albert Street, part of Clearview Street, Brighton Road, and part of Rouge Bouillon, including Columbus Street & Lanes and Albert Square".⁷

Philip Jeune of 55 Clearview Street died on the 24th of September of 1872⁸. John SIMON was the Deputy Registrar on the 25th of September, when Elizabeth HUELIN of No 5 Old Street, reported the death, and declared that she had been present when Philip died. Philip reputedly died of 'old age', 73 years and 11 months of age. He was described as 'hotelier'. Captain Philip Jeune's funeral services were handled by Sinnatt Funeral Directors of St Helier. His remains were interred in the Green Street Cemetery in St Helier on the 27th of September. On 12/11/72 [this is how the account settlement date was recorded - was this 12 November, or 11 December ?] Captain Babot of Liverpool - Philip's son-in-law, paid the 9 pounds 17 shillings and 3 pence cost of the funeral, which included a charge for the 'best hearse'; fees to the Rector, the Clerk and the Sexton [12 shillings in all]; 'warnings' and 'announcements', cloth for the coffin, crepe hat bands, gloves for the pallbearers, and so on. This charge did not, apparently include the cost for the coffin itself.⁹

Enumerator Walter Le FEUVRE recorded on Census Day in 1881 (Sunday 3 April) that 69 year old Elizabeth [nee Le Veslet] was boarding at Dorset Lodge in St Helier. The principal occupier of Dorset Lodge was said to be 81 year old, widowed Elizabeth Fauvel, described at that time as 'formerly a nurse'. Within the household were also 60 year old 'school mistress' Elizabeth Fauvel; 23 year old Harriet E Langlois, who had risen to be 'ironer', and 4 young 'scholars'. It's apparent, then that the younger Elizabeth Fauvel was running a private live-in school in the home in 1881. Dorset Lodge was one of the "Houses between part of Great Union Rd, Windsor Rd., part of Val Plaisant, Upper part of Dorset St, part of Clearview St. & Albert St. including Dorset Street, upper part of Garden Lane, & part of Columbus Street.". Dorset Lodge was presumably situated on Dorset Street.¹⁰

Elizabeth [nee Le Veslet] Jeune died on Dorset Street in St Helier on the 5th of March, 1886. Eliza ALBERT of Columbus Street reported the death on the 6th of March, and declared that she had been present when death occurred. Elizabeth was said to be the 'widow of Cap^tn Philip Jeune'. She was said to be 74 years of age at the time of death. And she reputedly died because of Pneumonia.¹¹ It is not presently known which firm handled Elizabeth's funeral, nor to which cemetery her remains were transported and interred.¹²

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No photographic images with likenesses of either Philip Jeune or his wife Elizabeth Le Veslet are known. It seems improbable that no images exist, though, because Philip was the respected manager of St Helier's Union Hotel until 1860. If any photographs are known which show the facade of the Union Hotel, it's interior, or any form of grouping outside of or on the steps of the Union Hotel, we would be ever grateful to know of them. If such photograph(s) exist, please scan both sides at 600dpi, and send them to us through the contact option below. Thank you!

____________________

Sources:

1.  Register of Baptisms, 15 August 1789 - 13 May 1799, St Helier, Island of Jersey, 1796, Page 198; Jersey Heritage Reference: G/C/03/A2/6. Accessed 11 January 2022 through: <https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/60860/images/45219_1831109388_0425-00203?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=e90c4ef39352dfda0d9a97cc6a8d0725&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xwq-555194&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=387031> [Image 202 of 352].
2. Register of Baptisms, 6 September 1809 - 30 December 1814, St Helier, Island of Jersey, 1812, Page 109; Jersey Heritage Reference: G/C/03/A2/8. Accessed  11 January 2022 through: <https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/60860/images/45219_1831109388_0421-00114?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=e6c4c1b9843a694fdd8da22055831c44&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xwq-839885&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.219625817.1578161302.1641918000-615222468.1641918000&pId=400749> [Image 113 of 332].
3. Register of Marriages, February 1821 - 31 December 1829, St Helier, Island of Jersey, 1826, Page 216, Number 145; Jersey Heritage Reference: G/C/03/A3/3. Accessed 11 January 2022 through: <https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/61219/images/45219_1831109388_0443-00238?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=49148808693377a68b2c0a6f91915a9e&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xwq48467&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=88123> [Image 237 of 553].
4. 1841 Census of Islands in the British Seas, Island of Jersey, part of the Parish of St Helier, Town of St Helier, Enumeration District No. 11; Pages 26 and 27, Folio 39 (face and reverse). The National Archives (Kew, England): HO 107 / 1461 / 9. Accessed 11 January 2022 through: <https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/8980/images/JERHO107_1461_1461-0270?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=c458ff5366a0a6892b73eed79e7b6e8d&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xwq-1507483&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=14423047> [Image 14 of 18].
5. 1851 Census of Islands in the British Seas, Island of Jersey, part of the Parish of St Helier, Town of St Helier, Enumeration District No. 6 [the enumerator's name is not evident]; Page 19, Stamped Folio [Reverse of] 144. The National Archives (Kew, England): HO 107 / 2527. Accessed 11 January 2022 through: <https://www.ancestry.ca/discoveryui-content/view/16438214:8862?gsfn=philip&gsln=jeune&ml_rpos=3&queryId=ffe4acddad8ed8f884215140ce708b11> [Image 20 of 39].
6. 1861 Census of Islands in the British Seas, Island of Jersey, Parish of St Helier, Town of St Helier, Enumeration District No. 31; Pages 25 [Stamped Folio 16] and 26 [Folio 16 Reverse side]; Schedule No. 166. The National Archives (Kew, England): RG 9 / 4398. Accessed 11 January 2022 through: <https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/8765/images/JERRG9_4394_4399-0863?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.219436505.1578161302.1641918000-615222468.1641918000&pId=15741924> [Images 26 & 27 of 49].
7. 1871 Census of Islands in the British Seas, Island of Jersey, Parish of St Helier, Town of St Helier, Enumeration District No. 37; Page 28 [reverse side of Stamped Folio 85], Schedule No. 165 and 166. The National Archives (Kew, England): RG 10 / 5758. Accessed 11 January 2022 through: <https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/7621/images/JERRG10_5758_5760-0176?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.50336105.1578161302.1641918000-615222468.1641918000&pId=3688020> [Image 29 of 33].
8. Extract from the Register of Deaths, Parish of St Helier, Island of Jersey; Page 30, No. 300; Certificate No. 1577, issued at St Helier, 4 February 2011. Original certificate in the author's collection.
9. Sinnatt Funeral Home Register of Funerals, St Helier, Island of Jersey; 1872, Page 12; Jersey Heritage Reference: L/A/41/A1/6. Examined and photographed by the author at the Jersey Archives, 21 June 2011.
10. 1881 Census of Islands in the British Seas, Island of Jersey, Parish of St Helier, Town of St Helier, Enumeration District 36; Page 12 [reverse side of Stamped Folio 95] , Schedule No. 86. The National Archives (Kew, England): RG 11 / 5614. Accessed 11 January 2022 through: <https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/8063/images/JERRG11_5614_5617-0193?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.20985595.1578161302.1641918000-615222468.1641918000&pId=7565935> [Image 13 of 29].
11. Extract from the Register of Deaths, Parish of St Helier, Island of Jersey; Page 99, No. 990; Certificate No. 1576, issued at St Helier, 4 February 2011. Original certificate in the author's collection.
12. Detailed searches of all of the various Funeral Directors' records [Sinnatt, and Pitcher & Le Quesne] and Cemetery records transcripts that were held at the Jersey Archives were undertaken there in June, 2011, in a pointed effort to locate funeral and interment records for Elizabeth [nee Le Veslet] Jeune. Discouragingly, no sought after record was found. More recent surveys of <www.findagrave.com> and <https://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/Jerripedia> have also failed to find interment details.