Benest

Benest family page

This surname was present in Jersey as early as the 13th century and is still there today in significant numbers

Doris Benest, Post Office telegraph operator, 1950s

Record Search

Direct links to lists of baptisms, marriages and burials for the Benest family can be found under Family Records opposite. If you want to search for records for a spelling variant of Benest, or for any other family name, just click below on the first letter of the
family name you are interested in. This will open a new tab in your browser giving you a list of family names beginning with that letter,
for which there are baptism records in our database of half a million church and public registry records.

You can also select marriages or burials. Select the name you want
and when the list of records is displayed you can easily refine the search, choosing a single parish, given name(s) and/or start and end dates.

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

From August 2020 we have started adding records from non-Anglican churches, and this process will continue as more records, held by Jersey Archive, are digitised and indexed. Our database now includes buttons enabling a search within registers of Roman Catholic, Methodist and other non-conformist churches. These records will automatically appear within the results of any search made from this page.

A--B--C--D--E--F--G--H--I--J--K--L--M--N--O--P--Q--R--S--T--U--V--W--X--Y--Z

If you can help with information about the Benest family, please contact editorial@jerripedia.org, using Jerripedia as the subject of your email. We are particularly interested in information which will help create further family trees, family histories and photographs

A blue link anywhere in the text will lead you to another page with more information on this family

Origin of Surname

George Balleine suggests that Benest is a French version of Benedictus and was adopted as a surname in medieval times when surnames were first established. French sources also suggest the derivation from the early personal name Benoit or Blessed.

Early records

Benest is one of the oldest Jersey surnames, Emelota Beneyt being mentioned in the Extente of 1274, as being of Trinity. The 1309 Assize Rolls mention Robert Beneyt of St Peter, whilst the 1331 Extente mentions a namesake or perhaps the same Robert Benest, as being of that parish. The name of John Beneyt is at the top of the list, in the Rev J A Messervy`s Liste des Jersiais qui ont exercé des fonctions importantes à Southampton, 1409-1876 ^[1] as having been Mayor of that Town in 1409. The name is found throughout Jersey records to the present day. The name is also found in France as the name of a village in Poitou-Charentes and as a surname of families connected with that region. No connection has yet been established between the Jersey name and this place.

Noe Benest, born about 1530 in Jersey, married Jeannette Regnault and they had a daughter Marguerite (b abt 1557) who married Ambroise Le Breton.

Variants

• Benest, 1299
• Beneest 1331
• Beneyt, 1274
• Beneit 1299
• Bennest
• Benoyst
• Benoist, French variant
• Benet, French variant
• Binet is sometimes found in early years, probably in error, as an alternative spelling but is a distinct family

Family records

Family trees

• Benests of St Lawrence: Tree of the family of Benest's of Millbrook
• Descendants of Francois Benest
• Descendants of Amice Benest
• Descendants of Amice Benest - 2, a different Amice Added 2019
• Descendants of Raulin Benest
• Descendants of Pierre Benest
• Descendants of Pierre Benest and Catherine Saison
• Descendants of Daniel Benest
• Descendants of Charles Benest
• Descendants of Helier Benest Added 2019

Church records

Tips for using these links

• Benest baptisms in Jersey
• Benest marriages in Jersey (groom)
• Benest marriages in Jersey (bride)
• Benest burials in Jersey

Family histories and biographies

• Ancestors and descendants of Abraham Benest
• Genealogical notes on the Benests of St Helier
• Walter Benest, Constable of St Brelade
• Emile Benest, victim of Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918
• William Le Bas Benest Added 2022
• Sydney George Benest Added 2022

Société Jersiaise Library records

• Bertram records in La Société Jersiaise Library, including references to members of the Benest family Added 2018

Great War service

• Benest family members who served in World War 1

Occupation records

• Benest Occupation identity cards

World War 2 casualties

• Margaret Annie Benest
• Herbert Benest
• Alfred William Phelps Benest

Family wills

• Benest family wills from 1663 to 1980 held by Jersey Archive

• Benest burial records 1820-1978

Coats of arms

Family homes

• Belle Greve, St Lawrence

Family businesses

Many rich (or soon to be rich) individuals were issuing their own banknotes in Jersey in the early 19th century. It seems amazing that anyone would have handed over a genuine Bank of England note, worth £50 at today's values, for a piece of paper allegedly backed by the Jersey Accommodation Bank, which was probably a figment of Mr Benest's imagination, and only redeemable 20 at at time in London

• Benest's of Millbrook
• Miss Benest's School, First Tower
• Philip John Benest was a linen draper at 16 King Street in the 1850s
• Philip Benest was a hatter and tailor at 34 King Street in the last 1860s
• Cesar Auguste Benest was a confectioner at 60 King Street in the 1850s
• Draper Philip Benest employed nine staff at 19 Halkett Place in 1861
• Tailor P Benest was at 2 Queen Street in the 1870s
• Auctioneer George Benest was one of the main traders on the south side of Queen Street in the early 20th century

Family album

The 1912 wedding of William Benest and Mary Nicolle. The picture was taken at China Quarry Farm, St Lawrence

Occupation permits

These curfew passes were issued to Jack Benest and Raymond Benest during the Occupation as members of the Honorary Police ^[2]

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. Images of gravestones in other cemeteries will be added progressively

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

Notes and references

1. ↑ ABSJ, IV, 326
2. ↑ These cards are held by Jersey Archive. Visit The Archive online catalogue for more information. A subscription may be needed to view some of the site's content