Greenfield

Historic Jersey buildings Greenfield, Trinity Index of all house profiles If you own this property, have ancestors who lived here, or can provide any further information and photographs, please contact us through editorial@jerripedia.org

Property name

Greenfield

Other names

• Ville es Ouies
• Maison du Pont es Ouies ^[1]
• Pont es Ouies
• Greenfield ^[2]

Location

Rue du Pont, Trinity ^[3]

Type of property

Georgian farmstead now divided into separate residential units

Valuations

• In 2003 1 Greenfield sold for £615,000 and No 3 for £605,000
• In 2004 2 Greenfield sold for £485,000 and five years later it was sold again for £736,569
• In 2005 4 Greenfield, known as Villes es Ouiaes, sold for £775,000 and the following year it was sold again for £800,000
• In 2010 5 Greenfield sold for £680,000, and the following year for £417,500

Families associated with the property

• Hocquard
• De Gruchy: The property remained in the de Gruchy family from the mid-19th century until the late 20th

Datestones

• MH EC 1695 ^[4]- There is a 1705 burial record for Elizabeth (no maiden name given) wife of Mathieu Hocquard, but no sign of a corresponding marriage entry. Baptism records of what were probably Mathieu's children do not include the mother's names, but godparents listed suggest that she could well have been Elizabeth Cabot

IHQ BHQ 1830 - For Jean and Betsy Hocquard

Jean de Gruchy, at the age of 74, refused to change out of his working clothes when a family photograph was taken in 1890 to mark the completion of a new wing of their home, much to the displeasure of his daughter-in-law Emily, née Pallot, whose name is recorded on the datestone erected at the time

JJDGC EPL 1890 - For Jean Josué de Gruchy and Emily Pallot

Census returns

1851 - Widowed farmer (of four acres) Jean de Gruchy (1816- ) was living at Pont ès Oies with his mother Susanne, née de La Haye (1790- ), his aunt Elizabeth Le Boutillier (1883- ) and his children John (Jean Josué) (7), Josué (3), Francois Elie (2) and Esther (6) Another son Charles Philippe had died in 1849 at the age of four.

1891 - John snr was living on his own means while his son John Josué farmed. Living with them were John Josué's wife Emily and their children John, Amelia, Mary and Arthur (wrongly identified as Alfred in the census).

1901 John Josue was now head of houshold, living with Emelie, John, Mary, Maud, and Ernest, and nephew Philip Payn (1888- )

1940s

In April 1940 an application was made by Edward Blampied de Gruchy (1916- ) to postpone his call-up for military service because he was working on his father John's farm. The application must have been successful because their 1941 identity card applications show John (1874- ), his wife Lilia Alice, née Blampied (1875- ) and sons John Stephen (1905- ), Harold Philip (1912- ) and younger brother Edward all living at Greenfield.

Historic Environment Record entry

Listed building

This complex of house, wing and farm buildings creates a cohesive group. Each element retains historic features and retains its overall historic character. Evidence of earlier building on site suggested by 1695 gable stone in an outbuilding.

Two-storey three bay house with two-storey, three-bay wing to west. To east is converted range of outbuildings returning north and then west to form U-shape and yard to rear of house.

Old Jersey Houses

A brief entry in Volume Two, which incorrectly names the house as Greenfields, notes the datestones, and comments that it was unusual for a stone to record two forenames, as does the stone erected for Jean Josue de Gruchy.

The entry also refers to the story that some early occupants of the property buried their money in wooden pots in the hedges, but that when they were dug up it was no longer legal tender.

Family information

Edward de Gruchy, the Methodist preacher, who lived at Greenfield, said that there were, on the site, two dwelling houses, belonging to connected families, Hocquard and de Gruchy, who intermarried in 1719.

The part with the Hocquard datestones was the original. The evidently later house was their de Gruchy relatives' home, enlarged and partly rebuilt with the proceeds of 19th century market gardening produce. Then, at some stage, the de Gruchys bought/inherited the Hocquard house.

When all one property, it had a well, 200 metres away to the south, in a field that connects with the end of the front garden, at about 20 foot from the lane leading to the house. Children being in danger of falling in, caused Edward de Gruchy to cover it, although it still exists. Asked why it was so far from the house, Edward said that there was an earlier house exactly there, but nobody knows its precise date or history, other than it all became de Gruchy property.

Notes and references

1. ↑ Translates as Geese Bridge House
2. ↑ Although references are often found for the house with this name, it is not original. The house was previously called Le Pont es Oies, and renamed Greenfield by the de Gruchy owners early in the 20th century to facilitate their dealings with the Covent Garden market in London. It is not Greenfields, as shown in the Datestone Register
3. ↑ Also known as Rue du Pont ès Ouaies and Pont ès Oies
4. ↑ Not IC as recorded by Joan Stevens

Pont es Oies in 1890. The new wing on the left had just been completed

The de Gruchy family in 1890: Jean Josue, his wife Emily, and their children John, Amelia and Mary Jane. Jean Josue's father Jean is on the right in his working clothes