Origin of Surname
The Le Cronier family is believed by some to have arrived in Jersey as Huguenot refugees in the 17th century. However, in his Derivation of Jersey Surnames George Balleine notes that the name is found in the Extente of 1331 spelt Le Cornier.
He gives the translation 'maker of horn cups and spoons' as the derivation of the name, but this is now thought to be erroneous.
French sources suggest that the name is a variant of Crosnier, a surname from the Loir-et-Cher department of France, derived from the old French crosne, meaning a water hole in a river favoured by fishermen. The suggestion that the name was given to somebody who went fishing in a river.
Early records
There are no Le Croniers in the island today, but those who trace their ancestry to the tree below believe that this family was of Huguenot origin and not connected to the 1331 Le Cornier.
The same tree was included in Payne's Armorial of Jersey, with the clear indication that the first generation of the family arrived in Jersey after the revocation of the Treaty of Nantes.
The family's main claim to fame is that Centenier George Le Cronier, who appears in the same tree, was the first, and so far the only, Jersey Honorary Policeman to be murdered in the course of his duties. He was knifed by the keeper of a brothel whom he was attempting to arrest.
Variants
- Le Cronier
- Cronier
- Crosnier
- Le Cornier, given as a Jersey variant but probably unlikely
Family records
Family trees
Church records
- Le Cronier baptisms in Jersey
- Le Cronier marriages in Jersey (groom)
- Le Cronier marriages in Jersey (bride)
- Le Cronier burials in Jersey
Newspaper records
Family wills
These wills created by members of the Le Cronier family are now held by Jersey Archive. By visiting the archive site and using the names, dates and reference numbers shown here, it is possible to view a copy of each will. You will have to subscribe to the Archive's online service to do this. To find out more about this collection, which covers the period from 1663 to 1980, and how to search for your family's wills there, visit our Jersey wills page
- George Le Cronier 4 April 1846 - D/Y/A/26
- Ernest Le Cronier of Avenue House, Parade Road, St Helier - 19 December 1947, D/Y/A/118
- Hardwick Le Cronier, 16 Queen's Avenue - 24 February 1927, D/Y/A/87
- Harriet Le Cronier, 20 David Place, St Helier May 1918 - 16 January 1923, D/Y/A/83
- Jane Le Cronier, 83 Colomberie, St Helier, widow of John La Cloche - 29 November 1919, D/Y/A/79
- Philippe Le Cronier, bequeaths to the poor of St Helier, £24 of French currency 1 July 1828 - D/Y/A/21
- Charlotte Le Cronier, née Tardis, St Brelade - 15 April 1942, D/Y/A/109
- George Le Cronier, son of Philippe of St Helier, desires to be buried in St Helier's Cemetery, bequeaths to the poor of St Helier, £100 of French currency 8 July 1823 - D/Y/A/19
- Pierre Le Cronier, son of Philippe of St Helier, desires to be buried in St Helier's Cemetery, bequeaths to the poor of St Helier, 30 shillings sterling 17 November 1772 - D/Y/A/12
- Elizabeth Le Cronier of St Helier, widow of William Jolin - 21 April 1881, D/Y/A/41
Burial records
Notable family members
- There are also suggestions, which are so far unsubstantiated, that Charlotte Mary Jane Blayney Campbell Le Cronier (see descendancy above) was governess to the family of the Tzar of Russia.
- Members of the Le Cronier family were privateers. In 1757 Captain Le Cronier commanding Defiance, captured a Swedish prize. They ran the vessel ashore and added 12 feet to the length, a feat requiring a fair knowledge of shipbuilding. Earlier in July-October 1744 nine ships were taken by Le Cronier and Defiance. He returned to the island in 1757 accompanied by two large prizes which he had taken on their voyage from Bordeaux to America.Defiance sailed again and surprised a Swedish vessel valued £8,000. Altogether no fewer than nine prizes valued at £486,440 fell to Le Cronier. Defiance was a 67 ton schooner, owned by Daniel Messervy. Contemporary reports of privateering involving Captain Le Cronier
- The Le Croniers were also involved in the Newfoundland fishery. Peter Le Cronier, Good Friends, 1776-1789; Philip le Cronier, George, 1791. Peter Le Cronier and Co also owned the Reward, captained by P Dolbel. This vessel was registered in Gaspé, so the Le Croniers might also have been involved in the Gaspé fishery.
Family businesses
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
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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
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