Origin of Surname
The name is derived from the baptismal name Nicolas. The family has been established in Jersey and Guernsey for many centuries.
Early records
This is a large Jersey family of long standing, one branch of which has been in Jersey since the 13th century or earlier. G.F.B. de Gruchy believed "it is probably a form of the Christian name Nicholas".
The earliest mention of the name to have survived is in the 1274 Extente, with Guillaume Nicolle in St Peter. In that of 1331, holding land, were Pierre, Raoul and Thomas Nicolle in St Brelade, Colin in St Mary, and Colin in St Martin, in which parish the surname became numerous.
In 1338, Philippe, Philippe junior, and Pierre Nicolle were archers at the Castle.
A distinct family arrived from Cornwall, in England, in the 15th century, when John Nichol was appointed Master Porter at Mont Orgueil and Bailiff in 1494. His descendants adopted the local spelling. The Armorial of Jersey, however, states that the Master Porter`s family, Nicoll of Penrose, was of Guernsey origin, in which Island the surname is also long-established.
The Jersey Chantry Certificate of 1550 contains 11 Nicolles.
- Guillotine Nicolle was born in Jersey in 1410
Payne's Armorial of Jersey
This family has no connection with the ancient Seigneurs of Longueville, of the same name, but appears to have existed in the island from the period of the disjunction of the Channel Islands from the Duchy of Normandy.
In 1331, Colin Nicolle held two bouvees of land in the Parish of Saint Martin, and one in that of Saint Mary, while Thomas Nicolle held a bouvee in Saint Brelade, as appears by the Extente of that year.
The name is found, too, at a remote period in Guernsey, one of the earliest Bailiffs of that island being of this family. Hence springs the branch of Nicol of Penrose, county Cornwall, as appears by Lysons, and also by a pedigree of the Cornish section exemplified in the Harleian MSS., No. 1051.
The original branch of this house, so long settled in its ancestral Parish of Saint Martin, and co-representing most of the influential families of the island, is there represented by Edwin Henry Nicolle, eldest surviving son of the late Frederick Nicolle, surgeon; a younger branch, descended from a member of the parent stock, who settled in Grouville, and whose descendants were subsequently located for several generations in the Parish of Saint John, is represented by Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Nicolle (pictured), of Midvale, Saint Helier.
Variants
- Nicolle, 1331
- Nichole, 1402
- Nycolle de La Cornee 1477
- Nicole 1309
- Nicoll
- Nichol
Family records
Family trees
All our Nicolle trees were reviewed in 2019 and, although some questionable relationships were confirmed, and others amended, there still remains more doubt and discussion over some Nicolle trees than those of any other family. Inconsistencies undoubtedly remain to be corrected
- Descendants of Drouet Nicolle (1415-1468)
- Descendants of Guillaume Nicolle (1560)
- Descendants of Denis Nicolle (1649)
- Descendants of Edouard Nicolle and Elizabeth Baudains
- Descendants of Jean Nicolle (1518- )
- Descendants of Josue Nicolle
- Descendants of Mathieu Nicolle
- Descendants of Edouard Nicolle and Jeanne Neel
- Descendants of Edouard Nicolle and Jeanne Neel - 2 A second version of this tree from a Canadian source
- Descendants of Jean Nicolle and Marie Aubin
- Descendants of Mathieu Nicolle - 2
- Descendants of Jean Nicolle and Francoise Machon
- Descendants of Edmond Nicolle
- Descendants of Philippe Nicolle and Marie Horman, now taken back three further generations to Jean Nicolle and Marie Duheaume
- Descendants of John Nichol, the separate family mentioned above, which arrived in the 15th century NEW
- Descendants of Philippe Nicolle
- Descendants of Pierre Nicolle
- Nicolle of St Martin Added 2022
Church records
- Nicolle baptisms in Jersey
- Nicolle marriages in Jersey (groom)
- Nicolle marriages in Jersey (bride)
- Nicolle burials in Jersey
Biographies
- Jean Nicolle, Bailiff of Jersey
- Hostes Nicolle, Bailiff of Jersey 1561-1564
- Jean Nicolle, Jersey Viscount
- Edmund Toulmin Nicolle
- John Whitley Nicolle, died in German camp
- Laura Nicolle, nee Beatty, and her sister Anna
- Bailiff Hoste Nichol and Longueville Manor
Société Jersiaise Library records
- Bertram records in La Société Jersiaise Library, including references to members of the Nicolle family Added 2018
Newspaper records
- Philip and Edward Nicolle appointed to reservoir planning committee in 1848
- Edward Nicolle involved in meeting concerning reform of the States in 1848
- Philip Nicolle appointed St Helier Roads inspector in 1848
- Philip Winter Nicolle raised issue of growing number of paupers
- Frederick La Cloche Nicolle was granted 12 shillings damages by the Royal Court in a dispute over vraic in 1848
- 1920 Evening Post report of a fire at Major Nicolle's property, Thornton Hall
Great War service
Family wills
Burial records
Emigrants
- James Nicoll's petition for land in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
- Elizabeth Nicolle emigrant to Australia
Arms
As borne by the late Frederick Nicolle) : Azure, three crescents, or.
Quartering : Or, in the dexter chief a round shield, azure, charged with a knight on horseback, spear in rest, in full career, all argent, for Bandinel
Gules, three escallops in bend, argent; on a chief of the second, a martlet, sable, for Stallenge
Azure, a bend, argent, between two pelicans' heads, erased, or for Horman
Azure, three crescents, or, a mullet for difference, for Nicolle
Gules, three buckles, or, in chief, a crescent, argent, charged mth a label of three points, for difference, for Mallet
Gules, a fesse, dancette, or, in chief, two roses, argent, for Cornet
Gules, three escallops, or, a fleur-de-lis for difference, for Dumaresq
Sable, three dolphins, embowed, argent, for De Bagot
Argent, three trefoils, slipped, sable, for Payn
Gules, four fusils, conjoined in fesse, a crescent in base, for difference, for De Carteret
Ermines, a cross-bow, in pale, drawn and charged with an arrow, all argent, for Larbalestier
Or, three cherries, gules, stalked, vert, for Messervy
Or, on a chevron, vert, three hawks' heads, erased, of the field, for Crafford
Azure, a chevron between three eagles, argent; a chief, gules, fretty of the second, for Gaudin
Argent, a double-headed eagle, displayed, wings inverted, sable, armed, gules, a mullet for difference, for Collas
Impaling : Argent, a beehive, surrounded with bees, all ppr, for Beatty.
Crest : A falcon, belled, rising, ppr.
Motto: Essorant victorieux
Family homes
- La Biarderie, Trinity
- La Fontaine, Ville a l'Eveque, Trinity
- Ville à l'Eveque, Trinity
- Le Boulivot, Grouville
- Herupe, St John
- Beau Desert, St Saviour
- China Quarry Farm, St Lawrence
- Ashley Court, St John
Occupation curfew cards
Curfew passes issued to Frederick, Henry and Philip Alfred Nicolle during the Occupation as members of the Honorary Police [1]
Family businesses
- Nicolle and Company in Newfoundland
- Jersey merchants at Burgeo, Another article concerning Nicolle and Company
- John Nicolle was a hatter at 12 King Street in the 1830s and '40s
- Charles Nicolle was a grocer at 44 King Street in the 1830s
- Francis Nicolle was a draper at 54 King Street in the 1850s
- Philip Nicolle and his son Philip were drapers at 5 Halkett Place in the 1840s and '50s
- Josephine Nicolle was in business as a milliner at 10 Halkett Place in the 1880s
- Draper Philippe Nicolle was in business at 11 Halkett Place in the 1860s
- Jeanne Nicolle ran a millinery business at 40 Halkett Place in the 1840s, together with her two daughters and a staff of 12
Family album
Click on any image to see the full-size version
The 1911 wedding of William Benest and Mary Nicolle. The picture was taken at China Quarry Farm, St Lawrence
Rogues' gallery
Reginald Sidney Nicolle (24) of St Lawrence was convicted of robbery by the Royal Court in 1913 and sentenced to 12 months prison with hard labour
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
The grave of Great War casualty Reginald Sydney Nicolle Canadian Cemetery No 2 Neuville St Vaast
The grave of Great War casualty Wilfred Hilary Nicolle at Athies Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de Calais
The grave of Great War casualty Clarence Durell Nicolle at at Delsaux Farm Cemetery, Beugny
The grave of Great War casualty James Frederick Nicolle at Almorah Cemetery, St Helier
Tips
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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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Notes and references
- ↑ 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