Origins of surname
There seems little doubt that this is a name with Viking origins (Thorkil or Thorgils), which is why we have failed to find any reference to it in any of our French sources. It should be borne in mind that most of Jersey`s Old Norse names will have been the result of direct settlement, rather than of later migration from Normandy. G.F.B. de Gruchy writes "Tourgis: a Jersey surname..occurs in place-names in Jersey, and in Alderney in form Torgis. Common in Norman charters as Torgius, Torguis, Turgisus... From Old Norse personal name T(h)ogils for T(h)orgisl," as above.
Early records
This family can be traced in baptism records in the parish of Grouville into the 16th century, being the date of the earliest surviving register. It was also present later in most of the northern parishes.
Earlier records show that the name was present in Jersey in the 13th century. Most of Jersey`s Norse settlers arrived, however, in the 9th century. Documentation was rare, and almost non-existent at that date. In fact, surviving records are infrequent prior to the early 14th century.
Variants
- Tourgis, 1331
- Tourgis dit Piloche 1461
- Turgys, 1299
- Torguis 1329
- Tourguis, 1306
- Turgis, 1299
- Tourgys 1299
Family records
Family trees
It is believed that all the Tourgis family in Jersey have a common ancestor, probably before the earliest church records in 1586, but there are many family baptism and marriage records in the 16th-18th century which it has so far proved impossible to link to these trees or to assemble into further trees
Church records
- Tourgis baptisms in Jersey
- Tourgis marriages in Jersey (groom)
- Tourgis marriages in Jersey (bride)
- Tourgis burials in Jersey
Family wills
These wills created by members of the Tourgis 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
- Marie Tourgis of St John, bequeaths to the poor of the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel of Sion £1, to the Wesleyan Methodist Society £2 for the Pastors of the Society - 2 August 1865, D/Y/A/32
- Clara Tourgis, Coin Hâtain, St Lawrence, widow of Edward Jeandron - 22 November 1940, D/Y/A/107
Family histories
- Marie Tourgis, found guilty of witchcraft
Burial records
Family homes
- Avranches Manor, St Lawrence
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
Mont a l’Abbe cemetery
St John’s Church cemetery
St John’s Church cemetery
Family photograph album
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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
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