Origins of surname
It comes as no surprise to learn that surname experts believe that this name is linked to the bird, but in what way? Perhaps it simply means someone who owned or looked after pigeons. Perhaps it is a nickname for someone thought to be gullible, as some suggest is one of the bird's traits.
These theories are complicated somewhat by the knowledge that the surname was in existence at a time when the French did not call pigeons, pigeons, but colombards - hence the pigeon houses attached to Jersey manor houses are known as colombiers, not pigeonniers. But young pigeons have apparently always been pigeonneaux to the French, so the surname is conveniently linked to this word.
There is another theory to explain the name's existence in England in medieval times. It is suggested that the surname may have arisen from a medieval nickname 'Petyion' from pety for small and 'John', together meaning Little John.
Early records
The name first appears in Jersey records at the beginning of the 19th century and baptism records suggest that in the 1820s there were two different, and perhaps unconnected, families in St Clement and St Helier.
Variants
- Pigeon
- Pidgeon
- LePigeon
Family records
Family trees
Church records
- Pigeon baptisms in Jersey
- Pigeon marriages in Jersey (groom)
- Pigeon marriages in Jersey (bride)
- Pigeon burials in Jersey
Great War service
- Arthur Pigeon (1888- ) Mercantile Marine, no local records or established local link
- Edwin Alfred Pigeon (1889- ) (St H) son of Philip and Sophie Billot, Private RJGB
- George Pigeon (1884- ) Mercantile Marine, local connection uncertain
- Joseph Alfred Henry Pigeon (1898- ) (St H) son of Joshua Joseph and Julia Matilda, Bombardier RGA
- Walter James Philip Pigeon (1900- ) (St H) son of Walter George and Hanna Mary Jane Guppy, Private RAF
Family wills
These wills created by members of the Pigeon 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
- Francis Pigeon of 3 Colombus Street, St Helier - 20 July 1945, D/Y/A/113
- Edwin Pigeon, Sussex House, Clarence Road, St Helier - 3 December 1948, D/Y/A/120
Burial records
Rogue's gallery
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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