More than 35 international descendants of the Norman Jersey Poingdestre family have travelled to the Island and visited the Lord Coutanche Library at the Société Jersiaise. This year’s group is the largest to have visited Jersey and includes visitors from 10 US states, Canada, Switzerland, and London.
Members of the Poindexter Descendants Association meet annually in the United States. This is not the first visit to the Lord Coutanche Library for Jamie Poindexter and Michele Jacques, organisers of the 2025 Poindexter Tour to Jersey. Indeed, Jamie has been a regular visitor to Jersey and the library since her first trip in 1998.
The visitors were able to view a selection of items from the Lord Coutanche Library’s collection, including Poingdestre family trees – one of which records their ancestor George Poingdestre, who emigrated to Virginia in the 17th century. Research conducted by the group indicates that George Poingdestre has nearly 10,000 descendants in the United States alone.
They were also shown a 17th-century manuscript, Remarques et animadversions sur la coustume reformée de Normandie, written by the prominent Jerseyman Jean Poingdestre, who served as Lieutenant Bailiff of Jersey from 1668 to 1676.
Also on display were two plans showing designs for proposed alterations to Grainville House, the residence of Jean Poingdestre.
Visitors also had the opportunity to browse several books by Jean Poingdestre, including Caesarea, or, a Discourse of the Island of Jersey, Lois et coutumes de l’Ile de Jersey, and Commentaires sur l’ancienne Coutume de Normandie.
They were also able to look through Le Premier Livre de l’Histoire des Isles, also written by Jean Poingdestre – the first true work of Channel Islands historiography – recently transcribed and translated into English by Neil Molyneux and published by the Société Jersiaise.
