The Rectors of St Ouen - Part 2

The noticeboard at St Ouen's Church gives a bare bones list of past rectors of the church, but behind each is a story. Buried in a 1916 Bulletin, in French, are details which add flesh to the bar bones of that list. Francis Le Cornu has very kindly provided me with a new translation of that article.

The Rectors of St Ouen - Part 2

1546-1554 Richard Payn

1546-54. Master Richard Payn. Appointed on September 2, 1546, by the Vicar-General of Coutances, on the presentation of Honorable Edward Payn. (See Vol. II of the Bulletins, p. 448). He had not yet, it seems, been consecrated to the Ministry, as he only took orders at the end of the following February. (Ibid. p. 449).

Master Richard Payn was the younger son of Richard Payn of St. Ouen (Attorney-General, 1532, Juror-Justice, 1533-44) and the brother of Edward Payn, who had secured the Benefice of St. Ouen for him. He embraced the Reformation at approximately the same time as Thomas Bertram, Rector of St. Brelade (his brother-in-law), and married before 1552. (Catel 6, f. 44-62). He married a daughter of Michel Sarre, son of Simon Sarre who had been Constable of St. John.

Mr. Richard Payn was deprived of his benefice before June 9, 1554, likely because he had aligned with the Reformation. (Vol. II of the Bulletins, p. 453). Thus deprived of his benefice, it does not seem that he abandoned hope of recovering it, as evidenced by the following act: "1554, August 20: Edward Payn and Pierre le Broc have become and remained pledges body for body and goods for goods for Master Richard Payn. That the said payees will answer to any action. As the Queen's officers intend to focus specifically on what Mr. Richard has said that he hopes to recover his benefice within two years, like others who have already recovered theirs in England" (Ex. Book 3, cited date).

However, Mr. Richard Payn was not to see this hope come true because he died at the end of the year 1556, leaving young children, including a son, Abraham Payn, and a daughter, Sata, who later married Nicolas Syvret. His widow married Geoffrey Le Sebirel. This Abraham Payn married an Englishwoman named Anne Parker, and we wonder if he might be the ancestor of several Payn families that the Jersey Armorial believes to be descended from Abraham Payn of St. Martin, who lived half a century later and, to our knowledge, did not emigrate.

1554-1559 Benois Robin

1554-59 —Benoist Robin. Appointed on June 9, 1554, by the Vicar-General of Coutances, to replace Master Richard Payn. (See Bulletins, Vol. 11, p. 453).

This clergyman was, it seems, the brother of a Pierre Robin, of St. Mary in St. Ouen, as in 1533, Pierre Robin (of St. Mary or St. Ouen) "acknowledged the blood relationship" to Benoist Robin and his "parçonuiers" (parishioners). In 1534, the same people divided the inheritances of Marguerite, daughter of Gringoire Querée, their probable mother. (Heritage 1).

Benoist Robin seems to have withdrawn from public life and died around 1581, at which time Estienne Lorge, in his wife's case, the daughter of Magdolain Robin, claimed half of his inheritances. (Ex. 12).

1565 Thomas Bertram

Circa 1565 — Mr. Thomas Bertram. The name of this minister, without a date, appears in a list of some Rectors from the 16th and early 17th centuries for the parish of St. Ouen, in the Registers of St. Mary, along with the Curé-Rectors for some other parishes. For details about Mr. Thomas Bertram, who was Rector of St. Brelade, see further on in the list of Rectors of St. Brelade.

Here is a copy of a Royal Court Act that shows once again that new religious ideas sometimes met opposition among the people: November 17, 1565: "After the confession of Gratian du Hesulme, who openly confessed before the Justice that he had disturbed the minister standing in the pulpit preaching the word of God to a Sunday congregation that had gathered together inside the church of the said parish to hear the sermon, by profigitious muttering in a loud voice, which greatly incited the people of the said parish. This was not only against the glory and honor of God and his holy commandments but also, by his wicked and perverse means, could have incited one group against the others, which could have led to great inconvenience. Therefore, to set an example to all others of similar behavior, the said Gratian du Hesulme, for his evil and perverse offense against God and the people, is condemned to be whipped today, without any shedding of blood, by the officer appointed to punish wrongdoers and execute sentences of justice on the said malefactors of this island" (Ex. 6, cited date).


1570 M. Pinçon (French Huguenot)

Circa 1570 — Mr. — Pinçon, or Pinchon, former minister of Caen, refugee to Jersey around 1568 due to religious persecution in France. The only reason we have to include him as Rector of St. Ouen is that his name appears in the list mentioned above, which also includes Mr. Bertram.

1576-1598 Pierre de la Place ( French Huguenot )

1576-1598 — Mr. Pierre de la Place. A minister who had fled to Jersey around 1568. He was a native of Angoulême, married Michelle Girard from Normandy, and was the father of five pastors, two of whom were Rectors in Jersey. It is likely that he is the one referred to in Elie Brevint's Journal, where one of the Messieurs de la Place reports "having heard that his grandfather, Mr. Pierre de la Place, sometimes had an egg but no wood to cook it," an allusion to the hardship sometimes faced by refugees.