De Carteret

This is a well known and well recorded surname of the Channel Isles, and specifically the Isle of Jersey. The Channel Islands formed part of the original Dukedom of Nomandy, from which Duke William, later known in history as "The Conqueror", set out on his famous expedition to seize England in 1066. Although the dukedom was eventually lost to France, the islands have always remained British, a situation which for various reasons the French have accepted. The surnames in the island are a combination of 'native', early French, 17th century Huguenot French, and British origins. This one is arguably French and possibly Huguenot, but it is not a surname which appears to be recorded in surviving French church registers at all, at least not before the 18th century, and not in this spelling. However French registers are notoriously erratic. The majority of the pre 1750 registers were destroyed in the Revolution of 1789 - 1794, when the church itself, and religion was banned. Nethertheless the surname appears to originate from the same pre 10th century Olde French root as the surname 'de Chatelet', meaning 'one who lives by the fort', or from a place of the same or similar spelling. Examples of early recordings in the Channel Islands include: Elie, the daughter of Elier and Marie de Carteret, christened at Grouville, on January 17th 1634, and Ann, the daughter of Amice de Carteret, christened at Trinity, on September 7th 1642.