Maretts on Jersey

Yes. I found some very interesting Jersey material, and it makes the Marett line potentially quite deep. I also found an Ohio record that appears to match the Francis/Frank Marett in your tree.

What the Jersey records tell us

The Marett surname is genuinely an old Jersey/Norman name, not simply an English surname that happened to arrive in Jersey.

Jersey Heritage says:

• The name is probably Norman and certainly French in origin.

• It is recorded in the 1274 Extente of Jersey as “Mareti.”

• Variant spellings include Maret, Marrett and Marette.

• The 1851 and 1861 Jersey censuses contain both Marett and Marrett, with Marett considerably more numerous.

• Marett families were found in all the parishes of Jersey.

Even more interestingly, the older Jersey genealogical material says the family was established on the island by a very early date. Jerripedia’s summary of Payne’s Armorial of Jersey traces Marets in Jersey to at least the 13th century. It mentions:

• Ranulph Maret, son of Peter Maret, a priest appointed to the rectory of St Helier in 1295.

• Thomas Maret, who by the 1331 Extente held the fief es Ferans in St John.

• A later Francis Marett, Seigneur of Avranches, who became an advocate, Receiver of the King’s Revenues and eventually a Jurat of Jersey, dying in 1702.

• Another Francis Marett, Seigneur of Avranches, who became an advocate and Jurat and died in 1801.

That is a remarkable background, although we should not yet assume your Francis Henry descended from the seigneurial branch. The surname was widespread on Jersey.

And I found your Ohio Francis/Frank

This is particularly useful.

The Huron County, Ohio cemetery survey records:

MARETT, Frank 1875–1933

HOLDEN, Flora 1879–1964

Elsie – DAUGHTER

That is an excellent match for the couple in your tree: Francis Henry Marett (1875–1933) + Flora Pearl Holden (1879–1964).

The same Huron County genealogical material has a Frank H. Marett living in North Fairfield, which fits the geographic context of your family.

So I think we’re now on solid ground concerning the Ohio couple.

The really interesting part: which Jersey Marett family?

This is where I think we can make a substantial breakthrough.

The Jersey Archive has an actual research collection devoted specifically to the Marett family. It contains:

• “Marett giving details of Marett and Maret families by parish”

• “Marett giving details of Marett marriages”

• Marett and Maret family trees and notes

• Research material including extracts from the Cour d’Héritage and Payne’s Armorial of Jersey.

That’s exactly the kind of material we need to find Francis Henry Marett’s parents and then work backward.

And there is another useful clue: Jersey’s records contain numerous Maretts in the 19th century. For example, the Jersey Archive has baptism records for Marett families in St Clement, St Ouen, St Helier, Trinity and other parishes. One 1851 St Clement baptism identifies John Marett, son of George Marett and Jeanne Marett; another identifies Charles John Marett, son of Charles Marett and Elizabeth Le Clercq.

So we’re dealing with a substantial network of Jersey Maretts rather than one isolated family.

One fascinating possibility

There is also a prominent Jersey Marett branch associated with La Haule Manor in St Brelade. Robert Ranulph Marett, the famous Oxford anthropologist, belonged to this family. His family is described as descending from Marets who settled in Jersey from Normandy in the 13th century.

Another branch produced Philip Marett, who emigrated to Boston in the 18th century and became a merchant captain. His descendants participated in the American Revolution and War of 1812.

That doesn’t establish a connection to your Francis Henry yet, but it makes the Jersey Marett story considerably more interesting than simply “French ancestry.”

What I would try next

The key target is:

Francis Henry Marett

born ~1875, Jersey/Channel Islands

died 1933, Ohio

married Flora Pearl Holden (1879–1964)

daughter Hazel Frances Marett (1900–1991)

The crucial record is his Jersey birth/baptism, because that should give us his father and mother. Once we have those two names, we can follow the Jersey parish records backward—probably into the mid-1800s and potentially much farther.

I would particularly look for Francis Henry Marett born 1874–1876, including the variants Francis Marett, Frank Marett, Francis H. Marett, Maret and Marrett, across all 12 Jersey parishes.

And I would not yet attach your family to the famous La Haule/Seigneurial Maretts. The evidence so far establishes that Marett is an ancient Jersey-Norman family and that your Frank Marett is in the Ohio records, but the bridge between the two still needs to be documented.

This is actually looking like a very promising branch to pursue.