The Jolly Family of Saintonge
Seigneurs de Chadignac
Research Notes and Timeline
Jolly Arms
Saintonge
Jehan (Jean) Jolly (died c. 1599) is cited in French archives (1J 115, ADCMLR), a research article: H. Patry “Une Chronique de L’Etablissement de la Reforme: A Saint-Seurin-d’Uzet en Saintonge,” Bulletin Historique et Litteraire (Society de l’Hisotire du Protestantisme Francais) 50, (15 Mars 1901), 135-157 (at jstor.org), and a reference in the Bulletin de Saintonge et d’Aunis (1898), 166 (copy in the files of LHL). Jehan is also cited on websites devoted to the documented history of the noble houses he acquired: Suire Yannis, Region Poitou-Charentes, Inventaire du patrimoine culturel and Bulletin de la Société des Archives historiques de la Saintonge et de l’Aunis, 1880, t. 7, 455. These sources use the Jehan variant of his name, and variously identify him as Sieur de Pommiers, Sieur de Saint-Denis, and Sieur de Chadignac. Jehan’s Protestant identity is confirmed by his advocacy for early Protestantism in Saintonge and his participation as sponsor in two Protestant baptisms in 1563 (H. Patry, 143, 155, and 156). A 1565 record lists Jehan’s wife as Hely Louverot. Another source lists Claire Brebant as one of his wives with whom he had a son Philippe who started the Joly d’Aussy family line, and that he was a captain serving under the Sieur de Plassac (gw.geneanet.org). This source lists Jehan having five children by Madeleine Grelaud: Charles, Jehanne(Jeanne), Jehan, Jacques, and Marie. It also states that Jehan’s daughter Marie was married in 1597 to Jean D’Abillon, was Dame de la Laigne in Asnieres-la-Giraud, and died in 1631. The 1576 record for the purchase of the Chateau de Chadignac lists Jehan’s position as “clerk for the financial jurisdiction of Saintonge and La Rochelle.” He is identified as the deceased Jean Joly in a 1601 marriage contract signed by his widow, Madeleine Grelaud, in Saintes for the marriage of their daughter Jeanne Joly (died 1633) to Jacob de Queux (died 1624) in the Saint-Hillaire a Soubise archives in France. This record can be accessed online at www.socgeo-rochefort.fr/document/fichiers/520. This source also confirms Jean’s position in Saintonge, but does not give any of his titles. A leading late nineteenth-century English genealogist, Henry Wagner, lists Jehan Jolly, Sieur de Saint-Denis, as the first Seigneur de Chadignac, serving in that role from 1565 (eleven years before he purchased the estate) to 1599. Wagner lists Jehan’s widow as Magdeleine Creland, who served as proprietaire of Chadignac from 1599 to 1629. In typical nineteenth-century fashion, Wagner did not list his sources, but many of his conclusions are confirmed by the sources cited above. His listing of the Joly d’Aussy family as the current chef de famille of the Joly de Chadignacs in France suggests he may have corresponded with members of the family there and/ or been aware of the similarity of their armorial crests. Wagner’s research conclusions are archived in the Jolit family file in the Huguenot Library, University College London (now housed at the British National Archives) and cannot presently be accessed online though the Huguenot Library is gradually digitizing some of its collections (copy in the files of LHL).
Jehan Jolly’s title, Sieur de Pommiers, suggests a possible connection with the Jolly de Loudun and Joly de Bammeville families who are subjects of research papers archived in SHPF and French language articles published by the Bulletin of the Société de L’Histoire du Protestantisme Francais and P. L. Coyne, Dictionaires des Familles Protestantes en Bordeaux (copies in the files of LHL). The interest of these French researchers was likely generated by the prominence of the Joly de Bammeville family as wealthy nineteenth-century Protestant industrialists. These research materials (most of which are not currently available online) trace the early records of the Jolly family in Loudun where a Jean Jolly and his brothers Guyot and Pierre are documented in 1529. Members of this family are found later in La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Saintonge villages not far from Cozes, and Saint Quentin in Picardy. The motivation for the Jolly family move from Loudun to Picardy was clearly taking possession of the wealthy Bammeville estate there. The researchers apparently did not find (or maybe weren’t looking for) a sixteenth-century Jolly presence in Picardy. The presence of the Joly d’Aussy noble family in Soissons a few decades before the Joly de Bammeville migration shows that a Jolly presence in Picardy clearly did exist. The almost identical family crests of the Jolys d’Aussy and Jollys de Chadignac suggest a close relationship may have existed between these families. See www.man8rove.com for information about the Joly d’Aussy family and its crest and gw.geneanet.org for Jehan Jolly as the progenitor of that family. It is reasonable to suppose a long term relationship between the Jollys in the Atlantic provinces and Jolly families in Picardy may have led to the marriage that united the Jolly de Loudun family with the Bammeville family in 1649. In an interesting coincidence, the Jolly de Bammeville family purchased the Chateau de Pommery near Saint Quentin in the eighteenth century, making them Seigneurs de Pommery. But with this estate being more than thirty miles distant from the Picardy commune of Pommiers, any chance of a connection between the properties seems remote. A significant amount of information about the Jolly de Bammeville family and their Pommery estate (now a retirement home) can be accessed online. H. Patry (cited above) reports that a Baptiste Joly and his unnamed brother were included in the proceedings of the Parlement de Guyenne in Bordeaux in 1569. Since both were called Sieur de Pommiers, there would seem to be a connection with Jehan and possibly with Jollys de Loudun in Bordeaux.
So far no primary sources have been identified for Jehan Jolly’s military activities. His role as an officer of Jean de Pons, Seigneur de Plassac, is listed by gw.geneanet.org. Mark Seguin (nicolebertin.blogspot.com) and three websites (jm.ouvard.pagesperso.orange.fr, wikiwand.com, and dewiki.de/Lexikon/Plassac) describe de Pons’ activities as a Protestant military leader in Saintonge and his role as governor of the town of Pons. Given their close geographical proximity and their shared Protestant identity, it is reasonable to conclude that Jolly and de Pons worked together in some fashion during these difficult years of religious conflict.
Jean (Jean Jacques) Jolly II (died c. 1660) has a very slim documentary trail. The Cozes Baptism Register (I-43, ADCMLR) makes no reference to him (suggesting he was deceased by 1655), but identifies his wife as Catherine Philipeau. A Daulnis pedigree chart in the family file archived at SHPF (Daulnis Famille, G 34/D2) lists Jean Jolly as the father of the Judith Jolly who married Francois Daulnis about 1647. The chart identifies Jean as Seigneur de Chadignac married to Marguerite Philipeau. This is the same Judith Jolly who was listed as a sponsor at the 1660 baptism of Charlotte Jolly. This chart identifies Judith Jolly’s four children—sons Francois, Pierre, and Henri (who emigrated to the Netherlands in 1685) and daughter Henriette. This chart and the other items in the Daulnis Famille file are not available online (photo of the chart is in the files of LHL). Information posted some years ago on the Master Genealogist (a genealogy software no longer supported) reports this marriage taking place October 15, 1653, identifying Judith Jolly as the daughter of Jean Jacques Jolly, Sieur de Chadignac, and Catherine Philipeau. Jehan Jolly is listed as Seigneur de Chadignac and husband of Catherine Phippeau in gw.geneanat.org. This source also identifies him as Sieur La Pierre d’Anguy and Les Naux and a gentlemen of the king’s chamber. I have not found any other documentation for a Jehan, Jean, or Jean Jacques Jolly of this generation and Henry Wagner made no mention of him.
Armand Jolly (died c. 1680) is documented by only one citation in the Ch. Dangibaud notary summaries, Minutes de Notaires, C224, ADCMLR. This source states that he was Seigneur de Chadignac in 1673. The broader context provided by other records suggests he was the brother of Charles Jolly and died circa 1680.
Charles Jolly (died 1691) is well documented in a wide variety of sources. Henry Wagner correctly identifies him as Seigneur de Chadignac, but incorrectly names his wife as Jeanne rather than Judith André (though he accurately reports she inherited Vizelle). Having failed to find Jean (Jean Jacques) Jolly, Wagner places Charles Jolly as next in line after Magdeleine Creland gives up her proprietorship of Chadignac in 1629. The most valuable source for identifying Charles Jolly and members of his family in Saintonge is the Cozes Baptism Register. The register is now posted online at the ADCMLR website, but accessing it requires going through multiple screens in French with no index provided. An English language index of the baptism register has been prepared by Isabelle Lamoreaux Holiday Cluff as part of a clumsy translation of the register by Kenn True Garner published online at familysearch.org. The baptism register, covering most of 1656 through 1668, documents the baptisms of eight of the children of Charles Jolly and Judith André (Judith, Jean, Charlotte, Alexandre, Marie, Henriette, Elisabeth, and Jeanne), offering the names and relationships of baptism sponsors including Charles’ mother, Catherine Philipeau, his brothers, Jean Jolly (Sieur des Brousses), Jacques Jolly (Sieur Denfie), and Theolphile Jolly (Sieur Piblau and captain of the grenadiers of the Bourbonnais Regiment), and his sisters, Judith Jolly, Marie Jolly, Susanne Jolly, Elisabeth Jolly, and Jeanne Jolly. The register also identifies two spouses of Charles Jolly’s siblings—Francois Daulnis (Judith) and Ester Jan (Jean). The births of two of Charles and Judith’s children— Charles (1653) and Henry (1655) are not included in the surviving baptism register that begins in 1656 and are archived in a separate document at SHPF (copy in LHL files). The baptism register listing for Catherine Philipeau, the wife of Jean (Jean Jacques) Jolly, does not name her husband as most entries for noble women in the register do—suggesting he was deceased by 1655. The baptism register uses Charles’ title Sieur Desnaux and makes no reference to his relationship with Chadignac—perhaps because he was living at Vizelle (the estate near Cozes he owned through his wife) as his children were born and did not inherit Chadignac until sometime after 1673. Charles Jolly’s title of Seigneur de Chadignac is confirmed by the description of Vizelle posted online in Chateaux, Manoirs, et Logis, Charente-Maritime, éditions association Promotion Patrimoine, Niort, 1993. Another French website, gw.geneanet.org, confirms Charles’ Seigneur de Chadignac title and gives him additional titles: Sieur de Saint-Denis and Sieur Les Ajots in Champagne. This site adds an eleventh child for Charles and Judith—Madeleine the oldest—and lists her marriage to Jean de Livinne in Saintes in 1707. This site also identifies Charles Daulnis as the husband of Charles Jolly’s daughter Judith, listing her death in France after 1711. According to this site, Charles’ brother Theophile died at the Siege of Luxembourg in 1684, his brother Jean was a commissary of the king in 1676, and his sister Judith was baptized in Saintes in 1623 with Jacques Jolly and Judith Vallieres as sponsors. Charles Jolly is also documented in the royal notary records for Saintonge that are archived in ADCMLR and the Ch. Dangibaud notary summaries, Minutes de Notaires, C224, ADCMLR. These records confirm that Charles was living at Vizelle in 1665, that he died in 1691, that his son Jean was one of his beneficiaries, and that his wife Judith André was living at Chadignac in 1692 and was a beneficiary of her mother’s will in 1700. These records are archived in the ADCMLR in La Rochelle and are not available online (copies in LHL files). Charles is also documented in the military honors granted to his son Charles by Louis XIV (cited below).
Charles Jolly II (c.1653—c.1693) is not documented as the Seigneur de Chadignac, but it is reasonable to conclude that he held this title for at least a few years. He was apparently the oldest son of Charles and Judith (and Charlotte’s oldest brother) and was documented in the Cozes Baptism Register as the the sponsor of his sister Jeanne in 1668. In March 1686 he was recognized by Louis XIV for his service as a captain of the Piedmont Regiment and given noble status: Revue de Saintonge et d’Aunis: Bulletin of the Society of Historical Archives, v. 15, 240 (online at books.google.com). At the death of his father in 1691, he would have inherited Chadignac unless he was deceased or in exile. The fact that his younger brother, Jean, was not listed as Seigneur de Chadignac in a 1692 record lends credence to Charles holding the title at that time. By the time that Jean was identified as the Seigneur de Chadignac in a January 1700 record, Charles had either died or fled the country. It is possible Charles was one of the thirteen captains from his regiment who were killed in action at the Battle of Neerwinden in 1693—a French victory over Willian III in the Nine Years’ War.
Jean Jolly III (1658-1743) is documented in the Cozes Baptism Register for his baptism in 1658. He is also listed in the royal notary records and the Dangibaud summary cited above that show he was Sieur de Piblau, was a beneficiary of his father’s estate in 1691, was living at Chadignac near Saintes in 1692, and became Seigneur of the estate by January 1700. In February 1713, Jean became the authorized representative of his mother, Judith André, and Judith Jolly (probably his aunt) according to Revue de Saintonge et d’Aunis: Bulletin of the Society of Historical Archives, v. 15, 240. Jean’s role as Seigneur de Chadignac is confirmed in the online sources cited above that describe the history of Chadignac and Vizelle. These records also state that he married Marrianne Horry and died childless in 1743. The French website, gw.geneanet.org, lists Jean as a colonel of a Saintonge regiment in 1705.
Louis Daulnis became the Seigneur de Chadignac in 1743. The available records do not provide a clear picture of the relationship of Louis Daulnis to Jean Jolly, but he was almost certainly a relative and a descendant of Jehan Jolly. The online source for the Chateau de Chadignac (Chateaux, Manoirs, et Logis, Charente-Maritime, éditions association Promotion Patrimonies, Niort, 1993) identifies Louis Daulnis as a nephew of Jean Jolly—possibly the son-in-law of his older brother, Charles, or a son of one of his sisters (maybe Judith who married Charles Daulnis according to gw.geneanet.org). Henry Wagner listed Louis Daulnis as the next Seigneur de Chadignac and identified him as the husband of Susanne Jolly. Jean Jolly also had three aunts who married Daulnis men—Judith (Francois Daulnis), Magdelaine (Charles Daulnis), and Susanne (Louis Daulnis)—so he had many Daulnis relatives. Jean’s aunt, Susanne Jolly, immigrated to England and was a widow when her grandson Louis Daulnis was born in the Huguenot exile community in Portarlington, Ireland in 1704. If he chose to return to France to become Seigneur de Chadignac, he would not have been the only Huguenot born in exile to make that decision. Some of the Jolly-Daulnis relationships are documented in the Daulnis family file at SHPF and T. P. Le Fanu, ed., Registers of the French Church at Portarlington, Ireland, vol. 19, 44.
Military honors granted by Louis XIV in March 1686 to Charles Jolly, older brother of Charlotte Jolly Bertrand
“Letters confirming the granting of noble status by the king at Versailles (March 1686) for Charles Joly de Chadignac, captain of a company of the Piedmont regiment, son of Charles Joly, in consideration of his services and those of his uncle, Theophile Joly du Piblau, captain of grenadiers of the Bourbonnais regiment. Arms: Azure with gold chevron accompanied by three silver shamrocks, 2 and 1. Crown of a count; supported by two savage mace weapons (the translation from the French by LHL).” Revue de Saintonge et d’Aunis: Bulletin of the Society of Historical Archives, v. 15, 240.
Note on Jolly Heraldry
Henry Wagner’s late nineteenth-century description of the Jolly de Chadignac arms is consistent with the record cited above: “Azure a chevron with three shamrocks, two and one.” Wagner also lists the Joly d’Aussy family as closely related to the Jolly de Chadignacs. This is confirmed by the similarity of the Joly d’Aussy crest, also consisting of a gold chevron on azure with three silver shamrocks. The fact that this crest is very similar to one of the many Bertrand crests could suggest that the some of the Bertrands were related to these families, though the surviving fragment of a William Bertrand seal in Virginia offers a very different kind of image. The Jolly de Bammeville crest is quite different, but is displayed with a crown that may be like the one referenced in Charles Jolly’s military honors.
Joly de Bammeville
Picardy
Jolly de Chadignac Family Timeline
Circa 1550
Jehan Jolly acquires the Pommiers estate near the Saintonge town of Jonzac in southwest France and becomes Sieur de Pommiers.
1560
Jeanne d’Albret, Queen of Navarre in southwest France, embraces the Protestant faith.
Circa 1560
Jehan Jolly acquires Saint-Denis near Chenac-Saint-Seurin d’Uzet on the Gironde River and assumes the title of Sieur de Saint-Denis.
1562
The Duke of Guise massacres Protestant worshipers in the town of Wassy setting off a series of “Wars of Religion” pitting Catholics against Protestants.
1563
Jehan Jolly, Sieur de Pommiers and Sieur de Saint-Denis, serves as sponsor in two Protestant baptisms in Saint-Seurin-d’Uzet.
1565
Jehan Jolly purchases the Chateau des Salles and the Port Maubert near Saint-Fort-sur-Gironde.
1572
At the death of Jeanne d’Albret her son Henry of Bourbon becomes King of Navarre. On August 18 Marguerite of Valois, sister of Charles IX, is married in Paris to Henry of Bourbon, King of Navarre and the highest ranking Protestant prince. On August 24, St. Bartholomew’s Day, the Protestant military leader Gaspard Coligny is killed in his home in Paris and a general massacre of Protestants ensues and spreads to other towns.
1573
A royal army fails to subdue the Protestant defenders of La Rochelle after a long siege: the citizens subsequently demand and receive freedom of worship in the city.
1576
Jehan Jolly, Sieur de Saint-Denis and clerk of the financial jurisdiction of Saintonge and La Rochelle, purchases the Chateau de le Grande Chadignac near Saintes to become the Seigneur de Chadignac.
1587
On October 20 Henry of Navarre leads his Huguenot army into battle chanting the 118th Psalm for a great victory at Coutras in southwest France.
1593
Henry of Navarre assumes the French throne as Henry IV and adopts Catholicism to unify the nation and consolidate his authority as king.
1598
Henry IV issues the Edict of Nantes, extending important political and religious rights to the Huguenots, and bringing stability to the kingdom.
Circa 1599
Jehan Jolly, Seigneur de Chadignac, dies and his widow Madeleine Grelaud becomes proprietaire of Saint-Denis and Chadignac.
1615
N. Bertrand becomes minister of the Protestant Church in Saint-Jean-d’Angle in Saintonge.
1628
After a long siege resulting in the deaths of most of its inhabitants, the Protestant city of La Rochelle falls to the forces of Cardinal Richelieu and begins its new existence as a Catholic city.
Circa 1630
Jean Jolly, son of Jehan Jolly, is Sieur de Saint-Denis and Seigneur de Chadignac.
Circa 1640
Abraham André, merchant and Huguenot elder in Saujon, and his wife Jeanne Richier purchase the Vizelle manor near Cozes.
1650
Paul Bertrand, son of N. Bertrand, becomes pastor of the Protestant Church of Cozes.
Circa 1654
Charles Jolly, son of Jean Jolly, acquires Vizelle through his marriage to Judith André, daughter of Abraham André and Jeanne Richier. Charles’ brother Jacques Jolly, Sieur Denfie, assumes control of Saint Denis.
1660
In February Paul Bertrand baptizes Charlotte Jolly, daughter of Charles Jolly and Judith André.
In August Paul Bertrand dies in Cozes, leaving a wife, Marie André, and two sons, Jean (age nine) and Paul (age three).
1661
Jean Jolly continues to be identified as Seigneur de Chadignac.
Circa 1670
Jeanne Richier, grandmother of Charlotte Jolly, acquires the estate of La Grosse Pierre near the town of Arces a few miles south of Cozes.
1673
Armand Jolly, brother of Charles Jolly, is identified as Seigneur de Chadignac.
1676
Jean Jolly, Sieur des Brousses and brother of Charles Jolly, is a commissary of Louis XIV.
1677
Jean Bertrand, son of Paul and a Huguenot minister, immigrates to England and is re-ordained into the Anglican ministry.
Pierre Jolly, military officer of Louis XIV and son of Jacques, assumes control of Saint-Denis.
Circa 1678
Charles Jolly, father of Charlotte, becomes Seigneur de Chadignac.
1681
Paul Bertrand, brother of Jean, and his mother Marie André immigrate to England.
1684
Theophile Jolly, Sieur Piblau and brother of Charles Jolly, is killed at the Siege of Luxembourg while serving as captain in the army of Louis XIV.
1685
Louis XIV outlaws Protestant worship, orders the destruction of all Huguenot churches in France, and threatens harsh punishment to Protestants caught trying to leave France. Charlotte Jolly and her siblings Henry, Marie, and Elizabeth, flee to England.
1686
In September Charlotte Jolly marries Jean Bertrand in London.
In October Charlotte’s brother Charles Jolly II is recognized by Louis XIV for his service as captain in the Piedmont Regiment of the French army and granted noble status.
By the end of the year Charlotte Jolly’s parents (Charles Jolly and Judith André) and siblings remaining in France (Madeleine, Charles, Jean, and Alexandre) abjure their Protestant faith in order to retain their land and titles.
1687
Charlotte Jolly sails for Virginia where her husband, John Bertrand, will serve Anglican parishes in the Rappahannock region.
1689
Suzanne Jolly, daughter of Jacques and sister of Pierre, signs an agreement to lease land at Saint-Denis with the local Catholic priest serving as a witness.
1691
With the death of Charles Jolly, his son and Charlotte’s brother Charles Jolly II, apparently becomes Seigneur de Chadignac.
1692
Charlotte Jolly’s mother Judith André sells vine cuttings from Chadignac to a grain merchant. Charlotte Jolly and John Bertrand purchase a Lancaster County, Virginia plantation on the Rappahannock River.
1700
Charlotte Jolly’s brother Jean Jolly is identified as Seigneur de Chadignac following the death or emigration of their brother Charles. Jean Jolly has possession of Vizelle.
1701
John Bertrand dies in Lancaster County, Virginia, leaving the Rappahannock River plantation to his son William (age 13) with Charlotte as the administrator.
1721
Charlotte Jolly dies in Lancaster County, Virginia.
1743
At the death of Jean Jolly, Chadignac goes to Louis Daulnis and Vizelle passes to Jacques de Livinne, both of whom were either descendants of Jehan Jolly or married to women who were.
