Jean Poingdestre 1609-1691

Great Half-Uncle to our American immigrant, Jean was a learned man, Latin Secretary to Charles l. He served as Lt. Bailiff for Jersey after the English Civil War and Charles ll was restored to the thrown.

The original painting has a rip in the face. Legend says that a Parliamentarian mistook it for a painting of Charles and slashed it with his sword. The painting has recently returned to Jersey by a private owner.

See Page 29 of the Landers book for a thesis about Jean and Pages 97, 98 and 100 of "All for the King". In "All for the King" we learn about Jean's involvement as a Royalists in protecting Charles ll after his father was beheaded. Also see a biographical sketch of Jean Poingdestre by Howard Poindexter (you will leave the PDA web site with this link).

Portrait is circa 1635 (Landers, p. 35), prior to the civil war in England. The black mark on his cheek is said to be from a Parliamentarian mistaking the portrait to be that of the King and stuck his sword through it.

 Jean Poingdestre's publications:

• Caesarea - A Discourse of the Island of Jersey
  A manuscript written by Jean Poingdestre in the latter half of the 17th Century (1600's), after the Restoration of Charles ll to the thrown. This manuscript is an interesting insite to life on the Isle of Jersey in the 17th Century and his views of the island's history.
• Other manuscripts written by Jean can be found at the Societie library and in various collections at universities in England. Some of these are written in Norman French, Greek and Latin.

 Additional information about Jean:

• Jersey Law Review
  June 1998, published a biography on Jean, in French (or perhaps Jerriaise and is found on the web site of the Jersey Legal Information Board.
  • Original French, link to the Jersey Legal Information Board
  • Translated, we ran te web page through Google's translator and made this PDF. The translation is rough and the reader is advised to not expect an exact translation. Those experienced in Jersey history of the 17th Century will recognize the translation errors.