Origin of Surname
Picot is the Normandy word for a turkey, which suggested to the Rev George Balleine that the original holder of the name strutted as he walked. This is the derivation favoured in Normandy, where the family has been most numerous in France.
However, other sources suggest that it was first introduced to England after the Norman Conquest in the form of a personal name "Pic", and later with the added diminutive suffixes of "et" or "ot", it became initially Picot, Pigot and Piket. The original derivation is from the word "pic", meaning sharp or pointed, and it was a common element in words and names, being used for a steep hill, or the use or manufacture of sharp or pointed implements or weapons, or even as a nickname for a tall, thin person.
Early records
The name is found in the Assize Roll of 1309.
Strangely, despite the family having been present in Jersey for some 700 years, it merits only three mentions, as spouses in the family trees of others, in Payne's Armorial of Jersey. The families present in the late 19th century were clearly not sufficiently affluent to pay for inclusion in the publication.
Variants
- Picot 1299
- Picott 1607
- Le Picot 1381
- Le Pikert c1340
- Piquot 1331
- Piket
- Le Pikot 1309
- Le Piket 1299
- Piquet/Picquet - found in family groups with both spellings
- Picquot - only three church records with this spelling
- Pickett - not recognised as a variant in Jersey
- Pikett - not recognised as a variant in Jersey
- Pigott - not recognised as a variant in Jersey
- Piggot - not recognised as a variant in Jersey
- Picott - more likely a spelling error than a variant
- Pykett - not recognised as a variant in Jersey
- Pygot - not recognised as a variant in Jersey
Family trees
Family trees
- Descendants of Josue Picot (1690)
- Descendants of Thomas Picot and Rachel Gallichan
- Descendants of Jean Picot and Sara Hubert
- Descendants of Jean Picot and Marie Dorey
- Descendants of Moyse Picot and Marie Baudains
- Descendants of Abraham Picot of St Martin
- Descendants of Hiou Picot
- Descendants of Clement Picquet
- Descendants of Hugh Picot Added 2016
- Descendants of Nicoll Picot Added 2018
- Descendants of Josue Picot Added 2018
- Descendants of Jean Picot Added 2019
- Descendants of John Picot Added 2020
- Descendants of Philippe Picot Added 2021
Church records
Picot
- Picot baptisms in Jersey
- Picot marriages in Jersey (groom)
- Picot marriages in Jersey (bride)
- Picot burials in Jersey
Piquet
- Piquet baptisms in Jersey
- Piquet marriages in Jersey (groom)
- Piquet marriages in Jersey (bride)
- Piquet burials in Jersey
Family histories
- John Piquet, botanist
- John and Jeanne Picot, emigrants to the USA Added 2018
Great War service
- Picot and Piquet family members who served in World War 1
- Presentation to Company Sergeant Major George Piquet at Town Hall
Family wills
Burial records
Family homes
- La Francheville, Grouville
- Rock Vale, Trinity
- Mayfield, Trinity
- Balmoral Terrace, St Helier
- No 4 Beresford Street, the Picots had businesses here in the 19th and early 20th century and members of the family lived above the shop
Occupation curfew cards
Curfew passes issued to Charles and John Picot during the Occupation as members of the Trinity Honorary Police [1]
Family businesses
- Joshua Picot ran a school at 26 Queen Street in the 1830s
- Tailor Daniel Picot was at 7 Broad Street in the 1860s
Family album
A Picot baby photographed by Ernest Baudoux
William Picot was born in Grouville in 1857 and emigrated to Australia at the age of 19. He was the son of John and Elizabeth, nee Bertram. There are records showing him as William Arthur Wallace Picot, born in Cornwall, which appear to be a complete invention. A descendant's research has so far been unable to substantiate the family legend that he was a member of a ship's crew and jumped ship in Adelaide, before making his way to Melbourne
The Rev Charles Picot, born in 1840, wrote racy stories and tales of ghosts and witchcraft in the early 20th century under the pseudonym C du Mont. He wrote in the eastern Faldouet dialect of Jèrriais . This dialect, which probably died out in the mid-20th century, is notable for the 'z' sound which replaces the 'th' or 'r' found in the centre and west of the island.
... exactly 100 years later, a last chance to write to a Jerseyman serving in the Royal Navy in World War 2. A week after this letter was sent the Germans invaded and the island was sealed off from the outside world
Family gravestones
Click on any image to see a larger version. See the Jerripedia gravestone image collection page for more information about our gravestone photographs
Tips
The church record links above will open in a new tab in your browser and generate the most up-to-date list of each set of records from our database. These lists replace earlier Family page baptism lists, which were not regularly updated. They have the added advantage that they produce a chronological listing for the family name in all parishes, so you do not have to search through A-Z indexes, parish by parish.
We have included some important spelling variants on some family pages, but it may be worth searching for records for a different spelling variant. Think of searching for variants with or without a prefix, such as Le or De. To search for further variants, or for any other family name, just click on the appropriate link below for the first letter of the family name, and a new tab will open, giving you the option to choose baptism, marriage or burial records. You will then see a list of available names for that type of record and you can select any name from that list. That will display all records of the chosen type for that family name, and you can narrow the search by adding a given name, selecting a parish or setting start and end dates in the form you will see above. You can also change the family name, or search for a partial name if you are not certain of the spelling
The records are displayed 30 to a page, but by selecting the yellow Wiki Table option at the top left of the page you can open a full, scrollable list. This list will either be displayed in a new tab or a pop-up window. You may have to edit the settings of your browser to allow pop-up windows for www.jerripediabmd.net. For the small number of family names for which a search generates more than 1,500 records you will have to refine your search (perhaps using start or end dates) to reduce the number of records found.
New records
Since August 2020 we have added several thousand new records from the registers of Roman Catholic, Methodist and other non-conformist churches. These will appear in date order within a general search of the records and are also individually searchable within the database search form
A--B--C--D--E--F--G--H--I--J--K--L--M--N--O--P--Q--R--S--T--U--V--W--X--Y--Z
Notes and references
- ↑ These cards are held by Jersey Archive. Visit The Archive online catalogue for more information. A subscription may be needed to view some of the site's content