Jex Surname

One Name Study

by Sharon Gray

Please Note Google have changed the method for sharing files It is a very complicated system.  Please email me personally and I will gladly send the files to your email address.

JEX - A work in progress (Always searching!)

There are probably thousands of people who had and have the name JEX in the world and my aim is to try and list them all, well most of them. (I can be over ambitious at times).  According to the Guild of One Name Studies Handbook "A one name study (ONS) is a project researching all occurences of a surname, as opposed to a particular pedigree or descendency" and " it is not just the collection of data the aim is to research the genealogy and family history of all persons with a given surname".  Some ONS researchers do construct family trees but I do not, my data is not set out in "trees" and you will have to construct your own family tree helped by the information posted here, I list births, deaths, marriages, children and sources, although there are some ged files attached to the website for you to download if wanted. Families are colour coded where possible and reference numbers of other family members are listed when known. This is a registered study with the Guild of One Name Studies.

I will try to help anyone that contacts me with a JEX query.  I can't promise anything, but hopefully, I will be able to supply you with various information on JEX people that will enable you to trace your line of JEX's, or to break through a brick wall.  This site is meant for JEX people all over the World to access and to use the information in it for their own research purposes, and I hope you will enjoy the experience. Feel free to contact me to discuss or request information on my JEX research.  Please help by contacting me if you know of any people past and present, in any country with the name JEX.  Any information on JEX you have can be forwarded to me at sdgray22@googlemail.com and it will be gratefully received.  Rob Jex who had started to study the JEX name many years ago, has now joined me,  and we are slowly integrating his research into the website and database.

It is said by some that the JEX name originates in Norfolk, England, and one theory is that the name came from two brothers, who came over to England with the Normans in 1066 to conquer the English.  When the battle was won the two JACQUES brothers were awarded land in Woodbastwick in Norfolk, for their part in the success.  Another theory says that the first time the JEX name was found on documents was in Yorkshire in Nether Silton as Lords of the Manor in 1086, however there are other theories for the origin of the name some are below, and each JEX researcher must make their own minds up until proof is found. 

The Internet Surname Database at http://www.surnamedb.com/surname.aspx?name=Jex says "This interesting surname is of early medieval English origin, and is a surname formed from either one of two male given names, Jacob or John. Jacob derives from the Hebrew "aqob" meaning "supplanter" or, "following-after". In the Bible, this is the name of the younger twin brother of Esau, who took advantage of the latter's hunger and impetuousness to part with his birthright "for a mess of potage". The forename James is of identical origin, and both appear as "Jacobus" in the Latin. The Old French given name "Jacques", the usual French form of "Jacobus", was introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066, and was Anglicized variously as "Jake", ""Jex", Jacke" and "Jeke". The personal name John derives from the Hebrew "Yochanan" meaning "Jehovah has favoured (me with a son)". The popularity of this name throughout Europe is borne out by the wide variety of diminutive and pet forms it generated, including Jakke, Jak and Jack. One Petrus filius (son of) Jake was noted in the 1195 Pipe Rolls of Cornwall. The surname is first recorded in the mid 13th Century (see below) and William Jake was a witness in the Assize Court Rolls of Cambridgeshire (1260). One of the earliest settlers in the New World was John Jex (27 yrs.), who departed from the Port of London, aboard the "Amitie", bound for St. Christopher's in the Barbados, in October 1635. A Coat of Arms granted to the family is a shield divided per saltire silver and black, with two green leaves in pale and two gold acorns in fesse, the Crest being a green pear tree, fructed gold. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Jagge, which was dated 1251, in the "Chartulary of Ramsey Abbey", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax" 

The theory is that anglicised, JACQUES became JECKES and JECKS and many other varients, and then eventually some of them became JEX.  The facts are that the JEX line was spread all over Norfolk in the next few hundred years, and then in the 18th Century burst out into the World.  There are JEX families in Australia, Canada, America, Belize and many other Countries I have yet to discover.  My Line has been traced back to a place called Thorpe next Norwich, otherwise known as Thorpe Episcopi,  a picture of the church is below.  Many other lines have been traced back to various places in Norfolk.  The JEX name has also been used in many double barrelled names and I will also try to list those such as JEX-BLAKE

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