Dorey Family of Susan J. Dorey

I am the 6th generation of Doreys in North America. My family immigrated to Nova Scotia, Canada from Jersey, an island in the English Channel, between 1815 and 1816. The family comprised two parents and four children, two more children were born in Nova Scotia. They settled in the port of Arichat on Isle Madame. The children married and had large families, as did their descendants; 10 or more children were the rule for several generations. As the cod fishing industry declined, a number of Doreys moved to Massachusetts, which is where my father was born.

It is believed that Philippe Dorey with wife Elizabeth and children Philip Cyrus, Jane, Elizabeth, and George migrated to Isle Madame with the Janvrin family when they brought some settlers over to establish a fishing industry. The Janvrin family of Jersey played a prominent role in the early history of Arichat and Isle Madame. In 1783, or perhaps even a little earlier, Phillip and Francis Janvrin and Company had set up a fishing establishment at Arichat; by 1820 it was one of the main fishing companies on Cape Breton Island and in the Gaspé it was second in size to the firm of Charles Robin and Company. John Janvrin (1762–1835), younger brother of Phillip and Francis, settled on Isle Madame in the late 1780s. At first he worked with his brothers, but shortly thereafter he founded his own firm, John Janvrin and Company, and went into the fish and retail trade on Cape Breton. On March 13, 1794 John Janvrin was deeded the island that came to be known as Janvrin's Island, about 1000 to 1500 acres; he set up a fishing post there (Janvrin Harbour) and stayed for awhile before returning to Arichat. Later he operated a shipbuilding yard in Arichat and owned some merchant ships, in particular the cutter Providence in 1806. In 1799 the Janvrin brothers were operating a trading vessel, the Lottery, and during the Napoleonic Wars they outfitted privateers. (Privateering meant that a private ship equipped with a letter of marque was able to attack enemy shipping. It was often highly profitable, and was for the Janvrins.)

The Dorey surname is far more common than I knew before I began my genealogy work. There are many other Dorey families today in Canada and America, and in Jersey and England.

Recent discoveries. In summer 2009 I first learned that my grandfather's father had a second family. In November I learned more about these people and have connected with living descendants.

The First Family in North America

Philippe Dorey
born 1753 St. Lawrence, Jersey
died 1847 Arichat, Nova Scotia

second wife Elizabeth Williams
born about 1794 Guernsey
married in Jersey
died 1864 West Arichat, Nova Scotia

Philippe's living children:

Philippe Dorey had two wives and eight children in all. His first wife, Judith LeScelleur, died the day after her fifth child, Elizabeth, was born. Two previous children had died young. Philippe remarried, to Elizabeth Williams, and had three more children. His last child, Caroline, was born in Nova Scotia and died at age 10.

Ancestors

My earliest known Dorey ancestor is Matthieu Dorey, born 1690. My earliest known Le Scelleur ancestor is Jehan Reposey, who lived in 1493. Both lived on Jersey, an island in the English Channel.

Philippe Dorey's parents were Matthieu Dorey (b. 1718) and Elizabeth Le Sueur (b. 1724). Philippe Dorey's first wife was Judith Le Scelleur (1777–1807). This couple had five children, of which two died young and the surviving three emigrated to Nova Scotia with their father and his second wife Elizabeth Williams (1794–1864).

Doreys in Jersey.

Leete Family, the ancestors of Margaret Leet who married Philip Cyrus Dorey and whose father was Andrew Leete (1776–1865). Margaret's great-great-great grandfather was William Leete (1612–1683), the first governor of the Colony of Connecticut and a descendant of William I the Lion, King of Scotland (1143–1214), and of Charlemagne (742–814).

Descendants

Philip Cyrus Dorey

I am a great-great-granddaughter of Philip Cyrus Dorey.

Jane Dorey

Elizabeth Dorey

George Dorey

Ann DOREY

Related Families

• Leete Family of Margaret Leet who married Philip Cyrus Dorey
• Laffords who married several Doreys
• Robertsons who married several Doreys
• Shaws who married several Doreys
• Forests who married several Doreys
• DeCostes who married several Doreys
• Luce and Nicolle who married several Doreys
• ancestry of Mary Elizabeth Gunning who married John James Dorey, my great-grandfather
• Mullins who married Julia Tryphina Dorey

Where They Lived

• History and Geography of Jersey and Nova Scotia
• Janvrins Island 200 Years To Celebrate, an excerpt from the booklet about the Doreys. That booklet contains a lot of information, but not all is accurate.
• Janvrin's Island History.
• Early Commerce in Isle Madame

The Stained Glass Windows in St. John's Anglican Church, Arichat, Nova Scotia

The church has several stained glass memorial windows. One was placed by my Dorey family, one by the Latimer family. While the current church was built in 1895, the windows were likely added between 1905 (the last death of the memorialized persons) and 1910 (the next family death). I do not know who placed the Dorey window, do you?

The Dorey stained glass memorial window has the following inscription:
      "To the Glory of God and in memory of — Wingate, Hattie, Henry, Margaret, Ada, Sophie, Carrie, Willie and Chester Leet Doré."

I believe these people are as follows:

• Wingate: George Wingate Dorey, son of Philip Cyrus Dorey (died 1898)
• Hattie: Henriette Franklin, possibly daughter of Philip Cyrus Dorey (died 1897)
• Henry: Henry James Lafford Dorey, son of George Wingate Dorey (died 1905)
• Margaret: Margaret Leet, wife of Philip Cyrus Dorey (died ?)
• Ada: Ada Ellen Dorey, daughter of George Wingate Dorey (died 1885)
• Sophie: Sophia Julia Dorey, daughter of George Wingate Dorey (died 1887)
• Carrie: Caroline Ann Dorey, daughter of Philip Cyrus Dorey (died 1900)
• Willie: perhaps George William Dorey, son of George Dorey and Charlotte Petitpas (died 1904)
• Chester Leet: likely Ralph Chester Leet Dorey, son of Henry James Lafford Dorey and Janet Robertson who was born 1897

The Latimer stained glass memorial window has the following inscription:
      "Erected by Leah B. Latimer to the Glory of God and in loving memory of Charles F., James F., Jemima S., and Rosina J. Latimer."

I believe these people are as follows:

• Charles F.: Charles Frederick Lattemore, husband of Jane Dorey (died 1838)
• James F.: James Frederick Latimer, fifth child of Charles Frederick Lattemore and Jane Dorey (died 1904)
• Jemima S.: Jemima Allen Shaw, wife of James Frederick Latimer (died 1894)
• Rosina J. Latimer: fifth child of James Frederick Latimer and Jemima Allen Shaw (died 1900)
• Leah B. Latimer: wife of Charles Frederick Latimer, first child of James Frederick Latimer and Jemima Allen Shaw. Her husband died in 1949, so he was still alive when the window was built.

More

CONTENTS:
 References, or where you can find related information
 Notes for the Reader, which explain my documentation formats
 Spelling of Names, which vary for a variety of reasons and make the identification of individuals tricky
 Contact, how to contact me!

References

• St. John's Anglican Church, Arichat records of Doreys provided by a cousin
• Nova Scotia Records is a list of resources on the internet
• Marion G. Turk's The Quiet Adventurers in Canada (published 1979) is a compilation of information on early settlers from the Channel Islands. It also presents the way of life in the Channel Islands and explanations of why those people would immigrate to Canada and, as such, is a lovely history and introduction to genealogists. The information provided by descendants is, however, subject to error.
• How did Nova Scotians travel to and from Massachusetts? They could go overland via New Brunswick or by sea (probably from Halifax or Yarmouth). Historic Roadways describes nine roads between eastern Canada and Maine. The King's Highway followed the coast of Maine from New Brunswick; Boston is less than 100 miles from the southern border of Maine.

Notes for the Reader

Documentation formats. There are three ways in which genealogy is presented. One is a list of descendants where each generation is numbered and indented. The second is a table of people with an ID and everything I know about them. The third is a diagram like the following sample.

ID. In this document, each person has an assigned ID. The ID is a segmented number where each segment is separated by a period. The number of segments indicates the generation. For example, 1.2.3 is a person in the third generation, in particular the third child of 1.2 who is the second child of 1. Spouses are identified with a suffix of "–n" where n is the number of the marriage; for example, 1.2.3 –1 is the first spouse of 1.2.3.
When there is no ID, the relationship of the person to others is unknown; they may not be a relative.

Key dates are specified in MM-DD-CCYY format.

Date abbreviations. abt.: about b.: born bap.: baptized m.: married div.: divorced sep.: separated d.: died bur.: buried

Other abbreviations. Nova Scotia is abbreviated NS. American states are abbreviated with their two-letter postal code. DY means "died young".

Spelling of Family Names

The spellings of family names in Nova Scotia changed from generation to generation and from place to place for a variety of reasons: The co-existence of two languages—English and French—both spoken and written, was one factor. In the 1800s and earlier, most people spoke French and church records were written in French. When a French priest recorded the baptisms of an English family in his native tongue, the names became French. The spelling of names in church and civil records might differ from that of family records like bibles and letters. When the person whose name was being recorded was illiterate (as were many), the name was likely written phonetically and syllables might be dropped. A cultural preference for all things French and a desire to be more Canadian and less European led some to deliberately change their names, either by making them more French or by anglicization. The vagaries of the writer were another factor. And for some the "correct" spelling of a name was not that important.

The Dorey surname was spelled that way in Jersey and when the family members immigrated to Nova Scotia. Later, in Nova Scotia, being French became popular and consequently some Doreys began calling themselves "Doré." Other Doreys became Dory, Dorie, and Doary. There may be other variations.

The Samson surname has several variations: Sancon, Sansom, Sampson, Rancon. Many Samsons added a "p" to their name, making it Sampson; this was common in the communities of L'Ardoise, River Bourgeois, West Arichat, and Louisdale. In Petit de Grat, where French is still widely spoken today, the surname has remained Samson.

Other name variations: Fougere became Frazier, Paté became Pottie, Bon became Bona and Bonin, Devereaux became Deveaux, Boudreaux became Boudrot, Hearn became O'Hearn, Therriau became Terrio, etc.

Contact

Please contact me with corrections and additions or if you're a relative!