The Jay family was a Huguenot family that fled persecution after the revocation of the Treaty of Nantes - fleeing first to England and then the sons on to America (initially Virginia). The father Pierre died in Bristol, England. The family originated in the Castle Montenneau in the Poictou Provence of France. The ancestors of the American Jays settled in La Rochelle, France. Pierre (Peter) Jay was a wealthy merchant of that city. Pierre Jay married Judith Francois and the births of their three sons are registered in the Registre de Baptemes of the Temple of Ville Neuve at Rochelle (folios 133-166-203) - Pierre, b. May 3, 1663; Isaac, b. March 26, 1664; and Augustus, b. March 23 1665.
Augustus Jay (d. 1751) finally settled in New York City. In 1697 he married Anna Maria Bayard, a daughter of Baltazar Bayard and Anna Lockermans.
John Jay (Chief Justice of the US) was a grandson of Augustus Jay and was married to Sarah van Brugh Livingston.
