Person:Pierre d'Olivier (1)

D'Olivier Family Collected 'MEMOIRS'

In 1755 Daniel Josias Olivier, a great, great grandson of Pierre d'Olivier charged whatsoever dear child of his (and to his descendants) to keep precious "a weighty volume bound in red leather and tooled artistically in gold", containing his collected 'Memoirs' of the Olivier (or d'Olivier) family. This has been transcribed, with additional comments and corrective revisions, by the editors of an 'Address' to the Huguenot Society of America, published by them in 1915 under the following title:^S3

Memoirs | of the Ancient and Worthy Family | “Olivier” | of the City of Nay in Béarn, a Province of | France | Together with its Alliances and Intermarriages | Since the year 1520 | Collected by Daniel Josias Olivier, | Merchant in London | From authentick Papers, Records & Memoirs | in his Possession, and brought down to the present | Year 1755.¹

. . . After fifty pages Daniel Josias Olivier takes up the pen himself.

[ At this point he waxes poetic in his lengthy description of the town of Nay. See the page for Laurent d'Olivier, his four times great grandfather. ] . . . Here, in this unpretending peaceful village, emerges from the mists of years the god-fearing Family of Olivier.

The first of the Family whom I have been able to trace knowledge of [says the writer of the Memoirs] was Laurent Olivier, of Nay, born about the year 1520. In or about 1550 his son Bernard was born, whose son Peter was born about 1575. This Peter in or about 1599 had a daughter whose Christian Name I know not.²

This daughter's name was Izabeau, and instead of being born in the year 1599, she entered the world about a quarter of a century later. No Protestant registers were to be found at Nay by the editor of these Memoirs except one book (G. G. 2) containing baptismal registers from 1618-1667, by which many details ignored by Daniel Josias Olivier are brought to light. By them we learn that Pierre d'Olivier (son of Bernard?) married Judith de Brun. The family of Brun were inhabitants of Nay.

The name of Olivier in the early days of their history was usually spelt d'Oliver or d'Olivé, sometimes even Olive, without the final accent, though this may be a clerical error. Pierre d'Oliver and his wife Judict (sic) stood sponsors on the 5th January, 1625, to Judict, daughter of Ramon d'Ostalot, a native of Jurangon, but living at Nay, and Catherine de Brun his wife, probably her sister's child. They also stood sponsors on the 29th January, 1632, to Pierre de Brun, son of Théophile de Brun and Ester de Formalaguez of Orthez, and on the 19th July, 1643, to Isaac, son of Jordain de Vignau and their daughter Izabeau.

About the year 1600 [says Daniel Josias Olivier] Peter's second child came into the world; and tis supposed another Son who was brought up a Clergyman (his Christian Name I know not) made his first appearance in 1601. His youngest child made hers in 1602, neither does her Christian name stand upon Record.

The registers clear up the ignorance and errors of these statements.

The second son of Pierre d'Oliver and Judith Brun was Isaac, born about 1623 and not 1600. The third was Philemon, baptized on the 23d February, 1625, not 1601. His sponsors were Ramon de Ostalot and Catherine de Brun his wife, whom I take to be the child’s aunt. Ester, the youngest child, was baptized on the 2d July, 1628, not 1602; sponsors, Théophile de Brun (presumably her uncle), the pastor, and Esther de Formalaguez his wife.

I shall now [says Daniel Josias] say something of these four Children of Peter Olivier in their order. . . . . [See each of their 'Person' pages for these details and the continuation of these 'Memoirs'.]

[1] The text of the Memoirs by Daniel Josias Olivier is printed in small type; manuscript copied verbatim.

[2] Comparing dates it would appear that the Pierre of 1575 can scarcely be the Pierre, father of Izabeau, as men rarely waited until the age of circa 50 to marry.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Lart, Charles Edmund Huguenot Pedigrees, Vol 1, p. 60 - OLIVIER.

   London, Saint Catherine Press, 1924-1925 / Reprinted for Clearfield Company, Inc. by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, Maryland 1992, 1995, 1997, 2002
   « OLIVIER
   I. Pierre d'Olivier, son of Bernard d'Olivier, was born 1575, and m. Judith de Brun. They left : (a) Isabeau, b. circ. 1623, m. in 1641 Jordain de Vigneau ; (b) Isaac Pierre, who succeeds, II ; (c) Philemon, bapt. 1625 at Nay in Béarn, m. 2 Dec. 1670 at Salies de Béarn, Sara de Lafitte-Maria, daur of Jean de Lafitte-Maria, sr. de Cassaber, and of Jeanne du Faur. He d. s.p. 1675 ; (d) Esther, bapt. in 1628 at Nay.
   .... »
   > Accessed on books.google.co.uk/

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Burke, John, Esq. & John Bernard, Esq. A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. II – M to Z. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great Marlborough Street. MDCCCXLVII. (1847) p. 963.

   « OLIVIER OF POTTERNE.
   ...
   Lineage.
   LAURENT OLIVIER, of the city of Nay, in the kingdom of France, b. about 1520, was father of BERNARD OLIVIER, of Nay, b. in 1550, whose son, PETER OLIVIER, of Nay, b. about 1575, had, with a dau., who m. in 1623, Vignan, of Nay, a son, ISAAC OLIVIER, of Nay, b. in 1600, who m. in 1630, Isabeau de Masselin, and d. in 1671, leaving, with a dau., who m. Perier, of Nay, and a son, who d. at Paris, in 1688, an elder son,
   THE REV. JOURDAIN OLIVIER, b. 16 Sept. 1643, .... »
   > Accessed on: books.google.co.uk/

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Addresses read before the Huguenot Society of America [1899-1913], published by the Huguenot Society of America, New York, 1915.

   MEMOIRS OF THE ANCIENT AND WORTHY FAMILY D'OLIVIER AND THEIR ALLIANCES, 1520 TO 1803
   COLLECTED BY DANIEL JOSIAS OLIVIER, l MERCHANT IN LONDON | FROM AUTHENTICK PAPERS, RECORDS & MEMOIRS | IN HIS POSSESSION, AND BROUGHT DOWN TO THE PRESENT | YEAR I755.*
   « To my Descendants
   Whatsoever dear child of mine Shall take this Book into his hands, I charge to keep it precious, as it perpetuates the characters of the most pious Persons He has the Happiness to be sprung from, and the memory of the Friendship, in both which respects, it justly challenges his Imitation, and may, through God's grace, prove a furtherance to his Improvement in our holy Protestant Religion, in Virtue, Morality, and good Manners: And I trust in God such Examples will continue in the Family, the account whereof I have brought down as far as in my time has been possible. I enjoin my Successors to continue regularly the same plan and to transmit it to theirs, with the same injunction, that the Remembrance of the Righteous may endure for ever, and the Glory thereof attributed to God alone. Amen.
   The “Record” to which this lengthy Title and Preface introduce the reader is contained in a weighty volume bound in red leather and tooled artistically in gold. Its pages are clean and strong and the first portion of the document is transcribed in a clear bold hand by a friend of the author, Henry Combrune, son of Major Pierre de Combebrune of the Dragoons. After fifty pages Daniel Josias Olivier takes up the pen himself. .... »
   * « The text of the Memoirs by Daniel Josias Olivier is printed in small type; manuscript copied verbatim. »
   Extracted from snippet views on: books.google.co.uk/

4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} Bulletin de la Société des Sciences, Lettres et Arts de Pau. II^me Série – Tome XLI^me. Pau V^ve - Leon Ribaut, Libraire de la Société, Rue Saint-Louis. 1914 – 1917. (pp. 168-179) - p.169.

   « ...
   Judith de Brun épousa, avant le 13 mars 1618, M^e Pierre d'Oliver ou d'Olivier, bourgeois et marchand de Nay, qui fit son testament, le septembre 1633, et vivait encore le 19 juillet 1643¹. (Judith de Brun married, before March 13th, 1618, M^e Pierre d' Oliver or d'Olivier, burgher and merchant of Nay, who made his will, on September, 1633, and was still living on July 19th, 1643.) .... »
   [1] — « Le mesme jour [19^e juillet 1643], fust baptisé Isaac de Vignau, fils a Jordain de Vignau et Isabeau d'Olivier (sic) ; — parrins Pierre d'Oliver (sic) et Judith de Brun, sa femme. » (Archives de Nay, Etat civil protestant, GG. 2, fº 31.)