Jeanne Le Clerc

Biography

Jeanne Le Clerc married Jan Mercier at Southampton, a port on England’s south coast, on October 18, 1579. The French church marriage entry calls her a native of Valenciennes, now in northern France, and records the consent of the couple's fathers, both widowers. Jeanne's family life in England is therefore anchored in a dated parish entry that also preserves her continental origin.

The children's baptisms extend from Jeanne in 1581 through Esther in 1602, with Marie, Elizabeth, Judith, Pierre, Philippe, Samuel, Anne, and Daniel among the names recorded. Esther appears twice, in 1591 and 1602, so the name alone cannot safely identify which daughter became Hester Batchelder. The family's connection to Hester remains a probable identification.

Jeanne's own story is clearest in these records of marriage and a large family within Southampton's French-speaking church community.