The Jersey noble with 10,000 US descendants

More than 30 international descendants of the Norman Jersey Poingdestre family have travelled to the island

In the 17th Century George Poingdestre, a member of one of Jersey's ruling Norman families, left the island for Virginia. Now, more than 30 of his descendants have returned to the Channel Islands for a special "family holiday".

The Poindexter Descendants Association is made up of people descended from the Poindexter, Poingdestre, Pendexter and Puddester lines.

It holds annual reunions in the US and tours to Jersey every few years. They are an assorted bunch, but ancestry is their common thread - and the group's research shows George has nearly 10,000 decedents in the US alone.

This year's tour of Jersey was the largest yet, with visitors from 10 US states, Canada, Switzerland and London.

Jamie Poindexter organised the 2025 Poindexter tour to Jersey

Jamie Poindexter, who is from Wisconsin and organised this year's tour, said she considered the island her "second home" after making her first trip in 1998.

"I feel very comfortable and very welcome and the people are very friendly," she said.

Speaking about the association, she said it was formed "by a miracle".

"A few Poindexters that had been doing genealogy back in the 1980s found each other somehow and decided to have a get together," she said.

Within about two years the first members had created a non-profit organisation and the association grew from there, she said.

They said they discovered they were all related to Jersey-born George Poingdestre and found he had close to 10,000 descendants just in the US.

Jimmy Poindexter (right) said coming to Jersey with his family was on his bucket list

Jamie Poindexter said George was thought to have changed his name to the Latin version, Poindexter, to make it more professional when he did business.

As the association continued its research, they also found Pendexters who had come from New England and Puddesters from Newfoundland in Canada, she said.

Jimmy Poindexter travelled to Jersey from Virginia with 15 other immediate family members, including his wife and four children.

He said the trip was a bucket list trip for his family and it was his first time visiting the island.

During the trip, the group went on a walking tour of the town centre to learn about its history.

Mr Poindexter said it was nice to see things older than what he was used to.

"We don't get to see buildings that are this old in the US," he said.

Kim Cisna recently found she was related to the Poindexter family through a DNA test

Kim Cisna, from Iowa, recently found out she was a Poindexter through an ancestry DNA test.

She said she was still a little bit in shock but had tried to embrace the revelation.

"It's also interesting to see the relatives I didn't know that I have and see the family traits that seem to carry on regardless of biology," she said.

Frances Puddester, from Canada, said he considers Jersey his homeland

Francis Puddester travelled to Jersey from St John's in Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada.

His ancestors were Poingdestres who settled in Canada and took part in the Newfoundland fishery.

It was his third time visiting the island, and he said he considered it his homeland.

"I always love coming here, I just love it," he said.

"When we come to a place like this, we just want to see it all."