An Account of the Isle of Jersey ... with a new and accurate map of the island

Front matter

AN ACCOUNT OF THE ISLAND OF JERSEY, WITH AN ©F KI©@REISj fte. BY THE REV. PHILIP FALLE. TO WHICH ARE ADDED, tf -OTE§ AMD IMlTSTRATIOltfS, BV THE REV. EDWARD DURELL, M. A. RECTOR OF ST. SAVIOUR, 3WMMW,,Ec JERSEY : PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY RICHARD GIFFARD, S^. Saviour's Road. 1S37. TO THE KING. Sir, Philip Falle, the Historian of Your Majesty's Island of Jersey, was graciously permitted to lay his work at the feet of Your Majesty's Bflyal Predecessor, William III, and the high estimation in tohich his memory has ever been held by his countrymen for his loyalty and veracity, proves that he had not been unworthy of the distinguished favours, tohich he received from that Illustrious Sovereign. Placed in the same situation, as Philip Falle, and glow ing like him with attachment to the Government and the Sacred Person of my Sovereign, and with love to my native country, allow me, Sir, to offer this new Edition of his History of Jersey, enlarged ivith a copious Commentary, lo illustrate the antiquities and institutions of that Island. and. humbly to solicit for it Your Majesty's Royal favour and protection.

More than a Century has now elapsed since that History was published, during tohich the inhabitants of Jersey have persevered in the hereditary loyalty of their ancestors, and have exerted themselves to the utmost of their power in the Service of their Sovereigns, whose wisdom and magnanimity have secured the general welfare of the Empire, in the DEDICATION. midst of the awful changes, and the sudden revolutions, which have characterised that eventful period. But, Sir, Jersey is no longer' the same as it was of old, scanty in its resources, and limited in its trade. Under that fostering care cf their Sovereigns of your Illustrious House, which is now so happily continued by your Majesty's paternal Government, it has progressively advanced in wealth flowing from the sources of agriculture, of commerce, and of population, till its prosperity has been enabled to rival that ofthe most flourishing parts of your Majesty's extended Dominions.

May then that unerring Providence, which watcJies over the destiny of Princes, and orders the will and affections of men, to render them subservient to its inscrutable purpo ses, long preserve your Majesty to reign over a grateful people ! And may the loyalty and the blessings enjoyed by the inhabitants of this Isle, be permanent, and be transmitted unimpaired to their latest posterity ! May it please Your Majesty, Your Majesty's, Most loyal and most devoted Subject, EDWARD DURELAL. s >

Preface

OF THE EDITOR: The Rev. Philip Falle's History of Jersey has ahvays been considered, as the most valuable Account of that Island, and from which all subsequent publications on the subject have borrowed their most important, information. Nor has it been uncommon to quote him in our Royal Court, as a kind of semi official authority, to whose honesty and veracity, it was equally safe to appeal. It is thus that he may be said to have enjoyed the same distinction as Homer, some of whose verses were admitted by the Athenians to be a sufficient authority, to settle a question about disputed boundaries. The first Edition of his History was published in 1694, while he was yet Rector of St. Saviour's, in Jersey, and resident on that benefice. It is a small and scanty per formance, and merely the ground work of his second Edition* which appeared in 1734, when he was a very old man and possessed of a stall in Durham Cathedral.

Perhaps it is incorrect to call it a second Edition, as it has been entirely re-written, with very large improvements and additions. Some of his own opinions, seem also to have undergone a material change, a striking instance of which is found in his Chapter on Religion, page 183, in which the Bishop of Winchester's power is represented as very limited, and as being merely that which was anciently exercised by the Bishop of Coutances, with no other jurisdiction than that of a Judge in Appeal. That passage, which after all, was the most correct and the most constitutional view of the matter, is not to be found in the Edition of 1734. The humble Rector of St. Saviour could no longer be recognised in the courtly prebendary of Durham, and the richly endowed ii>

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. IV cumbent of Shenley ; for there is not a more unquestionable truth, than that the opinions of men are either changed or modified according to the scale of their success or depres sion, in the eventful and wearisome journey of life. In 1798, a Aird Edition of Mr. Falle's History of Jersey was published in London, but it contains nothing remarkable, and except a few alterations, it is merely a reprint of the Edition of 1734. The second Edition had become very scarce, and bore a high price. A new Edition was therefore absolutely neces sary, and the publisher was induced to undertake it in con sequence of the numerous solicitations of his friends, whose patronage he now gratefully acknowledges. Many Accounts of Jersey have been published since Mr. Falle, but have added little or nothing to our stock of historical knowledge, while they merely and servilely copied from him in most particulars.

It is however candid to own, that that sort of information was of difficult access, or rather that it was out of the reach of those writers, who in addition to their other difficulties, were strangers, and unable to form a proper estimate of our usages and institutions. Per haps we might make an exception in favour of Dr. Sheb beare's History, whose first Volume contains the best account extant of the Constitution of Jersey, as he had derived it from the Le Geyt Manuscripts. The second Volume con tains the Narrative of a period of audacious and unredressed oppression, the authors of which have long been gone to answer for their misdeeds, where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary have rest. But his viru lence is such, that truth itself loses its original character, and ceases to produce any effect by assuming the appearance of exaggeration and calumny.

The zeal and the patriotism of Mr. Falle cannot be too highly commended, but like every other virtue, these may be carried to excess, and become reprehensible. He generally viewed but one side of the question, like one who was either too much attached to his own opinions to distinguish

PREFACE.

. V the truth, or too timorous to censure what was wrong. It was thus that he not only omitted to give an account of the State of the Island during the civil wars of Charles I ; but that he enters into a laboured defence of Charles II, while Prince of Wales, and of his mother, Queen Henrietta, against the charge of their having intrigued to sell Jersey to France. ( See pages 71, 81, and 85. J These omissions have been endeavoured to be supplied by Notes 46 and 49. Mr. Falle was often hasty in admitting inconsiderate, or even absurd opinions. We refer principally to Notes 56, about the diameter of shells ; 70, about the Quenvais ; 185, about Richard III, and the most glaring absurdity of all, at Note 219, page 216, where he severely censures laymen holding the Jersey Fellowships, when Mr. Poingdestre, whom he had so highly eulogised in his Preface, page ix, had en joyed one of those Fellowships for about 12 years, without taking "faders, till he was expelled from it for his political opinions during the civil wars.

The Historian appears to have had but an imperfect ac quaintance with the Records of the Royal Court, which was probably owing to the difficulty of access, and the strictness with which they were guarded by the magistracy of his time. Add to this the slovenly manner in which those Records were kept, their bulkiness, the vast quantity of trash they contain, and above all, the extreme difficulty of reading them, from the decay of the paper and the badness of writing. With such obstacles to contend with, it is not astonishing that Mr. Falle should have been but imperfectly acquainted with those valuable materials. Our Records are comparatively recent ; they do not begin before about 1520, and consequently that circumstance throws an additional obscurity on our insular history. Our ancestors must have been a truly litigious people, as the law suits in those Records are not more surprising for their numbers, than for the trifling matters about which the par ties contended. It is some satisfaction to learn, that the expences were trifling in proportion to the triviality of the suits. VI

PREFACE.

. In many cases our Historian has omitted to give a reference to his authorities, though there could be no doubt that he was well acquainted with them. It has therefore given me pleasure to supply that deficiency by laying several of them before the readers of this new Edition. The progress of society, and the different circumstances of the age we live in, have rendered many of Mr. Falle's views obsolete, even after making allowances for the bias which that good and otherwise enlightened man, had derived from the love of country and from his adherence to professional character. Many things in the State and the Constitution of Jersey have likewise been either altered or im proved since, which it was indispensable to explain in a new Edition. I have therefore added a large quantity of Notes and Illustrations for that purpose.

Some of those Notes have been considerably extended, and the consequence of it has been, that the work has been increased with a much larger quantity of matter, than had been originally intended, a circumstance which, it is hoped, will contribute to the amusement and information of the Reader, though it has materially lessened the chances of advantage, which the Publisher might have reasonably expected to derive from his speculation. The 46th Note, from page 298 to page 344, supplies an important omission, and properly speaking, is not a Note but an Historical Sketch. The labour of collecting and preparing the materials has been very considerable, and that too with no other hope of advantage than the pleasing reflection indulged in solitude, that I may have partially suc ceeded m elucidating an obscure, though important period in the history of my country.

A large quantity of official and other documents, have in the course of this Edition, been either consulted, or were already in my possession. If the Publisher were to receive encouragement from the Public, a valuable collection of those Papers might be printed at some future period. At present it would have swelled this volume to an inconvenient size, which perhaps would not

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. VII have even met with the general approbation of the subscribers. This Volume contains the result of long and extensive researches into the affairs, and the antiquities of this Island, for which my situation, as a member of the insular States, afforded me frequent and favourable opportunities. And now it gives me pleasure to communicate all the information in my power. It is not for me to say how far I may have succeeded, though it is the first attempt of the kind, with perhaps a slight exception in favour of the Appendix to Le Jeune's History, since the publication of Mr. Falle's Second Edition. I have endeavoured to relieve as much as possible the dryness of my commentary, and to render it entertaining and instructive to the general reader. I have to apologise for the delays which have occurred in preparing this publication for the press, and much might justly be said about the difficulty of collecting and arrang ing materials, as well as about private and professional avocations, occasional ill health, and remissness in exertions. — But I have fallen on evil men and evil times, (*) and it is even extraordinary that I have brought this work to a con clusion, while struggling with the severest trials.

Oppressed with the dejection of a wounded spirit, and trodden down by unmerited vituperation, 1 have been numbered among the children of misfortune. Has not unforeseen calamity rushed in to interrupt the peaceful course of my humble career, and do I still survive the furious onsets of unhallowed and unceasing persecution ? Have the tears of sympathy gushed forth to allay my sorrows ? Or rather have not the fangs of tigers torn, and torn again, my bleeding wounds ? And have I thus been requited by thee ? — By thee, the Land of my Fathers ? Oh ! art thou truly a (*) Integer vitæ scelerisque puras, a celebrated line of Horace thus trans lated by Lord Roscommon : Virtue, dear friend, needs no defence ; The soul's best guard is innocence.

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. Land of Christians ?—And in the bitterness of my heart, shall I not exclaim in the language of Scipio Africanus, Oh ! my ungrateful Country ! It had been expected, that this History of Jersey should have been continued from 1734 to the present time. This has been done indirectly by means of the Notes, in which every important change in the country or its institutions, has been noticed. The History of Jersey has produced little worth recording during the last century, except the attacks ofthe French in the years 1779, and 1781, and the death of that youthful hero, the gallant Major Pierson, who so gloriously fell in repelling the latter invasion. Unhappily if we were to present a separate History of that period, it would contain little more that an account of the virulence of parties, the oppression of the subject by the perversion of justice, and the political rancour and personal hatred, which have carried their dissensions into the bosom of private families.

We are yet too near to those intestine broils, to speak of them with impartiality ; that task must be performed in the course of another generation, when all our prejudices shall have ceased, and all the agitations of ourselves and of our cotemporaries, shall have been hushed to peace in the repose of the grave. That the reader may not however be entirely disappointed of a continuation, I have added an Extract from Plees' History of Jersey, at the end of the Notes, from page 197, to page 215. As to myself I have adhered to the strictest impartiality in the Notes, and endeavoured, on every occasion, to avoid the discovery of any political bias, when I have been obliged, in the course of my enquiries, to touch on the local politics of this little State, (ce petit Estat J, as it was often emphatically called, by our ancestors, in their Records.

In the course of this Edition, I have had occasion to refer principally to the following authorities : L— The Records of the Island, to which, as a Member of the States, I had a right of personal access. I avail myself of this opportunity to acknowledge the attentions,

PREFACE.

. is and the facilities I have repeatedly experienced in my researches from Francis Godfray, Esq., the Clerk of the Royal Court, and the Keeper of those Records. (*) 2. — From the Manuscript of Philip Le Geyt, on the Jurisdiction of the Royal Court. (Note 46, p. 300. J 3. — From the Pseudo Mastix, supposed to have been written by Michael Lempriere, who was Bailly of Jersey during Cromwell's Protectorate. For some account of which M.S. seepage 300, Note 46. 4. — From the Chronicle of John Chevalier. (See page 299, Note 46. ) 5. — From Philip Dumaresq, of Samaras, whose Manu script on the Defence of the Island, he presented to James II in 1685. ( See page 284, Note \".) 6. — The Chronicles of Jersey, published in Guernsey, in 1832. There are to my knowledge 8 or 10 Manuscript Copies of that book in this Island.

The Narrative does not come farther down than the marriage of Philip De Carteret, of St. Ouen, with Rachel Pawlet, in 1650. The author of that work is unknown, though it has been sometimes conjectured that it was the elder Sir Philip De Carteret, of St. Ouen, a man of the highest merit and integrity, as may be seen at Note 46 : at any rate, the author must have been either a friend, or a retainer of the family of St. Ouen. It is a valuable performance, the publication of which is an important acquisition ; but it is an error of its Guernsey Editor to say that it was tcritten in 1732, ( Chron. p.\\l,J unless he means that they were transcribed in that year. The language itself, and many ofthe Manuscripts of thoseChronicles, are of a much older date. ( *) There are several Manuscript Collections of Precedents from those Records, (Livres de Prejuges,) but their compilers made them mostly with the view of gaining legal information, to guide them in their professional practice before the Royal Court, aud omitted a variety of things calculated to throw light on the history, the antiquities, and the constitution of the Island.

The Ordinances in those Collections were repealed by the Code of 1*771, except a few that were incorporated in that Compilation. As to tb-a- Precedents themselves, many ol them are scarcely of auy yaluc. X

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. As to their veracity, it is confirmed by the Records in many particulars, and there is little doubt that most, if not all, of their chivalrous embellishments, are substantially true. The printed Edition however abounds in mistakes of names and dates, which are either the errors of the press, or of the transcriber of the Manuscript. 7.— Dr. Heylin's Survey of the Channel Islands, for an account of which, (See Note I, page 274. ) 8. — From various documents in my possession, a considerable part of which, have been copied from a Manuscript, supposed to be the same, as that to which Mr. Falle refers at page 128 of his first Edition, and which then belonged to Sir Philip De Carteret, Bart., who died Bailly of the Island in 1692. It is a thick folio, in different hand writings, and contains nothing of a more recent date than 1650.

It is now the property of Daniel Messervy, Esq. a collateral descendant of the De Carterets. The Latin quotations about the Isle of Sark and the Quenvais are to be found, word for word, in Mr. Messervy's Manuscript, as well as the Appendix No. X, or the Legend of the Lord of Hambye ; so that in my opinion, there cannot be any doubt, that it is the identical Manuscript mentioned by our historian, and that it was once the property of the St. Ouen's family. (See pages 63, 98, and 244.) It has been impossible, notwithstanding every degree of attention in correcting the press, to avoid a few typographical inaccuracies. A short Table has been added of Errata, which affect the meaning, to which the reader may occa sionally refer. As to evident typographical blemishes, they have been purposely unnoticed.

With the view of facilitating a reference to the Notes, the reader will find a Table at the end of the book, containing the subject, with the number and the page of each of those Illustrations. It is thus that after considerable research, unexpected delays,and under the influence ofthe most serious discourage ment, I have persevered in my labours to their termination.

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. XI It is however a gratifying circumstance, which more than outweighs all the inconveniences I have experienced, that I have been permitted to lay the result of my humble exertions at the feet of my gracious and benevolent Sovereign. It is possible, after all, that this Edition may not be so complete as I could have wished ; but I still flatter myself that an indulgent public, will perceive, that materials at least have been collected, which might hereafter be highly serviceable in the prosecution of any future investigation of the antiquities of Jersey. St. Saviour's Parsonage, Jersey, January 21th, 1837. SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF THE" IRE V. PHIIiIP FAME. The curiosity of the reader is generally excited to know something about any author, who may have contributed either to his amusement, or to his instruction.

It is like an agreeable fellow traveller, who has relieved the irksomeness of a long journey, and whose references we are desirous to possess before we part. This is precisely the feeling, which any one will experience, on rising from the perusal of the Rev. Philip Falle, the Historian of Jersey. There is some thing in his honesty and patriotism, which cannot fail to arrest the attention of the most ordinary reader ; and the high respect and deference in which his memory has ever been held by his countrymen, are further calculated to increase that curiosity. A few biographical particulars, however scanty they may be, which tend to make us better acquainted with the character of such a man, cannot be unwelcome to the public. Philip Falle was descended from an ancient agricultural family, who, according to his own account, belonged to that happy class of substantial freeholders, who are not sufficiently elevated to excite envy, but who enjoy enough of the necessaries, and even comforts of life, to be independent, and to preserve their integrity unsullied by the temptations of avarice or ambition.

His ancestors, may, therefore, be said to LIFE OF FALLE. have for ages rivalled in that respect the happiness of Clau dian's Old Man of Verona. (*) (See his History, p. \2Q.J The date of his birth is not exactly known, but as he is described, when he presented his library to the Island in 1736, to have been then nearly Eighty years of age, he must have been born during Cromwell's protectorate. The Re gister of his native parish, St. Saviour, had been much neglected during that agitated period, and there were very few entries made in it from 1645 to 1660. There is nothing known about the early part of his life, where he was educated, or what induced him to turn his views to the Church. It appears from his History, that he was related by the mother's side to the ancient insular family of the Dumaresqs, that he was left an orphan, and that one of the Bandinels, was his guardian, which may account for his suppression of certain facts relating to Dean Bandinel.

(p.p. 34, and 205. ) After passing over those scattered notices, and other traditionary particulars, the first mention we find of him is in the Oxford Graduate, where his name occurs as having taken his degree of Master of Arts, from Alban Hall, June 8th, 1676. He had not been long in Orders before he was presented to the living of Trinity parish. This happened in the latter part ofthe Reign cf Charles II, and he afterwards exchanged it for that of St. Saviour's, in 1690, which latter benefice he retained till 1709, when he resigned it, and settled in England, where he remained to the end of his life. There is a tradition that while he resided at Trinity, he paid his addresses to one of the daughters of Clement Le Couteur, the then Dean of the Island, and a sister in law oi Charles De Carteret, Esq., of Trinity Manor.

The match (*) Felix qui propriis ævum transegit in arvis ! Ipsa domus puerum, quern videt ipsa senem. Claud, de Sen. Veron. How blest the man, who never sought to roam Beyond his acres of paternal soil ! Whose age has still that cottage for his home, That saw the efforts of his boyish toil. LIFE OF FALLE. XV was broken off by the interference of her friends, and as to Mr. Falle, h<3 never was married. This disappointment was probably severely felt, and might have occasioned Mr. Falle's subsequent opposition to the claims of Mr. De Carteret, as Seigneur of Trinity Manor, to nomiuate the Master of St. Manelier's School. The Patent, which had granted that nomination to the Dean and bene ficed Clergy, had been mislaid, and Mr. De Carteret, relying on some very ancient, but unofficial Documents, claimed the right to appoint the master, and when the matter was brought before the Royal Court, he succeeded in his pretensions.

Mr. Falle was not however to be so easily discouraged. He and Mr- Dumaresq, the Rector of St. Clement's, appealed to his Majesty in Council, where on producing an authentic Copy of the Patent from the Rolls, they obtained a judgment in their favour, and a reversal of the decision of the Royal Court. (See page 217, and Order of Council of November 16, 1693.) The writer of this Sketch was favoured, not many years ago, with the perusal of the printed Case in that affair, which had probably been drawn up from Mr. Falle's own instruc tions, in which the Dean, Mr. Le Couteur, was treated with great acrimony, and the mediocrity of his capacity was ridi culed with the most unsparing contempt. And yet Clement Le Couteur, so far from being either a mean or a worthless individual, was a man of a saintly character, whose unaf fected piety and unbounded benevolence, were not only an honour to his profession, but to human nature.

He was Rector of St. John and Dean of Jersey, from 1670 till his death in 1714, at the good old age of Eighty-four. In 1687, Mr. Falle published a Sermon on the Eucharist, and another on the Duties of a Military Life, in 1692. The former of those Sermons was in P'rench, and the latter having been preached before the Garrison, was in the English Language. Those discourses are now seldom to be met with, and this short notice of them is taken from a blank Xvi LIFE OF FALLE. page of the first Edition of his History of Jersey, in which they are advertised. While Mr. Falle was resident on his benefices in Jersey, his name frequently occurs in the proceedings of the insular States, of which a man of his extensive knowledge a nd integrity could not fail to have been a distinguished mem ber. This is evident from his having been, on several occasions, named to act in the Committees of that Assembly.

We are now come to the most important part of Mr. Falle's life. During the early part of the reign of William III, the French had obtained a certain ascendancy at sea, which caused serious inconveniences to an island like Jersey, whose trade was not only nearly annihilated, but itself kept in continual alarm, and as it were, in a state of blockade. The States, in that emergency, resolved to send over Deputies, with an Address, to lay their precarious situation before their Sovereign, and to implore his assistance. Accordingly they named a Deputation for that purpose on the 6th of September, 1692, and Mr. Falle was one of the members entrusted with that important mission. As to the Address which was then voted, he has preserved it at page 89 of his History, and it is probable that it came from his pen ; but it is not registered in the Book of the States.

Its object was not merely congratulation, though it contains enough of it ; but to place the island in a respectable state of defence. On the arrival of the Deputies in London, John Durell, his Majesty's Solicitor for Jersey, and Mr. Falle, were intro duced to a private audience of William III, by Lord Jermyn, who was then Governor of Jersey. The Deputies had then the honour to present their Address, and to kiss his Majesty's hand. They were most graciously received, and were com manded by the Sovereign himself, to assure their countrymen of his care and protection. (Feb. 6, 1692,3. First Edition, p. 45.) It is from that date that we may reckon Mr. Falle's* subsequent advancement ; and as laymen are often LIFE OF FALLE. knighted on being presented to the King, so he had the honour of being appointed Chaplain in Ordinary to his Sovereign.

On his return to Jersey from that successful mission, Mr. Falle and his colleague John Durell, were favourably received by the States. But as they did not receive a vote of thanks till some time after, it is probable that Mr. Falle revisited England on private or public business a second time. (States, 20th Dec. 1694.) As to Mr. Durell, according to Mr. Le Geyt, he became Secretary to an embassy, and residing in London was at different times employed as Deputy for the affairs of the Island. (Le Geyt, Jurisdiction, Chap. V.) It was during that Deputation to England that Mr. Falle first entertained the design of writing the history of his native country. His reasons are stated at full length in the Preface to his Second Edition, the chief of which were to make the Channel Islands better known to the English public, and to shew their general importance to the Empire at large.

Impressed with that truly patriotic object, he hastily prepared his first Edition on his return home. It was published in London in 1694, and dedicated to King William III. This work, though but a skeleton of the Second Edition, was well received, and some years after, Mr. Le Geyt referred to it as an authority, in his Manuscript on the Jurisdiction of the Royal Court. (Chap. IV. Des Juris.) While Mr. Falle resided in Jersey, his name often occurred as a suitor in the proceedings of the Royal Court; but it is uncertain, whether it arose from a litigious disposition, or whether he was frequently placed in lhat unpleasant situa tion, when a man is obliged to defend his just rights by compulsory measures. It is curious that he has given his own views about people, who are obliged to go to law, and has vindicated their conduct.