A Popular History of Jersey, General, Constitutional, and Military, from the earliest times to the end of the year 1895, etc

Front matter

A POPULAR HISTORY OF JERSEY Jer tey. MONT ORGUEIL CASTLE, JERSEY (SOUTH SIDE). Gmtfi:.!,.) A POPULAK HISTORY OF JERSEY general, fonsftfititonaf, an& "gUilitavs FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE END OF THE YEAR 1895 BY THE REV. ALBAN E. RAGG ("MABERLEY WALKER ") ILLUSTRATED JEKSEY WALTER E. GUITON 2, CHARLES STREET, ST. HELIER SSrfci.atcfc (./?_■ specia. permission) TO HIS EXCELLENCY LIEUT.-GENERAL E. MARKHAM, R.A. Lieut. -Go vernor of Jersey From November 1st, 1892, to May 10th, 1895 AS A SMALL MEMENTO OF HIS HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL AND MEMORABLE TERM OF OFFICE WORKS CONSULTED, QUOTED, OR REFERRED TO. " A Constitutional History of Jersey." By Charles Le Quesne. 1 vol. 1856. " Acts of the Royal Court." MS. (bound). 1vol. 1545 to 1845. "Acts and Laws relative to Jersey." 1 vol. 1833 to 1840. " An Account of the Island of Jersey."

By W. Plees. 1 vol. 1824. "An Armorial of Jersey." By J. Bertrand Payne. 1 vol. 1865. " Cæsarea, or an Account of Jersey." By Philip Falle, M.A., and P. Mourant, M.A. 1 vol. 1797. " Cæsarea." Anonymous. 1 vol. 1840. " Chambers's Encyclopædia" (New Edition). " Criminal Law Commission, Jersey." 1vol. 1846. " Dictionary of National Biography." Leslie Stephens. " Encyclopædia Britannica " (9th Edition). ■" General Sir George Don." By J. Sullivan. 1885. " History of Jersey." By Rev. P. Falle, M.A. With notes and illustrations by Rev. E. Durell, M.A. 1 vol. 1837. " History of Jersey and the Channel Islands." By John Stead. 1 vol. 1799. "WORKS CONSULTED, QUOTED, OR REFERRED TO. " Jersey Prison Board Report ; in Privy Council." 4 vols. 1894. " Local Historical Chronology." By E. T. N. (Advocate Nicolle). 1 vol. 1892.

" Report of Commissioners on the Law of Jersey." 1 vol. 1861. " Report of the Civil Commission, Jersey." 1 vol. " Shebbeare's Narrative of the Oppression in Jersey." 2 vols. 1771. " Sundry Papers relative to the Governor's Veto 1 vol. 1861. " Sundry Papers relative to Reform of the Royal Court." 2 vols. 1839 to 1864. " The Channel Islands." By Prof. Ansted. 1 vol. (3rd Edition). 1893. " Three Orders in Council." 1 vol. 1852. "The Death of Major Frs. Peirson." By P. Jn. Ouless. 1 vol. 1881. The Chronique de Jersey. Thc Jersey Everting Post. The Jersey Times (Almanacs). The Jersey Express (Almanacs), Many thanks are also due for valuable information given or able assistance rendered by P. Baudains, Esq., Mayor of St. Helier ; Advocate H. E. le V. dit Durell ; Mr. G. Vickery, Editor Chronique de Jersey ; and Mr. F. B. de Faye, Librarian, Bibliotheque Publique, Jersey.

Chapter I. Before The Island Had

A NAME. Without doubt the key to the solution of the mystery, long hidden in the dark past of bygone prehistoric ages, as to who first inhabited the Island of Jersey, or, at any rate, made it, for any lengthened period, their sojourning place, was found in 1861, when the well-known local naturalist, Mr. J. Sinel, in company with his friend, Mr. Dancaster, discovered the Cotte a la Chhre, about a mile and a half eastward of Grosnez Castle, which cave-dwelling subse quently gave abundant evidence of having been once the habitation of prehistoric man. How long ago this may have been is foreign to the present subject, though the time that has elapsed since then can with truth be reckoned by thousands of years, and be put down at a period when, sub sequent to the severance of Jersey from the mainland of the Continent of Europe, only those portions of the Island which now stand over 100 feet in height were visible at " high-water," and when, for instance, the sand-bank upon which St. Helier, its chief town, now stands, and all the " ground " upon that same level round about the Island, was some 8 fathoms deep under water at low tide.

That such was the case is conclusively proved from the fact that when inhabited by " cave-men " the Cotte a In Chare was un- B doubtedly, though now some 45 feet above it, at that time situated at or about high-water level. Of the habits and occupations of these earliest inhabitants, of course, but little can be known for certain ; though upon the good old principle that a " workman is known by his chips," and judging from such evidences as they have left behind, there is every reason to believe that they, in com mon with other human beings of like periods, occupied themselves chiefly in hunting, fishing, and defending them selves against the attacks of animals, many of thc varieties of which are now extinct ; their weapons and implements formed of stone or flint of the roughest design ; their staple food thc flesh of animals and fish, which at times, if not usually, was cooked — roasted by means of wood or charcoal fires — before being eaten.

At the same time, be it added, recreation, of its kind, was by no means unknown to many of these dwellers in prehistoric caves, for they were adepts at etching with sharp-pointed flints on ivory and horn, and in the making of bone fish-hooks, combs for the hair, and various ornaments, though of matters agricultural they were evidently entirely ignorant. And before coming to the period when the Island had a name, there is certainly to be taken into account another race belonging to the "stone age" (i.e., the age when bronze and other metals or alloys were unknown), though of a less remote period, which race, from evidence extant a hundred years or so since, and some of which is still remaining, must have been somewhat thickly scattered round about the Island, viz. : those inhabitants who con structed the so-called Cromlechs, which erections, it is now agreed pretty generally upon all hands, were not the work of Druids, though they most likely used them for sepulchral purposes, but are thought to have marked off or been erected upon the burial-places of a comparatively late race of prehistoric men.

The best remaining specimen of such on the Island is one situated behind Anne Port, close to Mont Orgueil Castle, on the eastern coast of Jersey. Others exist at St. Brelade, La Moye, Mont Cochon, &c, though most, if not all, of the remains — consisting of cinerary urns (urns in which the burned ashes of the dead were deposited), fragments of unburnt pottery, stone implements, &c. — have been excavated and removed ; whilst the stones appertain ing to the finest specimens of them all, at one time situated on the Town Hill, St. Helier, where Fort Regent now stands, were transported to England and re-erected in the year 1788, in the park of Marshal Conway, Berkshire, he being Governor of the Island about that period.

Chapter II. Historical Times

There is some little doubt as to what race of people inhabited Jersey just prior to what may be termed purely his torical times, though there is every reason to believe that it was made a dwelling-place both by Basques and Kelts, settlers from Germany and Scandinavia also frequenting the place, whilst there is some evidence to show that it was not unknown to the Romans, Falle, amongst other his torians, going even so far as to believe that Cæsar himself was a visitor here, though the remains of the encampments known at the present time as La petite Case, &c, are want ing in the main characteristics of Roman work. The first time, however, that the Island became famous was when Helerius, a Christian hermit, whose dwelling place is still shown at Elizabeth Castle, was brutally murdered by those Norman pirates who at that time ravaged the coast, and one of whose descendants, a nobleman, that is to say, of the same race, in after days founded the Abbey called " L'Abbaye de St. Helier," from which the present town takes its name.

Then coming to later times, for the space of about eighty years — 837 to 912 A.D. — there is no doubt but that Jersey was the scene of piratical outrages. Charles the Simple of France (who married the daughter of Edward the Elder of England), however, put an end to these disturbances by compounding with the Norman trader and sea-rover, Rollo, who was the leader of them, but whose name is even still revered on the Island, and worthily so, for he became a powerful ruler both over Jersey and the adjacent places. First embracing Christianity and being baptized in the Christian faith, he was, on these conditions, granted by Charles the Simple of France not only the Island of Jersey, but also that considerable portion of the mainland of the Continent now called Normandy. The beneficial influence of Rollo, it may be mentioned, is yet to be found in the peculiar appeal called Clameur de Haro, which is still avail able in the case of any encroachment upon property : the person so trespassed upon going on his knees, and, in the presence of witnesses, exclaiming "Haro, Ham, a I' aide, mon prince," when the appeal must be respected and the alleged wrong at once ceased — until it has been adjudicated upon by the Royal Court.

Then from the time of Rollo six Dukes of Normandy were lords and masters of the Island — William Long sword (son of Rollo), Richard the Intrepid, Richard IL, so called The Good, Richard III., who, dying unmarried, left his Duchy to Robert the Magnificent, and William the Conqueror, a son of Arlette, daughter of a tanner of Falaise, and born at that same place, according to the best historical accounts, 1027 or 1028.

Chapter III. To The Year

1272. For the proper understanding of the history of Jersey subsequent to the year 1066, it must be remembered that when William the Conqueror ascended the English throne he was in his own right Duke of Normandy ; hence Jersey and the rest of the Channel Isles, as belonging to the Norman dukedom, became in a way attached to the English Crown, though they in reality were separate possessions belonging not to England, but to its king as his own personal property. When William the Conqueror died he bequeathed the Channel Islands with, and as a portion of, the Duchy of Normandy, to Robert of Normandy, his eldest son ; William Rufus (1087 to 1100), the second son, succeeding to the throne of England ; whilst upon the death of Rufus, Henry, the Conqueror's youngest son, became King in his brother William's stead (1100 to 1135), and dispossessing his elder brother Robert of the Duchy of Normandy at the battle of Tinchebrai in the year 1106 he thus, as King of England, came into possession of the Channel Islands, which since that date have, with short intervals, been, in their entirety, dependencies of the English Crown ; and as still keeping up the old connection with Normandy, it is interesting to note that Her Majesty Queen Victoria is at times named as Duchess before that of Queen in Jersey, even to the present day.

But to return to the early days of the twelfth century. Although, as was naturally to be expected, considerable changes took place in the laws, customs, and perhaps more than all, the language of England, as a result of the con quest of William I., Jersey, from the fact that its constitu tion was like that of Normandy, from which country, to use a homely illustration, it had been broken off, suffered none of these inconveniences. The inhabitants, indeed, seem chiefly to have employed the peaceful times that inter vened from 1111 to 1204 in the building and consecration of churches, as will be seen in due course. In the early part of the reign of King John (1199 to 1216), however, Jersey was twice invaded by France "under those powers of Philip Augustus which compelled Normandy, Maine, Anjou and the Continental domains appertaining to the Kings of England to be delivered up."

The first of such invasions took place in 1 204, the year that the unfortunate Prince Arthur so mysteriously disap peared at Rouen Castle ; but no particular result followed other than that through the brave efforts of the Islanders the enemy was beaten off. In consideration of this and their faithfulness during the separation of Normandy from England, and also to show his appreciation of their conduct, King John is held by some local historians of note (Falle, Stead, ancl Plee) to have personally visited the Island in 1213, the year after the appointment of one of its first Governors or Guardians, Philippe d'Albigny, who took office in November, 1212, though Lc Quesne, a writer of later date, author of the "Constitutional History of Jersey," and a man of no mean authority, after a careful examination of the "close-roll " still preserved in London, containing an account of thc daily doings of John during this period, throws considerable doubt upon the assump tion.

In any case, whether he visited tho Island or not, it is clearly evident that John, during the year 1213, gave special attention to those weaker spots which had admitted the French, and caused the same to be fortified, and appointed officers under thc name of wardens or keepers to have a watchful eye over the ports and harbours, so that none who were suspected to come with an hostile intention might be suffered to land. In the same year, too (1213), John granted his "Consti tutions " to the Island (the original of which is unhappily lost, though they are extant in an Intjuest of Henry 111., which recites and affirms them), such constitutions, styled by many the Magna Charta of Jersey, forming the foundation of all the privileges and immunities it possesses to the present day, and by which amongst other things he set the Island free from all foreign dependencies, at the same time agreeing to adjudicate personally upon such matters as formerly, in the last resort, had usually to be carried to the Duke's Escbiquier in Normandy, and also constituting a Royal Court in Jersey.

In other matters, however, John seems to have dealt with the Islanders in that tyrannical spirit which ruled his life, making hostages of many of the principal ones — amongst others Reginald dc 'Carteret, Seigneur of St. Ouen's — and placing them in custody of officers in various parts of England, besides otherwise asserting that predilection to absolutism that so marked his inglorious reign and eventually stirred up the Barons of England against him. Jersey was again invaded by the French in 1214 : the attack being this time headed by Eustace de Moine, originally a monk, who, throwing aside his cowl, had taken up the life of an adventurer, and had caused his name to spread universal terror, he being sent by Philip Augustus of France to take possession of the Island if possible. The affair, however, not only resulted in de Moine's defeat, but also in the capture of his brother, who was afterwards detained for a time in Porchester Castle, some half score or so of the knights amongst de Moine's followers being at the same time taken prisoners, while one main consequence of the victory to Jersey was that John liberated the hostages he had caused to be taken and allowed them to return to their homes.

Shortly after this Eustace de Moine again appeared on the scene, at a time, too, when John was not able to afford any protection to the Island, and when Philippe d'Albigny, its governor, was away from it commanding the fleet stationed for the protection of the East Coast of England. In this expedition de Moine was undoubtedly successful, for, seizing so favourable an opportunity, he took possession of Jersey, but only to hold it for a short space of time. It was just about this period, also, that the commotions between John and his Barons, as is well known to all readers of English history, caused the most alarming appre hensions : the Barons having gone so far as to depart from their allegiance and invite Louis, son of Philip Augustus of France, to accept the English Crown. John, however, died (October 19th, 1216) and was succeeded by his son Henry III., then a minor, when the disaffected Barons, in pity to his youth and innocence, withdrew from their promised support to Louis.

Louis, notwithstanding this disappointment, having made some advances towards the accomplishment of his designs, pursued such advantages as he felt to possess, and sent to France for additional troops, which, fortunately for the Island, were met and defeated at sea by Philippe d'Albigny, who thus caused Louis to give up his pretensions and retire. Upon ascending the English throne one of the first actions of Henry III., through the Council formed to con duct his affairs — composed of the Earl of Pembroke (Regent), Peter des Roches, and Gualo, the Papal legate — was to release Jersey from the hands of the de Moines, the record of which is contained in the agreement drawn up between Henry III. and Prince Louis after the latter's defeat at Sandwich in May, 1217 (during which engagement Eustace de Moine lost his life whilst fighting on the sido of the French), wherein (1 Henry III.) is inserted an article order ing the brothers of Eustace to immediately restore the Island to the King of England under pain of forfeiture of all lands and fiefs and being declared extra pace istam.

After this, until we come to the year 1248, when a Royal Commission w-as sent to inquire into the constitution and laws of Jersey, there is little or nothing worthy of record so far as the Island is concerned. Such Commission, which was addressed to Drogo Barentin, Esq., then Governor or Guardian (and which contains the interesting information that, according to the " Constitutions " of John, Jersey owed " as an aid " the annual sum of seventy-three livres tournois to the King, in consideration of which the inhabi tants were free from all military service, taxes and imposi tions, except when they should accompany the Duke of Normandy to recover possession of England), together with the confirmation of King John's " Constitutions," being, in fact, the main things connected with the Island during the long reign of Henry III.

(1216 to 1272); though it must be added that afterwards, fearful, no doubt, for the safety of the Island, he issued forth a royal mandate to the Barons of the Cinque Ports to give the earliest possible assistance upon requisition from its Governor, adding "that it deserved well of him and that he owed it both commenda tion and thanks."

Chapter IV. Still Later

Undoubtedly it was about these times, i.e., during the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries, that the ecclesiastical works of which Jersey is justly proud — the splendid sacred edifices, of which more will be said further on— were undertaken ; but to keep a connected idea the best plan will, for the present, certainly be to record the general historical facts as they appeared. During the reign of Edward I. (1272-1307), we find that in 1274 the first " Extente," i.e., returns, were made of the revenues of the Island belonging to the King ; and that Drogo de Barentin was succeeded in office as Guardian or Governor by Otho de Grandison in the following year ; whilst there comes the account of another assault made upon Jersey by the French, resulting in a desperate contest : the Island being warmly defended by its brave people, who eventually compelled their foes to confess that the then inhabitants of the place were practically unconquerable ; and, it may be added, it was during this seventh year of his reign, 1279, that Edward I. granted to Jersey its public seal, which is still affixed to all important acts.

While Edward II. reigned (1307-1327), Jersey, though not pregnant with foreign feuds, was remarkable for the many domestic grievances its inhabitants unhappily laboured under ; forgetful of the faithful services for which his ancestors had been grateful, and in open violation of those rights which to a native are invaluable, not only public privileges and public grants but private inheritances and properties were called in question. No man was secure of aught he possessed, whilst, to put it in Mr. Falle's own words, " There was no end of plying us with Quo Warrantos, and as if it had not been enough to be thus persecuted at home, the people were remitted to a long and chargeable attendance on the Court at Westminster " — there being, be it remembered, no South-Western or Great Western mail boats running at that time !

Jean de Roches (evidently a descendant of or related to the Peter de Roches who formed one of the Council of the youthful Henry III.), was appointed the Island's Guar dian the year following the accession of Edward III. (1327-1377), who, very early in his reign, restored, by charter, those freedoms and independences of which the inhabitants of Jersey had during the reign of his predecessor been so unjustly deprived; not forgetting, however, to look after his own interests the while, for which purpose two Royal Commissioners.RobcrtdeNortonand William Do la Rue, were sent to inquire again into tho matter of the Royal revenues. They subsequently (1331) drew up another " Extente," from which we learn, amongst other things, some most inter esting items relative to tho manners and customs of tho Island during the latter part of tho Middle Ages.

From it we glean, for instance, that de Barentin held the manor and fief of Rozel by homage, and that whenever the King of England visited Jersey he was bound to ride on horseback up to his saddle girths into the sea to meet his Royal Majesty, and was afterwards to act as the King's butler. From the same source, too, we find that Rcnaul de Carteret owed like homage as lord of tho manor and Seigneur of St. Ouen's, and relief, when due, of nino lures tournois (then about _£9 Eng lish money), in addition to which he was bound to serve the King at Gouray Castle — which, by-the-bye, in the year 1404 had its name changed to Mont Orgueil, by which title it is known to the present day — at his own expense for the term of " two parts of forty days," finding horses and armour ; that the Abbot of St. Saviour's had to provide an annual dinner for the King, or the value thereof, for the priory of Bonne Nuit ; that all the tenants of the Crown had to give personal service in the way of carting wine, hay and wood belonging to the King, and in keeping the Royal mills in re pair.

Whilst from the fine Rolls included in the " Extente" it appears that a great source of wealth to the Crown arose out of the receipt of fines, which must have constituted a considerable branch of the Royal revenue, " since no one in those days thought of soliciting a favour of the King without a present in his hand." But pursuing his claim to the Gallic crown, the King again exposed the Island to the invasion of the French. Jersey's precarious position at the time, more over, was represented to His Majesty by the English parliament, w-ith the result that a proclamation was issued at Berkhamstead on August 13th, 1340, to the mayors and bailiffs of thedifferent towns round about, "to arrest, man, and victual ships in Portsmouth harbour and all other towns on the adjacent coast, and to transport Thomas Ferrars, knight (appointed Guardian of Jersey in 1338), to the relief of the Channel Islands."

Shortly after this the French wrought considerable havoc along the southern coasts of England and elsewhere in the Channel — Southampton, amongst other places, suffering severely ; whilst Guernsey, after a brave struggle, was forced to capitulate. Jersey, however, though several times attacked and as frequently ravaged by the enemy under the command of Admiral Bertruchet during the years 1338 to 1345, opposed the completion of their triumphs, for though the invaders at one time succeeded so far as to set themselves down be fore Gouray Castle — during one fierce sortie from which Barentin, the Seigneur of Rozel, lost his life, his place being filled by Renaul de Carteret, lord of St. Ouen's Manor — they were at length obliged to raise the siege and reluctantly retire.

Chapter V. Religious Zeal And French Enterprise

It is the general belief that the Christian religion was planted on the Island at a very early date. The best authorities, indeed, state that it was introduced in the year 540 by one Marcouf, who founded a monastery at Bonne Nuit on the northern coast and in the present parish of St. John, and who was afterwards canonised. However this maybe, there is no doubt that a wave of religious zeal passed over it between the years 1111 and 1341, for during that period no less than twelve parish churches were erected. There was St. Brelade's, for instance, consecrated May 27th, 1111 ; St. Martin's, January 4th, 1116; St. Clement's, September 29th, 1117 ; St. Ouen's, September 4th, 1130; St. Saviour's, May 30th, 1154 ; Trinity, September 3rd, 1163 ; St. Peter's, June 29th, 1167 ; St. Lawrence's, January 4th, 1199 — to say the least of it, a very creditable pers ormance for one century; not to mention the other churches of later date : — St. John's, built in the year 1204 ; Grouville in 1332, and St. Helier's, (the "Town" Church), consecrated August 15th, 1341; whilst, besides these, numerous " Chapels " connected with them were spread over the Island, as well as a " religious house " at Longueville, the remains of which latter edifice were only destroyed just prior to 1824.

But it must not be forgotten, as showing what Jersey was made of in those old days, that amidst this religious zeal they had to fight for their general rights. It was just between the time that the Churches of St. Mary and St. Helier were being built (1322 to 1341) that the indenture was made between the King and Council and Sir Thomas Ferrars for the future defence and reparation of "Jersey Castle"- — which, it is to be remembered, was a name that Mont Orgueil used also to be known by. For three years the French had held possession of the sister Isle of Guernsey and nearly that time had elapsed since they had last withdrawn their troops. The dwellers on the Jersey Isle at this time had their natural zeal again aroused and, animated by their native valour, appear to have raised a contribution of six thousand four hundred marks for the "Service."

At the same time they formed a junction with a fleet bearing troops to the King, and by their unex ampled bravery defended their Island home in a manner that has seldom been equalled — a portion of which "home," by-the-bye, they seem to have been deprived of about this period by natural causes; for we read that in 1356 a large portion of the parish of St. Ouen was inundated by the sea, which is also supposed at a prior date to have engulphed a forest formerly known as La Brequette, said to have been situated near l'Etacq. But coming to the year 1374, two years after the death of Edward III. of England, we find, as a legacy left by Charles the Wise of France — who had not long wrorn the crown of that nation before ruptures broke out between the English and the French — that Jersey most certainly had its own share of ill consequences.

Among other expeditions attempted by the " neighbours across the way," under the command of Bertrand Du Guesclin — at the time noted in his own country as being one of its ablest generals — was the conquest of Jersey ; he having, as D'Argentre, the French historian, tells us, " eyed the Island as la retraite seure Ange lois," i.e., the sure retreat of the English. And finding it necessary to 1ns other schemes to, if possible, deprive them of it, he suddenly set out from France with an army, it is said, of 10,000 men, amongst whom were the Duke of Bourbon and the flower of the French chivalry, and en camped before Mont Orgueil Castle in the hope of effecting its capture and thus subduing the Island ; whilst the inhabitants, being perfectly aware of the superiority of the enemy's force, wisely suffered them to land, without acknowledging that they were conquered, but with a view, it seems, of exerting their own strength at a future period.

And here is where Mont Orgueil comes in again, and once more proves itself " The Castle of Jersey." The French, immediately on their descent upon the Island, encamping before this stronghold, besieged it with great vigour for a length of time. Finding, however, that the defenders wrere determined not to surrender, a parley ensued, at which the following characteristic agreement was drawn up : — " That they within the castle would surrender if not suc coured before Michaelmas Day next ensuing, and that the Constable, or General, should for the present break up his camp and depart." An English fleet, as it happened, came to the rescue, and soon afterwards the French General forbore to give the Island furthermolestation. At the same time, be it mentioned, this w-as the only instance when the arms of that great and fortunate warrior were baffled.

In the year 1396 a Royal "Guardian," in the person of Edward Duke of York, held swa)^ over the Channel Islands, the most serious thing that happened during his governorship of Jersey being a futile attack made upon it, in 1404, by Count de Buelna, who was assisted by some lords of Brittany evidently anxious for a share of the ever-coveted spot. Following the Duke of York came John Nanfan, who was appointed " Warden and Governor," June 5th, 1460, the last year of the reign of Henry VI., and momentous to Jerse}ras Deing that during which Mont Orgueil Castle and the eastern parishes of the Island fell into the hands of the French under the command of Pierre de Br6ze, Count de Maulevrier, a full account of the circumstances leading up to which will be found in the following chapter. A POPULAR HISTORY OF JERSEY.