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MADEIRA - A FAMILY HOUSE

 
This house used to be in St Brelade's Bay, just below the brook. It was lived in for many years by the Le Marquand and Shepard families, until it passed to Rona Nicolson (nee Le Marquand), who was living in Canada, and who sold it to Hotel L'Horizon; they knocked down the building, and extended to include the swimming pool and new building.
The property was bought by John Philip Le Marquand in about 1901, but he did not build it.

His daughter, Ivy Shepard, nee Le Marquand ran a Tea room at Madeira, for which she had a large Summerhouse built; she also used the lawn which was quite large and in the front surrounded by a path. The Tearoom was closed before 1935. She also ran a shop at the back, near where the garage was, there were indoor stairs leading to a room into the house. The shop was a general store and closed just before the war, but this was a business decision, and nothing to do with the war.

In the Second World War, the Germans put in two gun implacements in the front garden, naturally, right in the front facing the sea, but no guns were ever put in.

In 1941, most of the family moved out. Emily Le Marquand (nee Le Cornu) and Eunice West (nee Le Marquand) stayed on.

The most notable historic interest is that the writer Andre Gide rented the property and lived here when he was residing in Jersey. This period 1901-7 is commonly seen as a period of apathy and disquiet.

(See also the History Sectoion Minutes at http://www.societe-jersiaise.org/history/min1102.html)

Below is a picture of Andre Gide and Jacques Copeau in Jersey, 1907. The house is in the background.

 A BBC summary on Gide is available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/books/author/gide/