Return to my Societe Pages main index
ARRIVING at the year 1885 we discover a record one, at any rate so far as general items and sensational incidents are concerned, and one which, as showing the capabilities of the little Island " for good or ill, when in full swing," if worthy of fuller detail than would otherwise be of general interest.
Commencing with January 10th, we find on that date two new Crown Officers sworn in, viz., W. H. Venables Vernon, Esq. (Her Majesty's Attorney-General) and A. Hilgrove Turner, Esq. (Her Majesty's Solicitor-General) both of whom, to the satisfaction of all concerned, and for the welfare of Jersey, are still in office. On the 13th of the same month the Jersey Poultry and Dog Club held its first annual show, whilst the following day saw the opening to the public of Cleveland Road, and the inauguration of much-needed improvements in King Street and New Street.
On February 3rd a gale of wind, accompanied by a heavy sea, put the finishing touch of ruin on the pier at Greve-de-Lecq, by washing away the inner wall, in consequence of which the work there was abandoned by the States.
In March (on the 10th), Queen Street disclosed its defective drainage by becoming flooded out, and on the 12th a sorrowful tale was unfolded by the States in adopting an additional impot Bill of 1s. per gall. (the third additional or supplementary impot adopted in the twenty intervening years commencing 1865) and bringing the total duty on spirits to 4s. per gall. at 90 deg. of Sykes' hydrometer)—an exaction which they considered of paramount necessity in view of providing for the prompt " extinction of the debt incurred at the New Harbour, inasmuch as the works there had been abandoned in consequence of the damage caused by storm," and in face of the fact that the sea "had further caused considerable damage on the coast of the Island." Sums of .£150 and £200 were voted respectively by the parish of St. Helier for improvements (not by any means before they were required) in La Motte Street and Hill Street, on April the 10th; and on June 4th the first match of the Caesarean Club was held for homing pigeons, a matter of no small interest not only to the "pigeon-fancying world," but also of general importance in view of the extensive part those domestic carriers are likely to play in future international affairs.
Then the 6th of June holds the record for heat, the thermometer on that day in the sun at noon registering 153 deg. Fahr., and the 19th of the same month the record for the price fetched by a Jersey bull, £400, a sum said to be paid for the celebrated Pirate's Legacy. It was a busy day, too, in maritime affairs, no less than twenty-four steamers lying in the harbour unloading or waiting for the evening's tide to depart with full cargoes. During the month of August the Island had the honour of a visit from the late W. H. Smith, Esq., M.P„ the Secretary for War, who arrived in the Pandora on the 5th, a day also worthy of special mention in that it saw the opening to the public of the Jersey Railway extension to the Corbiere.
The month of August closed with the inauguration of the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society's new premises, the Springfield Grounds and Pavilion, by a special show on the 23rd, following upon which came a month filled with tragic and sorrowful events to such an extent that it has never been equalled in the history of the Island.
During the first eleven days, at the Criminal Assizes held from the 1st to the 5th, a Frenchman was sentenced to six months' hard labour and five years' banishment for robbery. A native of the Island, at the same Assizes, was condemned to seven years' penal servitude for highway robbery, whilst a woman was sentenced to eight months' imprisonment for a like offence on the streets. Added to this we find a father and son named Couche accidentally drowned, an excursion car upset at St. Ouen's Races, with serious consequences, the body of a woman found dead from exposure on Westmount, an inquest held on a man who died through an accident at the races, a tricycle accident at St. Clement occurring to a Sergeant-major of the 1st Royal Jersey Militia, the suicide of one J. Plymen, an accident to a girl in Hilgrove Lane, a man (Le Brun) accidentally killed in the St. John's quarries, a heavy N.W. gale in which an occupant of the Castle boat was washed overboard, an outbreak of fire in La Motte Street, and a fire at Grouville, which, through an accident, nearly culminated in being a fatal one—all this happening, as before ' stated, from the first to the eleventh of the month !
The record, however, of this tragic period is not yet completed. After about nine days' cessation from the sensational, it again commences on the 20th with a serious carriage accident at St. Mary, and continues on the morrow (the 21st) with an inquest on the body of one Pinel, who was killed at St. Helier's railway terminus, filling up its cup with the sudden death of Captain Lumley Woodyear Peyton, in the Belvedere road, on the 26th, and serious- accidents which happened to a Frenchman and a lad on
the 30th.
To turn to brighter subjects, the 29th of September saw the arrival home—the .British Press offices—from the Isle of Wight of the first carrier pigeon known to have flown from England, and on October 1st sixpenny telegrams were inaugurated on the Island, with the result of an increase of 48 per cent. in Jersey messages. Then on October 29th came the unveiling of the Don Monument on the Parade, with its fitting accompaniments of processions, sports, fireworks, illuminations, and a special gala performance at the Theatre Royal, Gloucester Street.
With regard to Legislation, also, this same year was in no way behind, some of the laws and ordinances then passed having considerable effect on the present welfare and condition of the island. The New Market Regulations, over which there had been so much dispute, came in force on the 27th of January. The Ordinance concerning vaccination and the appointment of public vaccinators was adopted on February 25th, and the Ordinance which deals with the "3 1/2 percent." £116,000 loan of the States, in lieu of the Old Harbour bonds of the same capital at 48 per cent., received confirmation on the 26th of March. The existing Bailiff's fees—a modification of those fixed by Order in Council in 1819—date from May 19th, 1885, and the Act abrogating Article III. of the Law of 1856 concerning the Election of Deputies, and the substitution in its stead of the provision at present in vogue, by which the election of such Deputies takes place on the second or third Tuesday in December, was confirmed by Her Majesty in Council on that same date. The present regulations for the ordering of street traffic, too, only received adoption on May 20th, and the (then) new Impot duty, which raised the price on spirits to 4s. per gallon, was not confirmed until August 20th, 1885. The population of the island at the time, it may be added, was about 53,000, nearly 30,000 of whom resided in St. Helier. Its exports during the year were :—of cattle) bulls, 93; cows and heifers, 1,516 ; total, 1,609. Butter, 958 cwt. Fruit (raw) of all kinds, 19.613 cwt. : and potatoes, 49,296 tons.