History Section
The History Section
La Section d'l'Histouaithe
Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday September 19th 2006 at 5.15pm, Members' Room
Members present:
Frank Falle (chairman), Jean Arthur, Marie-Louise Backhurst, Don & Jean Bell, Mary Billot (Secretary), Bertram Brée, Francis & Anne Corbet, Mike & Jill Cotter, Mary Gibb, Andy Harris, Nicolas Jouault, Peter King, George Langlois, Suzanne Le Feuvre, Georgia Le Maistre, Bob Le Sueur, David Levitt, Pat Maindonald, Rose Millow, Will Millow, Alec Podger, Doreen Schofield-Fost, Wendy Tipping, Danny White (visitor).
1. Apologies for absence
Yvonne Aston, Mervyn Billot, Gerry France, Sue Groves, Sue Hardy, David Le Maistre, Mike Lees, Ian Machin, David Woodall.
2. Minutes of the meeting of August 15th 2006 and amendments
The minutes were approved as a correct record.
3. Matters arising from the minutes not covered by the agenda
8.4 Georgia Le Maistre said that she had noted the Guernsey bank notes for currently for sale by auction in England had been stamped. Mary Gibb said that correspondence about defaced notes between UK banks and the Bank of England probably related only to Guernsey, not Jersey. She said that Jersey notes had not been defaced. Bob Le Sueur suggested that she contact Mrs Phyllis Lucas, La Caroline, St Ouen, who had been a bank employee.
8.7 Bob Le Sueur asked what property does the UK government currently own in Jersey. Mary Billot suggested that he contact the Receiver General at Government House; Marie-Louise Backhurst confirmed that he holds the list. Francis Corbet said that Government House is also the source of information for former Board of Ordnance property. Bob said that Seymour, Icho and La Rocco Towers were sold to the States in the 1920s.
4. Chairman's communications
4.1 Frank Falle thanked Georgia Le Maistre for chairing the August meeting in his absence.
4.2 He thanked Bertram Brée for organising the splendid Normandy trip so efficiently. He outlined the itinerary - Manoir Jacques Cartier, Château de Balleroy, Bayeux Tapestry, Arromanches, Cité de la Mer and Abbaye de la Voeu (Cherbourg) and Coutances Cathedral. Members are due a refund on the amount paid. The Section's December meeting will report back to members about the trip. Bertram is planning the 2008 trip, which will probably include Lessay Abbey and Villedieu des Poêles.
4.3 Frank is planning the Section's contribution to the Autumn newsletter. Topics to be covered include the export of lobsters and congers to London, the mechanism of colombiers, thatched windmills, wool and St John, the Down your Way walks, the lunch time lectures and its enclosed flyer.
4.4 He thanked Mike Lees for his very thorough researches for the Forts and Towers Working Party. The JHT was most grateful for his efforts and the help of the History Section.
5. Honorary Secretary's communications
5.1 Mary Billot said that she is preparing the press release for the Autumn lunch-time lectures with only one contribution outstanding.
5.2 She asked for help with the coffees/teas for the lectures, as Georgia Le Maistre will be away for the first two (October 18th and 25th). Wendy Tipping, Pat Maindonald, Jill Cotter and Mary Gibb all offered to help, for which she is most grateful.
| 5.3 | A volunteer secretary for the January 2007 is needed, as Mary Billot will be away for most of the month. The | minutes will have to be prepared, photocopied and dispatched as well. |
6. Forts and Towers Working Party report
6.1 Mike Lees is away so there was no report. Bob Le Sueur passed on copies of Mike's papers on Lewis and Seymour Towers and La Tour Carrée. [Copies with official minutes].
7. Members' contributions
7.1 George Langlois reported that boring for water is under way on the Pine Walk, St Catherine. The project is being reported in the JEP.
7.2 Peter King circulated a pre WW2 photograph of Green Island, showing beach bungalows on the area, which is now a carpark. Bob Le Sueur said that other such bungalows were demolished at Grouville and St Ouen for their wood during the GO.
7.3 Nick Jouault said that the closing date for the Photographic Competition is September 31st.
7.4 Alec Podger confirmed that Michael Lampier was Michel Lemprière, one of the trustees for the sale of the late King's goods (Charles II), with Philip Carteret (July minutes). He circulated an Internet reference to a cowboy book by Jake Logan called Slocum and the Jersey Lily, Jove Books, 1999. [Copy with official minutes].
7.5 Wendy Tipping commented that her family much enjoyed their visit to the Manoir Jacques Cartier when a knowledgeable Anglophone student showed them round.
7.6 Andy Harris raised the subject of perquage paths and asked why St Ouen had two such paths. Marie-Louise Backhurst said that the paths were to do with mills and streams. The parish church provided sanctuary only. Chris Aubin's definite article on the paths is in the SJ Bulletin for 1997 where he disproves the belief that perquages were sanctuary paths.
7.7 Bob Le Sueur said that it was highly likely that local windmills were thatched. Quetivel (water) mill was partly thatched; mills frequently caught fire because of the roof thatch. Frank Falle answered his query about the Les Platons dolmen path and said that 1970 aerial photography showed a track.
7.8 Marie-Louise Backhurst is contributing a chapter on cholera in Jersey in 1832 and 1849 for a forthcoming book; she needs information on Sark, Herm, Jethou and Alderney. She has visited Bishopsteignton, Devon, to find out more about Edith Nicolle, née Noble, born there in 1812. Mary Billot said that Lady Otway was born Eliza Price Noble Campbell; she was a minor when she married in Marylebone in 1848. Marie-Louise is compiling a list of local maps showing fortifications, which needs checking against TNA (The National Archives) lists to see if Jersey has copies of them all. She would like to establish the date of the bulwarks at St Aubin. She bought a book on John Singleton Copley in Canada, which has sketches for 'The Battle of Jersey' on its endpapers. The sketches do not include buildings so she doubts whether Copley visited Jersey himself. She circulated a Sunday Telegraph article of August 27th 2006, which mentions Nick Jouault and the Ramsar site. She also circulated a photograph of a rock at Le Bourg, St Clement, incised with the letter 'G'; Nick Jouault considers that this is probably a doodle. [Notes with the official minutes].
7.9 Georgia Le Maistre saw an upright with a date of 1818 between two pigsties at Brook Farm, St Martin, and wondered if there had been an earlier building there. The National Trust for Jersey dated the three bay house from the mid to late C19; the outbuildings to the west are believed to be older. She said that the Environment Section has seen plans for the Gorey marina and carpark being promoted by the Gorey Boatowners Association.
7.10 Francis Corbet said that a surviving hut from the WWI prisoners of war camp at Blanches Banques, St Ouen, is to be made an SSI; it is now at a discreet location and is used as a farm building. Frank Falle said that Sir Martin Le Quesne had one at Beau Désert, St Saviour.
7.11 Frank Falle asked whether there was a clothing industry at Lessay and Coutances. Francis Corbet and Bertram Brée both confirmed that the flax industry was in the area. Frank said that there was a dedication to St Blaise in St John; the saint was patron saint of woolcombers.
8. Date of next meeting
Tuesday October 17th 2006 at 5.15 p.m. in the Members' Room if available, otherwise in the Arthur Mourant Room.