History Section
La Société Jersiaise

The History Section

La Section d'l'Histouaithe

 

Minutes of the Meeting held on Tuesday December 17th 2002 at 5.15pm
Members' Room
        

1.         Members present :
Jean Arthur, Marie-Louise Backhurst, Don Bell, Mary Billot (Secretary), Mervyn Billot, Gavin Booth, Bertram Brée, Guy Dixon, Roy Dobin, Frank Falle (Chairman), Sue Groves, Geraint Jennings, Nicolas Jouault, Sally Knight, George Langlois (new member), Frank Le Blancq, Suzanne Le Feuvre, David Le Maistre, Georgia Le Maistre, Bob Le Sueur.

Apologies :
Jean Bell, John & Pam Denize, Gerry France, Mary Gibb, Sue Hardy, David Levitt, Alec Podger, Bill Tower.

2.        Minutes of the meeting of November 19th 2002, and amendments

  1. 1Edward Le Dain's ship was the 'Caledonia' not the 'Lily'; the voyage was from Falmouth to Bristol.
  2. 8Marie-Louise Backhurst went to Dinan Public Library where she recorded details of English and Jersey residents and of the Dinan Victoria Club.

3.         Matters arising from the minutes not covered by the agenda
3.1        Frank Falle distributed two copies of Prof. Platt's paper on the Somerset Tower.
  1. 2Marie-Louise went to the Chelsea Hotel in Gloucester Street and took photographs of the Georgian town house, which forms its core. Nicholas Le Quesne (1788-1847) built it in about 1810, the year of his marriage. His son Charles, a noted lawyer, Jurat and writer, grew up there and later built Piccadilly Villas, now part of the hotel. She expressed concern on its demolition by Dandara Jersey Ltd as it is a proposed SSI. [See JEP article on December 30th 2002 for full details].

    Chairman's announcements
  2. 1Frank welcomed George Langlois to his first meeting. He congratulated Sue Groves on the JEP article of December 17th 2002.
  3. 2Frank circulated the minutes of the Chairmen's and Secretaries meeting on November 4th 2002.
  4. 3The Section will send a letter to the Executive about the unused façade of the prison; it will make points which Executive can forward to the newly established Environment & Public Services Committee.
  5. 4Bertram Brée was thanked for organising the Pirou trip; a balance of £3.50 has been returned to each member of the party.
  6. 5Autumn lunch-time lectures 2003 - draft programme as follows :

·        Frank Falle on why Sieur Mauger broke Mme Arthur's querns in the 10th century
Derek Gray on Ronez quarry
·        Nick Jouault on vraic (depends on his work commitments)
·        Georgia Le Maistre on the Vingtaine de La Ville
·        Bob Le Sueur on another offshore tower (Icho Tower in 2002).

  2. 2004 lectures will be a special series for the 1204-2004 island-wide celebrations.

  4. 6The study group to North Finistère in 2003 :

·        Leaders : Prof. Gwyn Meirion-Jones and Mme Catherine Laurent (President of SHAB)
·        Dates : Thursday September 11 to Sunday September 14th 2003 (3 nights)
·        Hotel : Hotel de l'Europe, Morlaix (2 star with 60 rooms)
·        Travel via St Malo where the coach will meet the party
·        Bookings through Go-France; more details in January 2003
·        Size of party : upto 30 people. History Section members have priority; then those who went to Pirou. It will be announced in the Spring 2003 newsletter and also to the 'Down your way' walks mailing list.

  2. 7The Section AGM is in January 2003; the need for a Correspondence Secretary will be discussed.
  3. 8Roger Long has compiled a list of second hand books for sale, with prices. [Copy with minutes]
  4. 9'Down your way' walks for 2003 are : St Martin on May 25th; St Mary on June 15th; St Saviour on September 7th.
  5. 10The Mont de La Ville dolmen is of particular interest to George Langlois who first raised the issue of its current location in Henley-on-Thames via the JEP. It was the last of the passage grave dolmens to be built in Jersey. The JEP published Frank's letter about its plight on December 5th. Senator Lakeman has written about the matter to the Lieut. Governor. Bob Le Sueur said that the dolmen was listed in 1984 by the English authorities. The Section approves in principle getting the dolmen back, though Geraint Jennings was non-committal.

  7. Members' contributions
  8. 1Bob Le Sueur reported on the the seminar on interpretation at Mont Orgueil Castle which he attended, with Marie-Louise Backhurst, David Levitt, Mervyn Billot and Frank Falle. Teachers were also present; this might stimulate interest. Information was given on the art works already commissioned, illustrated by nine examples. These included an allegorical mediaeval figure of a wounded man and an equestrian sculpture for the Middle Ward. The artistic interpretation covers the period from 1200 to the 1600s only; emphasis has been placed on Sir Hugh Calviley, Governor in 1381. The free leaflet, a booklet and an academic volume will presumably include the castle's other roles as a state prison, the Civil War period, the Napoleonic era, Philippe d'Auvergne, the German Occupation. The marketing will concentrate on the Tudor experience and royal residence.
  9. 2David Le Maistre has found photographs of the British Hotel in Trinity.
  10. 3Bertram Brée compiled a photographic quiz, including the 12 parish churches and various slipways for us to identify whilst we had our Christmas party.
Any other business
Frank thanked Mary and Georgia for organising the food and drink.

Date of next meeting

Annual General Meeting on Tuesday January 21st 2003, 5.15pm, Members Room if available, otherwise Arthur Mourant Room