History of Jersey
Due to the English kings' continuing claim to the Duchy of Normandy, Jersey's Norman political and legal structures remained after the split, which led to the establishment of self-governance as a Crown Dependency.
During the English Civil War, Jersey remained more loyal to the Crown due to the loyalties of the de Carteret family, though the island was eventually captured by Parliamentarian forces.
The number, size, and visible locations of these megalithic monuments (especially La Hougue Bie) have suggested that social organisation over a wide area, including surrounding coasts, was required for the construction.
[2] Roman influence has been found, in particular at Les Landes, the coastal headland site at Le Pinacle, where remains of a primitive structure are attributed to Gallo-Roman temple worship (fanum).
[2] During the migration of the Britons from Britain to Brittany (c. 5th – 6th century AD), specifically during the invasion led by St Samson, Bishop of Dol, it is believed the Channel Islands came to be settled by them.
Until King James II, successive English monarchs have then granted to Jersey by charter its certain privileges, likely to ensure the island's continued loyalty, accounting for its advantageous position at the boundary of the European continent.
[20] In 1294, Philip IV the Fair of France refused to return Aquitainian fortresses surrendered to his men by Edward I and his brother Edmund Crouchback as a show of good faith after an outbreak of piracy and informal war between the two countries.
[25] In 1341, in recognition of islanders' efforts during the war, Edward III declared that Jerseymen should 'hold and retain all privileges, liberties, immunities and customs granted by our forebares'.
In the wake of the plague, the island experienced economic stagnation but high levels of employment, with population numbers kept down by late marriage and declining fertility.
The garrison came to an agreement that they would surrender if not relieved by Michaelmas and du Guesclin sailed back to Brittany, leaving a small force to carry on the siege.
[21]: 49 On 7 October 1406, 1,000 French men at arms led by Pedro de Niño, a Castilian nobleman turned corsair, invaded Jersey, landing at St Aubin's Bay and defeated the 3,000 defenders but failed to capture the island.
[2]: 81 During the reign of Edward VI, the Government issued a new prayer book, which was translated into French, however did not arrive in the island until the throne had changed hands to Queen Mary, who led the restoration of Catholicism in England.
This meant that life became very austere: laws were strictly enforced, punishment for wrong doers was severe, but education was improved – a school was started in every parish and support was given for Jersey boys to attend Oxford.
Both sides sent parties to Westminster – the Colloquy sending George Poulet, the Bailiff – however a compromise was found locally, with Messervy agreeing to continue using the Huguenot prayer book.
Despite the fact that Heane had prohibited looting, many soldiers stole things from islanders and secularised a number of holy buildings, for example burning all the pews in St Helier's church.
[21]: 146 In recognition for all the help given to him during his exile, Charles II gave George Carteret, Bailiff and governor, a large grant of land in the American colonies, which he promptly named New Jersey, now part of the United States of America.
Where a case did not amount to felony, wrongdoers could request to vider le pays, being entitled to nine days of sanctuary in any of the parish churches and then having to leave the island using a perquage route.
The building arching over Charing Cross (at the time the entrance to town from the west) was completed by 1699, where the prison would remain until its 1811 relocation to the present site of the General Hospital (on Gloucester Street, not at Westmount).
[2]: 164–5 During William's wars with France, Jersey was on the whole at peace, with the notable exception of 1692, when Louis XIV permitted an army to gather at La Hougue on the Cotentin.
In the early 19th century, the military roads were constructed (on occasion at gunpoint in the face of opposition from landowners) by the governor, General George Don, to link coastal fortifications with the town harbour.
Farmers in previously isolated valleys were able to swiftly transport crops grown in the island's microclimate to waiting ships and then on to the markets of London and Paris ahead of the competition.
In the wake of the Napoleonic wars after the defeat of France in 1815, the Channel Islands lost their strategic value, as points of conflict between the British and foreign powers moved to the North Sea.
The St Laurentine Laurelites (conservatives, the eventual name for the Charlots) attacked the Inn in their village where Rose men (the progressive descendants of the Magots) were holding a meeting.
In 1883, John Stuart Blackie recounted an Englishman's comment that only one thing was needed to make Jersey perfect, and that was "a full participation in the benefits of English law".
Many English who had moved to the island discovered an alien environment, with unfamiliar laws (in a foreign language they could not understand) and no recourse to access the local power to counter them.
It was suggested that, although the islands had proven themselves loyal to the British Sovereign, that this was out of hereditary impression, rather than affinity towards the English people, and that anglicisation would not only encourage loyalty and congeniality between the nations, but also provide economic prosperity and improved "general happiness".
[6]: 268 In 1852, the French author and poet Victor Hugo arrived to seek refuge in Jersey, as had many other revolutionaries and socialists from the Continent, facing exile from France and Belgium.
In 1855, these refugees republished in their weekly paper L'Homme an open letter from a number of French socialists living in London, which stated 'You have sacrificed your dignity as a Queen, your fastidiousness as a woman, your pride as an aristocrat, even your honour.'
The 19th century also saw the rise of tourism as an important industry (linked with the improvement in passenger ships)[17]: 196 which reached its climax in the period from the end of the Second World War to the 1980s.
For example in 2017, the Paradise Papers – a global leak of confidential documents relating to offshore investments – revealed that Apple had made two international subsidiaries tax resident in Jersey in 2015.
