[1] He started work, during the German occupation of Jersey, for the law firm Crill and Benest, where his father was a partner.
He later wrote of the escape 'With hindsight we achieved very little except to confirm through the memorandum of the then Bailiff, Mr A.M. Coutanche, the state of the Island as regards food and heating.
During this period he was President of the Legislation Committee and was responsible for introducing examinations for candidates seeking to become Jersey advocates and solicitors.
[10] Another that 'A man who appeared to have a tough exterior, Sir Peter also had a great capacity to be hurt as he was on several occasions during his time as Bailiff'.
[12] Sir Peter received complaints from lawyers and the Jersey Law Society about Tomes' delays in producing reserved judgments.
[14] In May 1992, however, Tomes was finally told he would be removed from office with effect on 1 July 1992, provoking a demonstration of 1,000 people in his support.
[17] In 1993, Tomes successfully stood for elected office as a Senator in the States of Jersey but failed to bring about any constitutional reforms.
While serving as Bailiff, he wrote letters in a personal capacity to The Times expressing disquiet about aspects of the changing world, including the campaign to admit women members to the Oxford and Cambridge Club in London[18] and proposals to give degree-awarding powers to polytechnics.
[19] As Bailiff, Sir Peter, with the assistance of an advisory panel, exercised powers to license public entertainment in the island.
He refused permission for a visiting amateur theatre group to perform Howard Brenton's play Christie in Love[20] and required changes to the staging of a production of Shakespeare's Coriolanus by the Tricycle Theatre Company to prevent an actor's naked buttocks being visible to the audience.
In 1994, the refurbished wing of the former nurses' home in Gloucester Street, St Helier was renamed 'Peter Crill House'.