The records are all stored at the Jersey Archive are now freely available for members of the public to consult. Linda Romeril Head of Archives and Collections said ‘Each year Jersey Heritage opens more documents for people to come and view at the Archive. Whilst many of our documents are open to public access from the moment they arrive at the Archive, some files with sensitive personal data are closed for a certain period of time to protect individuals privacy.’ She continued ‘The files that have been opened in 2012 allow us to discover some fascinating personal stories and also show us the changing nature of welfare, crime and punishment in our society.’
General Background
Many of the records date from 1911 - a year in which George V was crowned, British MPs first received salaries and the Suffragettes stormed Parliament. Locally the first trip of the SS Sarnia occurred on the 13th April, buried treasure was unearthed at La Moye when 13 coins of the period of Charles II were found and the States debated the Elementary Education Act which proposed extending the leaving age of children to 14.
Defence Committee Minutes Records opened for the first time in 2012 include the Island’s Defence Committee Minutes from July 1925 to April 1936. The minutes cover a crucial period in international politics with the rise of Nazi Germany and the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor in 1933.
The minutes deal with the day to day running of the Jersey Militia, the various military arsenals around the Island and the military camp at Les Quennevais. However by 1935 there are hints of the preparations for the forthcoming Second World War as the Island receives information on precautions that should be taken in the event of an air raid. The Island sends representatives from St John’s Ambulance to a training session in London for actions to be taken in the event of an air raid.
The minutes also give details of the purchase of weapons to be used in the defence of the Island. In February 1936 the Committee approve £53 for the purchase of a Barr & Stroud Range-Finder – commonly used by the Royal Navy in the First World War.
Witness Statements in Criminal Cases
Records opened for the first time in 2012 include details of witness statements in criminal cases from 1911. The witness statements in 37 cases that came before the Courts have been kept and give us valuable evidence of the crimes committed during this period. Crimes from 1911 include those accused of theft, serious assault, robbery, vagrancy and shooting someone in the shoulder.
Conrad Frederick William Krimmel, a soldier in the King’s Own Regiment is accused of bigamy. Krimmel is reported to have married Maud Alice Swatman at Colchester in 1908 before being sent to Jersey with his regiment and marrying Annie May Bourke at St Mary and St Peter’s Church in Jersey in 1910. The witness statements include that of Annie May who says that she ‘made the acquaintance of prisoner soon after the Regiment came to Jersey in November 1908.’ and that she ‘kept company with him’. Annie May reports that the prisoner ‘told me he was a Bachelor.’
Krimmel was sentenced to a £2 fine and a year in prison with forced labour. Annie May was naturally cautious of entering into matrimony for a second time but eventually in 1934, at the age of 43 she married William George Forson.
In June 1911 two of the soldiers at St Peter’s Barracks – Lance Corporals Wade and Lewis, were also involved in a criminal case when Ward was shot in the right shoulder and Lewis on his left cheek. The case was brought against Auguste Joseph Debrieu, Jean Aubry, Amélie Bazille and Léa Tandé. Wade claimed that he had been walking down La Motte Street at night when the two women ‘accosted’ him and asked him to buy them a drink. Wade went with Léa and Amélie to a public house and then back to their house in La Motte Street. Wade found that he had been robbed whilst at the house and went back the following night with Lewis to confront the women. The two men were shot when trying to get the money back.
Once at Court more details of the case emerged and Léa and Amélie were charged with prostitution and eventually banished from the Island for 5 years.
The image above is of the two ladies in question.
On a lighter note John Tregear is accused of the adulteration of pork pies and sausages.
Hospital Records
Hospital admission books from 1911 that are now open to the public give us a fascinating insight into the afflictions of our ancestors. In 1911 the Hospital was also used as a poor house and a number of the admission simply state that the individual was indigent or poor.
The Public Assistance Committee of the day also gave assistance to those in need who were not in the hospital. A book listing the payments given to the ‘external poor’ in 1911 includes lists of clothing, blankets, shoes and carbon that helped a number of families through the Winter months.
Aliens Cards.
The Jersey Archive holds over 4000 ‘aliens’ registration cards. In 1914 the British Parliament passed the Aliens Restrictions Act, limiting the movement of foreign nationals into the UK and the Isle of Man as well as ensuring that such people would be monitored whilst in the country. However, the act did not cover Jersey, and by 1919 it was considered urgent to take steps to prevent Jersey being used as a back door for foreign nationals trying to enter the UK. The principal points of the 1914 law were adopted by the island in an act of the States dated 17 February 1920.
The law stated that all aliens over the age of sixteen resident in Jersey had to register with an Immigration Officer, who was obliged to keep an up-to-date list of all aliens living in the island. This was kept in the form of a card for each person. Information on each card includes name, address, date and place of birth, nationality, occupation, date of arrival in the island and last country of residence. The cards also include a signature or left thumbprint, and most interestingly for researchers, a photograph.
The aliens' registration cards, due to the personal nature of the information they contain, are closed for 100 years from the date of birth of the individual. This means that at the beginning of each year we open the next set of cards for researchers to access.
Cards open in 2012 include that of Julian Price Arbaugh, a mining engineer from America, Julie Bonney, a dressmaker from France, Edmond Doublard a quarryman and Joseph Frank Oeillet, a hairdresser.
Also included is the registration card of Soo Foo Yuk, who was born in China, moved to Hong Kong and arrived in Jersey in 1953 with her employer Mr Ellis. Interestingly her card is signed in Chinese.