Jersey Heritage looks after over 350,000 objects, papers, paintings, maps, volumes, parchments, textiles, archaeological finds and electronic files. These items document the unique cultural, political, social and personal history of Jersey and its residents.

Adopt an Object

The adopt an object scheme enables the conservation of specific items in our collections. The cost of conserving a single item might vary from £100 to £10,000 depending on the amount of work required. In the case of some items conservation costs could be significantly higher. You can also sponsor the preservation of whole collections and prices are available on request.

For as little as £25 you can join our adopt an object scheme and play an important part in the conservation of the Island’s treasures.

Download the full Adopt an Object brochure here.

Benefits

• A personalised certificate is posted to you with the details of the item/s you have adopted.
• All items are computer catalogued with details of your sponsorship attached to the record.
• Sponsors can view their items by appointment on a private tour.
• You'll be helping to protect the Island's heritage for generations to come.

How to adopt

It's easy to do, just fill out the Adopt an Object adoption form and send it to:

Adopt an Object

Jersey Heritage

Jersey Archive

Clarence Road

St Helier, JE2 4JY

or call Jersey Archive on: +44 (0) 1534 833300

Objects for Adoption
Objects available for adoption range from wedding dresses to artworks and from flushing toilets to manuscript items. Here are just some of the items available to adopt, to see the full range download the Adopt an Object brochure.

Hughes Wedding Dress, 1887
In 1887 Agnes Lucy Hughes married Earl Winfield Spencer in the Town Church, St Helier. Their son, Earl Winfield Spencer Junior went on to marry the infamous Wallis Simpson. This beautiful dress made by Madam Henry of Jersey needs conservation treatment for a large disfiguring stain on the front of the skirt. There have been some alterations done to the dress over the years and Jersey Heritage would like to restore it to its former glory. This is likely to cost in the region of £5000.

Blampied Wedding Dress, 1895
This wedding dress made by one of the top Jersey dressmakers of the day, Madam Coffin of New Street, was worn by Miss Ann Blampied at her wedding in 1895. Textile conservation is specialist and expensive. To clean and stabilise the silk fabric and prepare the dress for a proposed exhibition in 2013 would cost £4000.

Jersey General Hospital Admission Register, 1887
Jersey General Hospital acted as both the hospital and poor house for the Island in the 19th century. This register gives details of those admitted to the hospital and the reasons for their admission. The register needs £150 of conservation work before it can be consulted by members of the public.

Jersey National Girls school Log Book, 1862 - 1901
The Jersey National Free School for Girls was originally located at Grove Place. This book acts as a head teacher’s diary giving details of daily events at the school. It is a wonderful record of early education in the Island. The book needs £200 of conservation work before it can be consulted by members of the public.

Jersey Harbour,Fortune Bay,Newfoundland,1867
Jersey Heritage were recently fortunate to receive the gift of the painting Jersey
Harbour, Fortune Bay, Newfoundland, 1867 by Philip John Ouless from the Appleby family. The painting is one of this series of rare paintings of Canada. We plan to hang the painting in the Merchants’ House
at Pier Road, but it requires restoration and cleaning before it can be displayed. The cost of this restoration has been estimated at £1900.  Thank you to The Chadwick Charitable Trust for adopting this item.

The Crawford Collection, 19th Century
In 2009, on behalf of the Société Jersiaise, Jersey Heritage acquired a large collection of paintings belonging to the Perchard/Crawford family. Many of the paintings are by Ebenezer and Emily Crawford, husband and wife artists whose daughter married into the Perchard family. Emily in particular painted many portraits of her children, a valuable record of Victorian childhood. Many of the paintings are now in need of cleaning and repair. Once this restoration has been carried out, the paintings will help us tell the story of Victorian home life. A budget of £500 would help Jersey Heritage bring this fascinating collection of paintings to the public and would be particularly useful for our school visits which often use our Merchants’ House to look at the Victorians at home. Thank you to The Chadwick Charitable Trust for adopting these items.

Flushing toilet from the paddle steamer Paris
Coming from a ship wrecked off Jersey in 1862 this is one of the world’s first ship born flushing water closets. An almost identical one on the US warship the Monitor that sank during the American Civil War, several years later, had previously been identified as the earliest. The incredibly complex bronze and brass mechanism is in good condition but the porcelain bowl is broken. Its discoverer has repaired it but
we would like a professional ceramics conservator to redo the work so that it might be displayed properly. Thank you to On Tapp for adopting this item.

Art nouveau brush holder
Part of a wash stand set, broken and crudely restored before its donation. We would like it taken apart and restored to its former glory by a ceramics conservator. Price £200.

Thank you to Jersey Gas who have adopted three newscutting books from the Jersey Gas Collection, 1908 - 1934

Download the adoption form now.