The documents, released under the Freedom of Information Law, give fresh insight into what life was like for Islanders in the years between the two World Wars and the ways in which Jersey underwent rehabilitation in the period following the German Occupation.

They also shine a light on criminal cases, such as that of Leon Theodore Menier – nicknamed “Champagne Charlie” by the press and who was imprisoned for stealing and consuming bottles of alcohol from Hamptonne in January 1925 – and Islanders’ health in the 1920s, married women’s rights to hold their own property and the physical and social impact of Occupation in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

The records opened after 100 years date from 1925, a year in which John Logie Baird successfully transmitted the first television pictures. In Jersey, the States adopted the Married Women’s Property Act which abolished a wife’s property passing to her husband at the time of their marriage.

Documents that are now open to the public after 75 years date from 1950, a year in which the States discussed a new Housing Law, plans were adopted for the building of a modern secondary school at Hautlieu, and the Jersey Divorce Court, or Matrimonial Causes Court, heard its first applications.

Linda Romeril, Jersey Heritage’s Director of Archives & Collections, said: “Each year, new records are released to the public after closures of up to 100 years under Freedom of Information exemptions. This year’s records include both stories of individuals and of wider social policies and attitudes in the inter-war and post Occupation periods.

“Of particular interest this year is a letter from Caroline Trachy, who campaigned for women’s rights in Jersey. The letter highlights the passing of the Married Women’s Property Act in 1925 and the impact this had on Caroline’s aspirations to become a Member of the States Assembly.”

The archive records now open to the public include:

Bailiff’s Correspondence Files – Caroline Trachy

The Bailiff’s correspondence files cover a wide variety of subjects, including letters that relate to the

development of legislation in the Island. However, as they can also include personal letters and details of individuals’ lives, these files are closed to the public for 100 years.

The file that has been opened to the public this year covers the period 1924 – 1925 when William Venables Vernon was Bailiff. It contains a letter from Caroline Trachy, President of the Women’s Jersey Political Union, dated 18 May 1925 and relating to the Married Women’s Property Act of 1925.

The Married Women’s Property Act was lodged with the States on 18 March 1924 and abolished a wife’s property passing to her husband at the time of their marriage.

The Act was passed by the States on 12 February 1925 with a strong majority in favour and finally gave married women in Jersey the same rights to acquire, hold and dispose of real or personal property in the same manner as if she were single, as had been introduced in England 43 years earlier in 1882.

Prior to 1925, married women had been able to go to court after they married, with the agreement of their husband, to separate their property and give women the control of any property they held. However, this Act finally made married women’s control of their property a legal certainty rather than an agreement requiring the consent of both parties in the marriage.

Trachy was a fierce advocate for women’s rights and had campaigned for women in Jersey to receive the vote, which they did in 1919. In 1922, she stood as a candidate for Deputy in St Helier No 3 District.

Nominations took place in early December and the Constable of St Helier declared that Trachy was not eligible to stand due to a technicality. The matter went before the Courts and they concluded that an amendment to the law had to be introduced to allow women to stand as Deputies.

Trachy was instrumental in establishing a new organisation to argue for women’s rights. The first meeting of the Women’s Jersey Political Union took place on 9 April 1923 at 27, David Place with over 100 people in attendance. The primary objective of the Union was to achieve ‘full political and civil rights for women in Jersey’. This included the right to retain their own property enshrined in the English Married Women’s Property Act of 1882.

The Women’s Jersey Political Union organised a petition, which was presented to the States in early 1924, demanding that ‘women may be granted full civil and political rights as now enjoyed by women in Great Britain and in the Island of Guernsey.’ A total of 671 signatures were collected, with Trachy’s being the first on the list. The States did finally move in March 1924 to codify that women could stand as Deputies.

In her letter to the Bailiff, Trachy asks him to make clear whether, following the passing of the Married Women’s Property Act “it is now necessary that I should be separated to be eligible for the States?….Some of the members of the States, also legal men say Yes! Others say No!”

Trachy put herself forward for the elections again in St Helier No 3 in December 1925. She went to the nominations meeting but was again disqualified despite the Law being changed to allow women to stand and the passing of the Married Women’s Property Act in February as she had not been to Court to separate her property from her husband’s.

Trachy stood for a final time in 1928 and this time was allowed to be nominated. In the event, she came last out of the four candidates, receiving 169 votes compared to poll topping Deputy Le Masurier’s 579.

When making remarks after the election to cheers she said: “I am defeated, but I am not beaten.” She never stood for election again. However, she did live to see the first woman Deputy, Ivy Forster, win her election 20 years later.

St Lawrence Honorary Police Register – “Champagne Charlie”

The St Lawrence Honorary Police Register includes the arrest of Leon Theodore Menier, aged 28 from St Helier, on 2 January 1925. Menier became known in the press as “Champagne Charlie” because he was arrested for breaking into Hamptonne in December 1924 and stealing six bottles of champagne and an overcoat from the owner, Francis Philip Dutot.

When questioned in court, Menier insisted he had only had part of two of the bottles and said the overcoat had been returned to the Police.

During the hearing, Dutot testified that Hamptonne was not tenanted during the holidays as he stayed in Town and that it must have been during this period that the house was broken into. When Dutot next visited the house, he discovered that seven or eight bottles of champagne had been drunk and the bottles very carefully replaced empty on the rack, but that whoever had drunk them had clearly had too much as they were sick on the carpet!

An eyewitness saw “Charlie” enter the kitchen with two bottles of champagne in hand and told him he had better put them back. Apparently, he drunk one straight away.

Menier, or “Champagne Charlie”, was eventually sent to prison for one month with hard labour.

General Hospital Admission Register – Childcare

The health of Islanders is highlighted in the General Hospital Admission Register for 1925. The register includes the date of admission, name of the individual, age and place of birth and the reason for their hospital admission.

The register shows that the hospital was still used as a poor house during 1925, with some individuals admitted for indigence or poverty. These admissions were less prevalent than in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but show that a small number of individuals lived in the hospital for a number of years.

These include Georgina Butler who had been in the hospital since before 1879 and Archibald E H Bastifell (or Baskerville), who had been there since 1883.

The hospital would also take in children while their mothers were receiving treatment. On 7 March 1925, Cyril, Elsie and Ivy Kessell, aged four, three and one respectively and the children of Cyril Rapson Kessell, were admitted to the hospital as their mother was receiving treatment for her mental health.

The children are later admitted again in August 1925 but the reason given this time was that their parents were in prison. The Prison Register shows that their father was accused of assault and of neglecting his wife and children.

The hospital appears to have looked after children for reasons other than while their mothers were receiving treatment. In June 1925, Yvonne Alice Le Secq, the daughter of Ollivier Marie Le Secq, was admitted to hospital at the age of three months. The reason given was that it was ‘during the potato picking season’.

Defence Committee Minutes, December 1948-March 1950 – German Nationals’ Visit Requests

The minutes of the Defence Committee include a number of applications presented by the Chief Aliens Officer for individuals not of British birth to come and work in the Island. These included an application in December 1948 from A de Gruchy and Company to employ Madame Simone Berthier, a French subject, in the capacity of dressmaker-tailoress. The Committee agreed and acknowledged a lack of skilled dressmakers in the Island.

The minutes show there were some German nationals who had been part of the occupying forces who wished to return to the Island. In February 1949, they discussed the case of Albert Vollmer, a

German national living in Surrey, who had been a member of the German Forces during Occupation. Mr Vollmer wrote to request permission to visit the Island but his request was refused. In March, the Committee received another request from Mr Resch, who had been a member of the occupying forces and had married a woman from Jersey in London in 1948. He asked to come to the Island to visit his wife’s relatives but was refused permission.

Public Works Committee – Miniature Zoo at the Castle?

The Public Works Committee had responsibilities under the Building Operations (Jersey) Order to approve licences for various building works in the Island.

They also had responsibility for buildings in public ownership, including the castles. In their meeting of 16 February 1949, they discussed a number of proposals for Elizabeth Castle, including a bathroom and lavatory in the café and replastering of part of the former hospital building.

In March, the Committee received an interesting proposal for Elizabeth Castle; Mr Swarbrick suggested the installation of a miniature zoo, aquarium and aviary asking if the Committee would also allow him to sell refreshments from the bunker at West Park. The suggestions were turned down.

The question of what to do with the German fortifications left on the Island was a hot topic in 1949 and in February, the Committee inspected a concrete gun platform erected by the Germans on private property near Fort William on Grouville Common. The States Engineer was authorised to make arrangements with the owner of the property for the platform’s removal.

Not all fortifications were removed. Many were reused, including the bunker at Grève de Lecq next to Café Romany. The Committee agreed that Mr Minnett who owned the café could use the bunker for storage.

In January 1950, £8,800 was voted by the States of Jersey for the purchase of Noirmont and Warren Farm from Mrs de Gruchy and Mrs Dixon, née de Gruchy. In 1949, Mrs de Gruchy and Mrs Dixon had petitioned the King asking to be allowed to sell land belonging to the Fief, Manor and Seigneurie of Noirmont to the States. The land was to be sold with the proviso that it be preserved as a memorial to the men and women of Jersey who perished in the Second World War. Permission was duly given and the land was sold to the Public of the Island in September 1950.

The Public Works Committee took on the management of the site and after it had been acquired by the States, the land was tidied up and any dangerous fortifications were made safe. In the first instance, notice boards were erected warning the public of the dangerous conditions that might be encountered when visiting the property.