Jersey Archive’s main outreach programme for 2024 will be another series of ‘Your Home, Your Story’ (YHYS), following the success of the monthly talks last year.

The YHYS talks, which are sponsored by Antony Gibb Historic Buildings Consultants and were a new series in 2023, proved to be very popular with Islanders. Hundreds of people attended the free talks at Jersey Archive, with the final two at full capacity.

YHYS focuses on the stories behind individual properties nominated by the public, with research also carried out on the surrounding area and the people who lived there. After a fresh appeal to Islanders to nominate their homes for the 2024 programme, the Archive team received the details of more than 200 properties. These have been whittled down and those chosen to be researched include apartments, farms, country properties and village cottages. The areas covered by the talks range from Ville au Bas in St Lawrence and St Martin’s Village to Longueville and Bagot in St Saviour and Le Mourier in St Mary.

Stuart Nicolle, Jersey Heritage’s Senior Archivist, said: “Hundreds of people came to the ‘Your Home, Your Story’ talks last year so it was an easy decision to continue these popular talks in 2024. We were further encouraged by the wonderful response from Islanders wanting their homes to be researched and would like to thank everyone who got in touch with us to nominate a property. It was extremely difficult choosing which nominations to research as there were so many interesting properties to consider, but we think the 2024 programme will prove fascinating for everyone who joins us to listen to the talks.”

The YHYS series begins with a talk this Saturday (20th) about archive records newly opened to the public on 1 January 2024 under the Freedom of Information Law. February’s talk will focus on house history in general and how to research it. There will also be one-to-one sessions with a member of Archive staff available for people to book so that they can look at their own house history on the Public Registry.

Stuart said: “The talk about house history and one-to-one sessions are something that we would especially like people whose nominations weren’t successful to consider. We’d love to harness their enthusiasm for researching their homes and to help them to discover the history. Half of these

sessions have already been booked, which demonstrates the continuing popularity of house history research.”

From March onwards, the monthly YHYS talks will focus on individual properties and their surroundings areas, with the first one about Ville au Bas in St Lawrence. In December, there will be tours of Jersey Archive instead of a talk.

Antony Gibb, of Antony Gibb Historic Buildings Consultants, said: “We are delighted to be sponsoring ‘Your Home, Your Story’ again this year. Every talk in 2023 brought us fascinating insights into Jersey families and where they lived. It looks like the programme for 2024 will help us to understand our Island even better. This kind of local research really helps to protect our cultural heritage. Without understanding what we have, it’s hard to value it, so three cheers for Jersey Heritage’s work in putting together such a great series.”

The YHYS talks take place at Jersey Archive at 10am on the third Saturday of every month. They will be recorded and added to www.jerseyheritage.org for anyone who is unable to attend in-person. The Archive will also be open to the public for general research from 9am-1pm.

Places for the talks, and one-to-one sessions, can be booked by calling 833300 or emailing archives@jerseyheritage.org.

Full programme ‘Your Home, Your Story’ talks 2024

20 January – Stories from Records Opened in January 2024

17 February – House History Talk and Research Morning

16 March – Your Home, Ville au Bas in St Lawrence’s Story

20 April – Your Home, Val de la Mare’s Story

18 May – Your Home, St Martin’s Village’s Story

15 June – Your Home, First Tower’s Story

20 July – Your Home, Gorey Village’s Story

17 August – Your Home, St John’s Village and Mont Mado’s Story

21 September – Your Home, Longueville and Bagot’s Story

19 October – Your Home, St Aubin’s Story

16 November – Your Home, Le Mourier in St Mary’s Story

21 December – Tours of Jersey Archive (available at 9.30am/ 10.30am/ 11.30am)