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A leather travelling chest that once belonged to Vice-Admiral Philippe d’Auvergne (1754-1816) has taken one last voyage across the world and back to Jersey.
Our Collections team have been organising the repatriation of the chest, which had been passed down through the d’Auvergne family since Philippe’s death in the early 19th century. It was generously gifted to us in 2025 by Geoffrey d’Auvergne but the challenge was that it was located in New Zealand, where the donor and his family live.
The chest left New Zealand by boat in August, sailing across the world and arriving in the UK in November 2025, before finally being delivered to Jersey just before Christmas – our last accession to the collections in 2025.
The chest’s original owner, Philippe d’Auvergne, was an important figure in Jersey’s history who had a varied and dramatic career that included the role of naval officer, explorer, scientist and spymaster. After joining the Royal Navy at the age of 16, he travelled all over the world, from an Arctic expedition in 1773-74 to commanding ships in Boston Harbour during the American War of Independence. He also sailed to the Cape of Good Hope, surveyed the islands of Trindade and Martim Vaz in the South Atlantic, and travelled to India with the East India Company.
Philippe d'Auvergne's travelling chest
During his time with the Navy, he was imprisoned, shipwrecked and Court Martialled (though acquitted), before he settled back in Jersey in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars, tasked with the naval defence of the Island.
d’Auvergne also worked for British intelligence, spying on the movements of the French and smuggling arms and supplies to French Royalists. Fitting with this aspect of his career, our Conservation team made an exciting discovery while cleaning the travel chest; they removed the two pull-out drawers and noticed that one wasn’t as deep as the other. They checked the interior of the chest and realised there was a hidden, pull-out container – presumably for secret items to be transported. Sadly, it was only full of spiderwebs!
The secret compartment revealed while the chest was being cleaned in the Conservation Lab
While in Jersey, d’Auvergne also transformed the medieval chapel on top of the mound at La Hougue Bie and constructed a tower, known as the Prince’s Tower, which he used as a signal station.
Prince's Tower at La Hougue Bie, Artist Unknown
D’Auvergne’s life was a fascinating one, with many twists and turns, but there are very few objects in our collections directly connected to him. We are delighted to have this piece of his history back in the Island to serve as a lasting reminder of d’Auvergne’s story.
Miniature portrait of Philippe d'Auvergne, c.1790
Places to Visit
La Hougue Bie
A peaceful and ancient site where you can visit one of the oldest buildings in the world.
History
The Discovery of La Hougue Bie
The Société Jersiaise excavated the mound at La Hougue Bie during September 1924 and discovered the passage grave beneath.
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Donating to our collection
If you have an item of interest you’d like to donate to Jersey Heritage take a look at our collections policy.