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Reminder:

All sessions (both in-school and on-site) offered by the Education Team are free of charge.

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Powerpoint on the life of Lillie Langtry

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Arms of Carteret: Gules, four fusils in fess argent

Vice-Admiral Sir George Carteret, 1st Baronet ( c. 1610 - 14 January 1680 N.S.) was a royalist statesman in Jersey and England, who served in the Clarendon Ministry as Treasurer of the Navy. He was also one of the original lords proprietor of the former British colony of Carolina and New Jersey. Carteret, New Jersey, as well as Carteret County, North Carolina, both in the United States, are named after him. He acquired the manor of Haynes, Bedfordshire, ( alias Hawnes) in about 1667.

Carteret was the son of Elias de Carteret and Elizabeth Dumaresq of Jersey, who both died in 1640.[citation needed ] Elias was the son of Philippe de Carteret I, 2nd Seigneur of Sark. With the help of his Uncle Philippe de Carteret II, 3rd Seigneur of Sark George was able to gain a position in the Royal Navy (George dropped the "de" from his surname when he entered the English navy, concerned that it sounded too French). George was "bred for the sea" and served as an officer in various naval ships, being commissioned as a Lieutenant of the in 1629, and later in 1631, serving under Vice-Admiral Sir John Penington on the Bonaventure.

During this time the young Carteret and Admiral Penington would become friends. This friendship would serve Carteret well, as when Penington became the Admiral of the Narrow Seas in 1632, Carteret was given prominent positions throughout the 1630s where he would eventually be promoted to Captain in 1635 and command the and the Happy Entrance. Carteret would join a small group of Naval Captains in presenting a memorial of the Navy to King Charles I, which according to Samuel Pepys, Carteret was responsible for presenting and recommending the first use of frigates in the Royal Navy, from blueprints of a Frenchman in Saint-Malo.

In 1637, Carteret became involved in raids in the Pirate Republic of Salé in order to rescue Christian captives that were held there. In 1641, Carteret was then a Vice-Admiral in command of the Rainbow. He was given the position of the Comptroller of the Navy in November 1641, for his service to King Charles II.

As a result of his early life at sea, he received little or no formal education, and his embarrassing ignorance was a source of much ridicule in later life. Andrew Marvell mocked his poor command of English, and Samuel Pepys remarked that his ignorance of even the most basic Latin phrases would cause a schoolboy to be whipped. "Such ignorance is not to be borne in a Privy Councillor", wrote Pepys severely.[citation needed ]

Sir George Carteret's Proclamation of King Charles II in Jersey 1649

Carteret quietly tried to carry on his duties at Comptroller of the Navy during the political fallout that had erupted between the supporters of Charles I and the supporters of Parliament. Many within the rank and file of the Royal Navy supported the Parliamentarian cause and the Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, a keen parliamentarian, was made the High Lord Admiral of the Royal Navy in 1642 over Carteret's former commanding officer, John Penington, who was a royalist.

On the commencement of the Civil War, he retired from the Navy, and withdrew with his family to Jersey, where his uncle, Sir Philippe de Carteret, was the Bailiff and Lieutenant-Governor. The Island descended into conflict in 1643, with George and his uncle fighting on the side of the Royalists. The Royalists managed to hold onto the twin fortresses of Mont Orgueil and Elizabeth Castle and soon were able to rout the Island's Parliamentarian supporters. Carteret governed Jersey with great severity, imprisoning Parliamentarian supporters and confiscating their property.

Commissioned vice-admiral and knighted in 1645, Carteret conducted a successful privateering operation against Parliamentarian merchant ships. After the defeat of the Royalists on the mainland in 1645, Carteret afforded an asylum to the Prince of Wales ( Charles Stuart) and other refugees of distinction within his government of Jersey, where he served as Bailiff (1643-1651).

Carteret organised the Jersey Militia along parish lines, creating twelve distinct units each with 150 infantrymen under a captain, a lieutenant, as well as a few light guns. Each parish had a small troop of dragoons or mounted infantry. Carteret also had a small private army made up of Royalist veterans, who had fled from England after the defeat of Charles I, and a collection of foreign mercenaries. George Carteret also had Charles II proclaimed King in St. Helier on 17 February 1649 having 23 other prominent people of Jersey including his cousins Sir Philip Carteret and Elias Dumaresq sign the proclamation, after the execution of his father, Charles I.

In 1651, a Parliamentarian expeditionary force was sent to capture the Islands. Colonel James Heane was appointed the military commander of the invasion force which numbered 3,000 men, comprising his own regiment, six companies of Sir Hardress Waller's foot, two troops of horse and 200 men from Guernsey. The naval commander was General-at-Sea Robert Blake, whose fleet included twelve warships and a further seventy supply ships and transports. The fleet was sighted at dawn on the 20 October to the north-east of Jersey and remained anchored in St. Ouen's Bay all day, waiting for favourable winds in order to start disembarking their troops on the shore.

Upon hearing this news, Sir George Carteret mobilized the Jersey Militia as well as his own professional soldiers. He dispatched the militia of Grouville to defend the town of St. Helier, the militia of St. Lawrence to defend the harbour at St. Aubin, and the militia of St. Brelade to defend the Bay of St. Brelade. Carteret took the bulk of the militia to St. Ouen's Bay, which they reached by noon on 20 October. In all, Carteret had about 2,000 men; 300 of which were cavalry, and the rest were infantry, and a score of cannon. With the bulk of the force being conscripts, however, it seems these men had little inclination for a pitched battle against the veterans of the New Model Army.

After several days of the Parliamentarian fleet trying to outmanoeuvre the Royalists (leading many militiamen to desert the Royalist cause), Admiral Blake decided to land his troops in the evening of the 22/23 October. Carteret noticed that some of the ships were heading for the shoreline and he gave the order for his army to prepare for battle. At first, the Royalist cavalry charge was able to thrown the Parliamentarians back into the sea, with the militiamen firing into the ranks of the fleeing invaders.

However, at the crucial moment, the cavalry commander, Colonel Bovill, was struck by a musket bullet and mortally wounded. With this loss, the cavalry fled from the battlefield and, with their retreat, the militiamen soon began to desert despite the efforts of Carteret to rally them. Colonel Heane's troops then got themselves organized and disembarked without incident.

Colonel Heane soon began to overrun the Island, with no resistance being offered by the royalists. Carteret's sole plan was to hold onto the two castles of Mont Orgueil and Elizabeth Castle, as well as the fort on a small islet off St. Aubin's Bay, similar to the royalist strategy in 1643. This did not go according to plan, however, as the garrison of St. Aubin's Fort abandoned their posts to the oncoming parliamentarians on 23 October and Mont Orgueil, which was not suited to artillery warfare, surrendered on 25 October.

George Carteret, however, was determined to hold out at Elizabeth Castle, in the hopes that a royalist relief force from France would arrive, or in the hopes of frustrating the parliamentarians so much that they abandoned the siege.

Elizabeth Castle was a far more imposing fortification than the likes of Mont Orgueil or St. Aubin's Fort. The castle was built on a rocky islet, which was about a mile off the coast, which meant that it was surrounded by the sea on all sides and made it difficult to be bombarded from the land. It also had an arsenal of fifty-three cannon defending the site, which had ample munitions, and enough provisions for the garrison for about eight months. Nevertheless, Colonel Heane erected a number of batteries as close to Elizabeth Castle as possible and began to bombard the castle. Also within Heane's arsenal were three large mortars which fired massive bombs, which were emplaced on a battery near the old harbour of St. Helier.

On the night of 9/10 November, a mortar shell fell onto the roof of the old Abbey Church, which just so happened to be the building where the defenders had been keeping their munitions and gunpowder. The shell exploded on the lowest storey of the priory and detonated the twelve barrels of gunpowder inside, which caused a massive explosion. The blast destroyed several adjacent buildings, which buried forty members of the garrison nearby the blast under rubble. Of these, sixteen men were killed and another ten were wounded.

The blast also destroyed two thirds of food stores and beer and cider rations. A panic ensued amongst the garrison in the aftermath of the explosion, with a number of the defenders deserting their posts and fleeing to St. Helier. These men were quickly captured and interrogated by the parliamentarians, who provided Colonel Heane with valuable information on the state of the castle's fortifications. The morale in the remaining garrison quickly declined, especially after an incident in which a Jerseyman of the garrison was hanged for desertion.

Despite these setbacks, George Carteret was determined to hold out for as long as possible, and he proceeded to keep the King's Standard flying over Elizabeth Castle for nearly another month. In that time, he received word from Charles II who had stated plainly that the French Government were unwilling to help, for fear of sparking a diplomatic incident with the English Commonwealth. Carteret was, therefore, very much on his own. Negotiations commenced between the two sides on 5 December and, by the 15 December, it was agreed the defending garrison was to march out of the castle with full honours, with officers permitted to retain their swords, breastplates, and pistols. Sir George Carteret was allowed to take a single vessel, sail with all his possessions to France, and formally join the household of the exiled Charles II. On the eve of the surrender, Sir George invited Colonel Heane to dinner and they met each other on the rocks at the foot of Fort Charles (Bastion a part of Elizabeth castle). On 15 December, Sir George sailed to St. Malo on his four gun sloop, 'Scout', accompanied by the parliamentarian warship, 'Eagle'.

He stayed in exile in France for a six years until he was imprisoned in 1657, thence he ventured to Venice. The warmth and kindness with which he received the refugees earned him a permanent place in the King's affections, and also the friendship of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, the King's chief adviser during his exile and for the first few years after the Restoration.

Spot of the Proclamation of King Charles II in Jersey 1649

Carteret was sworn into the Privy Council, appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, and constituted Treasurer of the Navy.

His career for the next decade is documented in the diary of Samuel Pepys, who joined him as Clerk of the Acts to the Navy Board in 1660. In 1667, he exchanged his office as Vice-Chamberlain with Lord Anglesey for that of Vice-Treasurer of Ireland, an office which he sold in 1669 for £11,000.

His influence seems to have been at its height in 1665, when he boasted to Pepys that the King did nothing without his knowledge; however, as the naval war dragged on, the Treasurer of the Navy was an obvious target of the opposition, and Pepys noted that by the spring of 1666 Carteret was being attacked on all sides. By the autumn of 1667, he confessed to Pepys that he was longing for the quiet of retirement. As Treasurer he was hard working and free from any suspicion of corruption, although his colleagues at the Navy Board complained that they found his accounts difficult to follow.

From 1661 to 1679, he represented Portsmouth, sponsored by the Admiralty, in the Cavalier Parliament. Although he sat on a number of committees he was a fairly inactive member of the house.

The fidelity with which Carteret, like John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, had clung to the royal cause, gave him also great influence at court: he was close to Clarendon, and to the Earl of Sandwich, whose daughter married Carteret's eldest son. He had, at an early date, taken a warm interest in the colonization of America. In recognition of all the help given to him during his exile in Jersey in the 1640s, Charles II gave Carteret a large grant of land, part of the previously named New Netherland, which was promptly renamed New Jersey under his charge. With Berkeley, he became one of the proprietors of the Province of Carolina prior to their becoming jointly interested in East Jersey. Carteret County, North Carolina and town of Carteret, New Jersey are named after him, and the city of Elizabeth, New Jersey, is named after his wife, as is Elizabethtown, North Carolina.

In 1665, Carteret was one of the drafters of the Concession and Agreement, a document that provided freedom of religion in the colony of New Jersey. It was issued as a proclamation for the structure of the government for the colony written by the two proprietors, Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret.

Carteret was a signatory to The Several Declarations of The Company of Royal Adventurers of England Trading into Africa, a document published in 1667 which led to the expansion of the Royal Africa Company.

In 1669, he faced expulsion from the House of Commons for misconduct as Vice Chamberlain, being accused of embezzlement. After a statement from the king expressing his satisfaction with Carteret and an acquittal by the House of Lords, the inquiry against him lapsed. He was, in fact, generally regarded as an honest man.

In 1673, he was appointed one of the Lords of the Admiralty, and continued in the public service until his death on 14 January 1680.

Shortly before Carteret's death, the king proposed to give him the title Baron Carteret, but Carteret died too soon, so the honour was granted to his grandson George.

In the Chapel of Mont Orgueil Castle,[citation needed ] May 1640, George Carteret married his cousin Elizabeth de Carteret, daughter of Philippe de Carteret II, 3rd Seigneur de Sark, and his wife Anne Dowse. They had three sons and five daughters:

Philip (1641-1672), their eldest son, married Lady Jemima Montagu, daughter of the Earl of Sandwich, and had four children: his eldest son George was raised to the peerage. Philip was killed in action at the Battle of Sole Bay, along with his father-in-law; Jemima had died in childbirth in November of the previous year.

James (died after 1679), served as a captain in the Royal Navy, and married and had children

George (died 1656), who died unmarried.

Elizabeth (who never married)

Rachel

Louisa-Margaret, who married Sir Robert Atkyns of Sapperton, only son of Sir Robert Atkyns, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer; her family nickname was "Louisonne", according to Samuel Pepys

Anne (died 1668), "a pious and sweet-tempered lady", who married Sir Nicholas Slanning, 1st Baronet, no issue

Caroline, who married Sir Thomas Scott of Scot's Hall, son of Edward Scott and Lady Catherine Goring, daughter of George Goring, 1st Earl of Norwich.

Samuel Pepys liked and admired Lady Carteret "the most kind lady in the world."

George Carteret is seen as a divisive figure in Jersey, with some seeing him very much as swashbuckling local hero and others as a prolific slave trader who made his fortune through piracy and slavetrading.

Jersey writer, Ollie Taylor, in his blog 'The whitewashing of George Carteret' says that on the one hand, 'Carteret has also been described as a hero, 'Jersey's greatest son', one of "Jersey's great figures" and a role model for youngsters.' But Taylor is also critical of a revisionist history saying, "By ignoring a fundamental part of Carteret's story it ends up being exactly that, a rewriting of history'

He explains that, "He [Carteret] was one of the founding six committee members of the 'Company of Royal Adventurers into Africa', set up in 1660 to trade in gold, ivory and slaves. Which apparently was also a family affair with his son James 'collecting' over 300 slaves from Africa for transportation to the West Indies during one of the company's early voyages in 1663. The company was succeeded nine years later and was the template for the 'Royal African Company', of whom Carteret was a consultant and early minor investor.

The Royal African Company went on to ship more African slaves to the Americas than any other institution in the history of the Atlantic slave trade. Between 1680 and 1688, it transported approximately 5,000 slaves a year totalling around 212,000 between 1662 and 1731. It's estimated that 44,000 men, women and children died en route, with thousands of those who did survive arriving in the New World with the company's initials branded on their chests."

In 2014, a Constable of Saint Peter sought and received over £36,000 in public funds to erect a statue of Carteret in Jersey, to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the founding of New Jersey. In June 2020, following the murder of George Floyd and the widespread removal and destruction of monuments of those involved in slave trading around the world, the statue in Saint Peter was defaced with white paint due to Carteret's involvement with the Royal Africa Company. One historian called the company "the single most prolific trader of slaves". After calls from some residents of Jersey to move the statue to a museum were ignored, it was defaced again in August 2020 with red paint and chains.

New Jersey Archives, First Series. Newark, NJ, 1880-1893, Volume 1, page 25.

Whitehead, William Adee, East Jersey under the proprietary governments. New York, New-Jersey historical society, 1846, page 104.

O'Callaghan, ed., Documents relating to the Colonial history of the State of New York, 1849-1851. Volume 2, page 410.

Marvell, Andrew, The poems and letters of Andrew Marvell; edited by H. M. Margoliouth. 3d ed. rev. by Pierre Legouis with the collaboration of E. E. Duncan-Jones. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1971.

Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Carteret, Sir George" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

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Vice-Admiral Sir George Carteret, 1st Baronet ( c. 1610 - 14 January 1680 N.S.) was a royalist statesman in Jersey and England, who served in the Clarendon Ministry as Treasurer of the Navy. He was also one of the original lords proprietor of the former British colony of Carolina and New Jersey.

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Meet Philippe d’Auvergne – explorer, sailor and Duke, he tells his story of shipwrecks and spies

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Meet Lillie Langtry – the Victorian society beauty tells the story of her amazing life

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Match the place to the event activity

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Sheet for a drawing activity for Philippe d'Auvergne

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Can be used with the blank timeline sheet or as a stand alone sheet of information

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Philippe d'Auvergne Timeline activity sheet

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Philippe d'Auvergne Timeline activity sheet

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Blank timeline to complete using the guide to Philippe d'Auvergne date list.

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One of our Education team members can come into your classroom to give a session on one or more significant individuals.

We can also provide on-site visits, such as seeing the items we have related to these individuals, or tours.

Contact our team education@jerseyheritage.org for booking and more information.

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A Chance to Meet... Gerald Durrell OBE - 1983

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Meet Sir Hugh Calveley – Knight and Warden of the Channel Islands, he tells his story of medieval battles and Mont Orgueil Castle.

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Criminal Convictions

No previous convictions

It has been a privilege to serve as Deputy of St Helier District 2 and I am now standing for re-election in St Helier Central.

I was born and raised in Jersey and had a career as a Mathematics teacher before being elected to the States in May 2018, when I became the first States Member of Portuguese heritage.

For me, ensuring Jersey is a place where we all have equal access to the services and support we need in order to achieve, inspire and flourish, has never been more important.
Health:
Islanders' health continues to be a real issue.

In this last term I was a member of the Health and Social Security scrutiny panel. We completed two in-depth reviews on mental health and maternity services, gathering evidence from the public and their experiences, which highlighted some real issues in our healthcare service and resulted in the government implementing several of our recommendations produced in the reports.

I was successful in getting the government to set up a compensation scheme for people suffering from Mesothelioma after contact with asbestos. I also brought forward proposals to make GP appointments free for children aged between 4 and 17 years, which, unfortunately, was rejected by the assembly.

If re-elected, my first steps would be to bring back proposals for free GP visits for young people as well as for those with long term life illnesses.

A holistic approach to health is needed; good healthcare recognises the link between physical, mental, and social wellbeing. Factors such as unaffordable and sub-standard housing or inadequate work conditions all have an impact on people's health.
Transparency
The public are often left frustrated, disillusioned, or confused by systems in place.

In the past four years, I have supported numerous individuals and families with wide ranging issues and had positive outcomes. This has taught me that often the lack of information and awareness of rights is what holds people back; this is not acceptable.

Empowering people and ensuring they understand their rights, have access to all the information they need is vital. I will ensure that Government communicates more clearly and in an accessible and consistent way to .
Experience:
In this last term I was Chair of the Privileges and Procedures Committee the body that oversees the running of our Assembly), the Political Education and Awareness Committee and Vice Chair of the Diversity Forum, as well as part of the Covid Response Community Taskforce team.

I also successfully completed a course in Parliamentary Governance which increased my knowledge and competence to do this role and serve you, the public, to the best of my ability.

It has been a steep learning curve with COVID and Brexit, but the party and I have worked extremely hard to continue to support our constituents. This election could be a real turning point for achieving tangible changes.

Please vote Reform Jersey to make change happen!

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Criminal Convictions No previous convictions It has been a privilege to serve as Deputy of St Helier District 2 and I am now standing for re-election in St Helier Central. I was born and raised in Jersey and had a career as a Mathematics teacher before being elected to the States in May 2018, when I became the first States Member of Portuguese heritage.

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Thursday 18 August 2022

Islanders were urged to "cherish education and honour public service" in tribute to the powerful legacy of a "woman ahead of her time" who was laid to rest yesterday.

Iris Le Feuvre MBE, who died aged 93 on 2 August, was not only the first 'mother' of a parish - St. Lawrence - but also presided over the Education Committee at a time of important change.

A service in celebration of the first female Constable's life was held yesterday at St. Helier Methodist Centre.

A sea of green, purple and white

The ground floor of the church was already full by 10:45am, with politicians past and present and the Bailiff among those in the crowd, showing just how many people wanted to pay tribute to this "special" islander.

There was a sea of green, purple and white at the church, as attendees complied with Iris' family's request to wear bright colours, with suffragette colours "especially welcome".
Pictured: The church was packed full of people wearing bright colours.
Iris's coffin was draped in a Jersey flag and adorned with green and purple flowers, highlighting her dedication to the island and particularly the rights of women.

A poignant day and location

Opening the service, Reverend Tony Morling remarked that it was especially poignant that Iris' life was being celebrated on A Level results day and in the very building where a group of people met to establish Jersey's first college for girls, given the Constable's "lifelong commitment to education".

Reverend Morling described Iris as a "very strong lady" who was a "much loved, respected and long-standing member of St. Aubin's Methodist Church".

He explained that her funeral service had to be held in St. Helier Methodist Church instead due to the huge number of people who wanted to attend to celebrate Iris' remarkable life.
Pictured: Reverend Tony Morling spoke of Iris' "lifelong commitment to education".
Iris' son, James Le Feuvre paid tribute to a mother who provided a "constant supply of love and affection" as well as numerous home-baked treats.

Non-conformism, social justice and determination

He described the "three pillars" of Iris' character as "her non-conformism, her commitment to social justice, and her determination".

James admitted that, although he knew Iris was special, he "had not realised until recently how loved she was". He also islanders for their kindness and compassion, with a special thanks to everyone who had sent letters celebrating Iris' life - one of which described her simply as the "most remarkable lady".

James also spoke fondly of Iris as a "woman ahead of her time" with a "direct" nature which "often got her into trouble".

He said: "Whether you agreed with her or not, you knew where you stood with Iris and, for the most part, people loved her for that."

Occupation upbringing

Describing Iris' difficult upbringing at the height of the German Occupation, he explained that she "understood first hand that there was hardship and injustice in the world" and therefore made it her mission to help those who suffered.
Pictured: The service paid tribute to Iris both personal life and political achievements.
James spoke of his mother's vast array of achievements in education, specifically her role in increasing the age of compulsory education in Jersey from 15 to 16 despite significant opposition, and honoured her as "the hardest worker I've ever met".

He finished his tribute by paying homage to his mother's favourite saying, "there's always a way", and added that Iris also "had a way of convincing you that her way was the best way".

"Cherish education"

After some time for quiet reflection, accompanied by Ashokan Farewell played on the violin by her granddaughter, Alice Le Feuvre, and Irish Blessings sang by the Holmchase Singers, Reverend Tony Morling closed the service.

He sent attendees on their way with the message to "cherish education and honour public service" in tribute to Iris' powerful legacy.
Pictured top: Jersey Heritage loaned Iris' portrait for the service. (Photographs courtesy of Gary Grimshaw)

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Moving service honours an islander "ahead of her time"

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Thursday 18 August 2022 Islanders were urged to "cherish education and honour public service" in tribute to the powerful legacy of a "woman ahead of her time" who was laid to rest yesterday. Iris Le Feuvre MBE, who died aged 93 on 2 August, was not only the first 'mother' of a parish - St.

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Florence Boot, one of the founders of Boots and one of Jersey's greatest businesswomen and philanthropists has been honoured in Jersey as a permanent plaque is installed in her honour.

Florence Rowe was born in Jersey in 1863 at 5 Grove Place, now 101 Halkett Place. Until she married, she worked in her father's bookshop and stationers in St Helier, and it was there that she developed her business acumen.

She married Jesse becoming both his wife and business partner, bring a a flair for fashion and design to the business and together they made a formidable team, accelerating and developing Boots into the national business that we know today.

Florence and Jesse never forgot their working class backgrounds and throughout their lives worked to improve the wellbeing of their employees and their families across the UK. A particular passion for Florence was her birthplace, Jersey, and she made a great impression on the island donation great spaces of land to improve health and wellness and for the enjoyment of people living on the island - many of which are still there today including Beauport Bay, the renovation of St Matthew's Church and Coronation Park.

Awarded for her philanthropy on the island, the commemorative plaque is displayed at Florence's birthplace, and was unveiled at a special event by members of the Boot family including Florence Boot's great granddaughter, along with members from Jersey Heritage, Boots UK and the Parish of St Helier.

Boots UK continues to occupy two stores on the island, one being where Florence's father's bookshop was based in St Helier and it continues to serve the island for all of their health and beauty needs.

Check out our heritage timeline for more information on Florence, Jesse the history of the Boots brand.

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Florence Boot Has Been Honoured in Her Birthplace

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Florence Boot, one of the founders of Boots and one of Jersey's greatest businesswomen and philanthropists has been honoured in Jersey as a permanent plaque is installed in her honour. Florence Rowe was born in Jersey in 1863 at 5 Grove Place, now 101 Halkett Place.

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If there were to be a race to elect Jersey's most famous daughters it is likely that Emilie Charlotte Le Breton (otherwise Lillie Langtry) would win fairly comfortably. But keeping her honest and maybe taking the other podium places would be sisters Julia and Harriet Westaway.

The Westaways seared across the Island's firmament during the 19 th century and whilst Julia, the last to live in Jersey died in 1901 their legacy lives on to the present time.

Nathaniel Westaway was a master builder and was prominent in the early part of the century when Jersey was experiencing great expansion and a trading boom. He and his wife Ann had five children but with only John, Harriet and Julia reaching adulthood.

When Nathaniel died in 1852 his considerable wealth was split between his three children. An unfortunate disagreement occurred when John, taking it upon himself to administer his sisters' investments, sought to charge them for so doing. Harriet and Julia refused feeling John's interference quite unnecessary. Astonishingly things came to such a pass in 1861 that John enforced the debt and, refusing to back down, the sisters were committed to the debtors' wing at Newgate Street Prison. John, in a mounting rage, committed the sisters to 'short commons', a contribution barely keeping them alive. At last Harriet became so ill the sisters had to pay the debt.

Harriet re-wrote her will totally in favour of Julia who, in turn, left all her possessions to various charitable trusts and institutions. Harriet died in 1892 and Julia in 1901. John had died in heroic circumstances (see below) years earlier but now his grandson John stepped in to contest the will saying Julia had been of unsound mind. Jersey's Royal Court upheld the appeal.

Happily the Privy Council thought differently, overturned the appeal and Julia's fortune was distributed according to her wishes. Most notably the Westaway Trust has done sterling work in the years since by providing footwear to children. And though the need is now far less the Trust is still carrying out Julia's wishes.

Many of the buildings constructed by Nathaniel are still a part of the St Helier town scape including the family home at St Saviour's Crescent.

I am including two photographs from St Saviour's Churchyard. The simple memorial is to Nathaniel and Ann together with Harriet and Julia.

The large, three-panelled memorial commemorates the wider Westaway family and pointedly omits the two 'black sheep' who did so much for their island home.

Brother John's reputation was saved by his heroic conduct on the night of the sinking of the steam packet Normandy on March 17 th 1870.

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If there were to be a race to elect Jersey's most famous daughters it is likely that Emilie Charlotte Le Breton (otherwise Lillie Langtry) would win fairly comfortably. But keeping her honest and maybe taking the other podium places would be sisters Julia and Harriet Westaway.

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Elinor Glyn (1864-1943) English author, journalist and screen writer best known for Three Weeks (1907) which caused a scandal when published.

Glyn coined the term `It' in her novel The Man and the Moment (1914) a 1920s euphemism for sex appeal of which the actress Clara Bow was the `It' girl. Glyn herself was a vivacious green-eyed red-head who wrote high-spirited romances that dealt with aristocracy and issues of morality in society.

Elinor Glyn (née Sutherland) was born on 17 October 1864 in Jersey, Channel Islands, England. Her mother, also named Elinor, (née Saunders) (1840/41-1937) was from an Anglo-French family who had emigrated to Canada. Glyn's father was Douglas Sutherland, a civil engineer of Scottish descent who died when Elinor was three months old. Elinor's mother returned to Guelph, Ontario, Canada, with Elinor and her sister Lucy in tow. Lucy, or Lady Duff Gordon (1863-1935) would be one of the survivors of the Titanic sinking and become the famous couturier known as Lucile.

With Glyn's mother remarried in 1871 they returned to Jersey, England when she was eight. The young and precocious Glyn was a voracious reader interested in French history and mythology, though she had no formal education due to her strong will and troubles with governesses. She would later be drawn to mysticism and romance. As a young girl she would take up writing and keeping a diary. In her teens and twenties she often travelled to the continent, gaining many young male admirers.

Though Glyn came from humble means, or because of, she intended to find her place in upper-class society. On 27 April 1892, twenty-eight years old, the romantically idealistic Elinor married Clayton Glyn (1857-1915) landowner. For a few years their life was one of luxury and ease and the couple had two daughters, Margot and Juliet. After coming out of a post-partum depression, Glyn was determined to get back to writing, using her letters to her mother as a basis for her book The Visits of Elizabeth. (1900) Using a heretofore rarely tapped literary device of intimate correspondence - naïve innocent debutante Elizabeth writes a series of letters observing society and clandestine relationships to her mother. It was Glyn's first taste of success and fame, serialised in The World, though she had been writing beauty and fashion articles for Scottish Life and Cosmopolitan magazine since 1897. Glyn's marriage to Clayton was rife with incompatibilities and she would eventually seek companionship and romance elsewhere.

Her risqué Three Weeks, about an exotic Balkan queen who seduces a young British aristocrat, was allegedly inspired by her affair with Lord Alistair Innes Ker. On the one hand it scandalized Edwardian aristocrats and jeopardized Glyn's status. The Headmaster of Eton deemed it immoral and banned it from the premises, but ultimately the furore ensured her meteoric rise to fame. The doggerel

Would you like to sin
With Elinor Glyn
On a tiger skin?
Or would you prefer
To err
With her
On some other fur....

was inspired by a detailed scene in chapter six of Three Weeks. With her husband deeply in debt and slowly losing his fortune, Glyn managed to publish at least a novel a year to support herself and her family and keep up with her standard of living. She was often painted and photographed and she loved cats. There is a photograph of her around the age of sixty-seven posing with her two marmalade cats, one named `Zadig' and one named `Candide' in tribute to Francois-Marie Arouet Voltaire. Around the age of forty-eight, Philip Alexius de Laszlo painted in oil an exotic and bejewelled portrait of Glyn in 1912. She herself of silver-screen-like beauty.

Glyn travelled to the United States, inspiring Elizabeth visits America. (1908) She had an affair with Lord Curzon, former Viceroy of India. At the invite of the Russian Imperial Court she wrote the torrid romance set in pre-revolutionary Russia His Hour. (1910) The Reason Why (1911) and Halcyone (1912) followed. She also travelled to Spain and Hungary and her novels were read by the Queens of Spain and Romania. The Career of Katherine Bush (1916) is a return to her cynicism that social status is something that can be taught or bought, but not be a natural state. During World War I, Glyn went to France working as a war correspondent. She was only one of two women present at the signing of the Peace Treaty at Versailles in 1919.

In 1920, after the death of her husband she went to Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, where her novel The Great Moment was being filmed. She started to write screenplays and direct films and was instrumental in initiating Rudolphe Valentino to stardom. She became a member of the Hollywood in-crowd. Anita Loos quipped, "If Hollywood hadn't existed, Elinor Glyn would have had to invent it."

Glyn travelled back and forth from the United States to Brighton and lived for a time at Curzon House, Saltdean. Her novella It (1927) brought Glyn even more income and notoriety than Three Weeks ever had. Her autobiography Romantic Adventure was published in 1936. The Third Eye (1940) was her last novel.

On 23 September 1943, Elinor Glyn died in London at 39 Royal Avenue, Chelsea after a short illness.

Elinor Glyn, narrator, is played by Joanna Lumley in the film "The Cat's Meow". Elinor Glyn: A Biography was published in 1955 by Anthony Glyn of London.

Biography written by C.D. Merriman for Jalic Inc. Copyright Jalic Inc 2005. All Rights Reserved.

The above biography is copyrighted. Do not republish it without permission.

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Elinor Glyn (1864-1943) English author, journalist and screen writer best known for Three Weeks (1907) which caused a scandal when published. Glyn coined the term `It' in her novel The Man and the Moment (1914) a 1920s euphemism for sex appeal of which the actress Clara Bow was the `It' girl.

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Tuesday 09 June 2020

The Constable of St. Peter has declined to back calls for the statue of New Jersey founder Sir George Carteret to be removed from his parish, or changed, due to the naval privateer's links with slavery, despite growing calls from protestors.

While Richard Vibert said he condemned racism, he maintained that removing or amending the statue would be tantamount to rewriting history, which he said islanders "cannot and should not" do.

The comments to Express came as tensions flared over the statue, stoked by the toppling of a statue of slave owner and trader Edward Colston in Bristol during an anti-racism protest over the weekend.

The statue of Sir George Carteret was erected in St. Peter in 2014 to commemorate the 350 th anniversary of the founding of New Jersey.

The US state was given its name by the St. Peter-born Vice-Admiral, who was gifted the land as thanks for sheltering King Charles during the English Civil War.

While the accompanying plaque acknowledges Sir George's key role in island history, it does not reference the fact that the privateer supported and profited from the trade of slaves.

What is so shocking is that the slave owners were compensated but NOT the slaves. I would rather the statue did not exist but as it does, I would like to see an interpretation board next to the George de Carteret statue acknowledging his rôle in slave ownership. https://t.co/wyps3y6ybr
- Jennifer Bridge FRSA (@JennBridge) June 6, 2020

As the local Black Lives Matter movement intensified in Jersey last week following the police-inflicted death of US citizen George Floyd, many islanders began questioning the appropriateness of the statue.

Some suggested on social media that the statue should meet a similar fate to the Sir Colston memorial, which was spray-painted before being thrown into the river.

Former St. Helier Deputy Jennifer Bridge, meanwhile, called on Twitter for a different solution to acknowledge the other side of Sir George's legacy.

"While undoubtedly George Carteret led an extraordinary life and was a person of historical significance I would prefer, that the statue did not exist, but as it does, I would strongly urge that an information board is placed close to the statue so that people will know the truth about the man, not least that he was a founder of a company whose sole aim was to trade in ivory, gold and slaves," she explained.

"To leave this statue in place without an interpretation board would give both tourists and locals alike the impression that we as an Island venerate this man and tacitly condone him. Not in my name."

One islander partially put that into practice following the physically-distanced protest for racial justice in People's Park on Saturday by taping a board at the base of the statue reading: "Black Lives Matter. George DC traded African people." Since then, more plaques pointed out his slavery involvement have followed.

Express contacted Constable Vibert about the divisive presence in his parish, asking whether he believed it should have its plaque amended to include a reference to slavery or be removed altogether.

But Constable Vibert said there were no plans to do either, stating that the statue does not seek to glorify any involvement with the slave trade - "something which today is totally unacceptable" - but is rather intended to represent the historic link between Jersey and New Jersey.
Pictured: Islanders protested for racial justice in People's Park on Saturday.
"The statue of George Carteret erected in St. Peter was very much the vision of our former Constable to mark the ties with New Jersey and founding of that state by George Carteret who had been gifted the land for his support for Royalist cause," Mr Vibert explained.

"400 years ago the views and morals by which people led their lives were totally different to what is considered acceptable today, but we cannot and should not re-write history."

Mr Vibert added that no Parish funds were used in the project and that the land on which the statue stands is not actually owned by the Parish. The Parish is, however, responsible for maintaining and insuring it.

"George Carteret spent much of his life in England and, unlike Bristol, where a statue was pulled down at the weekend, the Parish did not benefit in any way from George Carteret's involvement in the slave trade," Constable Vibert added.

He then went on to condemn racism and highlighted the importance of tolerance.

"Racism and Slavery have no place in today's society and the events surrounding the death of George Floyd have saddened me," the Constable said.

"It is incomprehensible that such prejudice by those who should be protecting the public resulted in the death of an innocent man.

"It is important that we continue to teach tolerance and address such failures in our modern society in order that across the world both racism and slavery are eradicated."
Pictured: Trenton Square is located near the International Finance Centre buildings.
Recent events have also seen Trenton Square, which is based in the vicinity of the International Finance Centre buildings, come under fire.

The square was named as such in 2018, aiming to draw parallels between Jersey and New Jersey, whose capital is Trenton.

However, the city itself draws its name from William Trent, who both traded and owned slaves.

The link was raised as an issue at the time of the square's unveiling, but a change of name was not supported.

An e-petition launched yesterday has now reignited the debate, and has since gained around 250 signatures. It reads: "William Trent was a Philadelphia merchant who participated in the slave trade, buying and selling enslaved people in the West Indies and the North American colonies. Nobody who did this should be honoured. It was/is terrorism. Then. Now. The square should never have been named after William Trent."

But, contacted by Express, Constable Crowcroft maintained his view that the Trenton name should not be changed.

He reminded islanders that St. Helier and Trenton are twinned, and proposals for the twinning were adopted by the Parish Assembly 60 to two, with no one speaking against them.

He also referred to former politician Ted Vibert, who proposed the motion, saying: "What a city decides to call itself is a matter of the 87,000 people who live there. What the State of New Jersey decides to call its capital is a matter for the 8.7 million people who live in that state.

"It would be an absolute affront to the people of New Jersey for the people of St. Helier to refuse this twinning request because we disapproved of the fact that their city is named after someone who was involved in slavery 200 years ago."

Commenting on the name of Trenton Square, Mr Crowcroft said: "Whilst we are aware of the origins of the name of Trenton as a city, we should note that New Jersey was the first Northern state in the United States of America to express official regret for its role in 'perpetuating the institution of slavery'.

"A resolution was passed in New Jersey's Assembly and State Senate in January 2008 to issue an official apology for the State's role in slavery.

"The resolution apologises to the slaves and their descendants, acknowledges the difficulties that African Americans have had in gaining civil rights, and calls for citizens to learn about the history of slavery in order to gain understanding and ensure that the struggles of the slaves are never forgotten."

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Protestors push for Carteret statue removal over slavery links

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Tuesday 09 June 2020 The Constable of St. Peter has declined to back calls for the statue of New Jersey founder Sir George Carteret to be removed from his parish, or changed, due to the naval privateer's links with slavery, despite growing calls from protestors.

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The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781 1783 is a large oil painting by the American-born painter JS Copley, showing a dramatic battle scene in a small square lined with buildings. At the centre of the painting, British soldiers in red uniforms support the body of their wounded leader, Major Francis Peirson (1757-1781). Peirson's blood-spattered white shirt stands out against the bright red jackets of the soldiers, who cradle him below a large, billowing Union Jack flag, behind which flies the troops' regimental flag, with only the small Union Jack in the upper corner visible. In the right foreground, a mother tries to flee the battlefield with a baby and a child. A golden statue is also visible below the flag. To the left of this group appears a uniformed Black man apparently shooting back at the French forces who have just killed Peirson. In the middle of a crowd of red-clad British soldiers, the man is depicted wearing a navy waistcoat, silver epaulettes, and a distinctive hat plumed with variously coloured ostrich feathers. The intended identity of the Black man is not known, nor is the possible identity of a real person on whom the portrait may have been based. Many of Copley's contemporaries were slave-owners or had Black servants in their households in Britain. Copley's own family in Boston, Massachussets, are known to have had in their household an enslaved African child.

On the night of 5-6 January 1781, a small army of French legionnaires launched a surprise attack on St Helier, the capital of Jersey, a Channel Island which had been controlled by the British since 1066. The French captured the Governor, Colonel Moses Corbet, forcing him to sign a document of surrender. However, in defiance of Corbet's instructions to stand down, Peirson leapt to defend Britain's possession of the island, leading his men to the market square of St Helier to engage. There he was fatally shot 'in the moment of victory, after the French had given way,' as reported in the Glasgow Mercury (11 Jan 1781). The setting of St Helier is depicted in careful detail, facing onto Royal Square along what is now Peirson Place, with the statue of George II in the background. Likewise, in this and other paintings, Copley tried to produce accurate portraits of models to populate his works. In this work, Copley has paid close attention to depicting the likenesses of two figures in particular whom he may have drawn from life: Adjutant Harrison, who cradles the fallen Major, and Clement Hemery, who stands at Peirson's feet, wearing the blue uniform of his artillery company. In addition, Peirson and probably other figures in the painting were based on models and existing portraits in paintings and statuary. Historians have suggested the possibility that the Black man in this painting was actually modelled by one of two Black servants employed by Captain James Christie (Kamensky, p.320-1). On departing for Jamaica, Christie had left behind two servants named Abraham Allec and Isaac Burton in a rented flat in Golden Square, just a few blocks from Copley's residence. He had taken them both into his service during his tour of duty in South Carolina. Both were most likely formerly enslaved, had fled to British lines in search of freedom and were taken into Christie's retinue as 'servants,' wearing his livery and being bound to his and his family's service, although probably not strictly owned by him (Kamensky 2016, p.320). Although the exact position of Allec and Burton in Christie's household is unknown, at the time Britain was profiting heavily from the trade of enslaved people and the position of so-called 'servants' in British households was often closer to enslavement or indentured labour.

Copley's painting heroises Peirson and celebrates the British victory, epitomised by the Union Jack held aloft above him. At the time, British colonial forces were on the brink of losing their American colonies in the American War of Independence, and despite it being little more than a minor skirmish, this victory did much symbolically to revive confidence in the British Empire. Indeed, the engraver and printseller John Boydell commissioned Copley - who had, since moving to London in 1774, already made his reputation there with The Collapse of the Earl of Chatham in the House of Lords (1779-81, Tate ) - immediately following the battle in order to take advantage of the moment. Copley accordingly created a fantasy in his work. The propagandistic aims of the picture were apparently successful - when it was first exhibited to the public in May 1784, crowds of people came to see it and, according to one contemporaneous critic, 'the chorus of praise reached all the way to Buckingham Palace' (quoted in Wilson 1990, p.35).

This pro-Empire propaganda also informed the inclusion of the Black soldier, whose act of retaliation for the death of the fallen British major isn't borne out by any historical evidence. Rather, the figure was apparently designed to signify and falsely romanticise the fierce loyalty of the British colonies and people subjected to British exploitation. As Richard Saunders writes, 'The thought of the duty-bound servant faithfully seeking retribution for a superior's death undoubtedly warmed the hearts of many Englishmen of similar station' (Saunders 1992, p.32). The soldier's elegant livery is striking, especially the plumed ostrich feathers in his hat, which are out of place given the painting's setting at the remote edges of the American War. The ostrich feathers lend an air of opulence to the soldier's uniform, reproducing tropes of exoticity that were commonly brought to bear on representations of Black people in art of the period. Overall, the soldier's elegant dress was probably chosen to elevate the status of the officer the Black soldier served, whose intended identity is also uncertain. Copley's key to the painting, the 'Description of the Picture of the Death of Major Peirson,' published by Boydell on 22 May 1784, labels the figure as '3. Major Peirson's black servant', but this identification seems to be a later decision. Indeed, in one of Copley's preparatory sketches (Tate ), he labels the man as 'Capt. Christie's Black Servt.'. A Glasgow newspaper did mention that a Black servant of Captain Christie 'distinguished himself greatly' in the battle ( Glasgow Mercury, 18 Jan 1781) but the changes Copley made in the identification of the figure speak more of an artist serving the propagandistic aims of their painting, with little care as to the actual identity of the man.

This is reflective of stereotyped, dehumanising depictions of Black people at the time. It also echoes the contemporaneous position of Black men within the British army, which by the end of the eighteenth century had become the biggest single purchaser of enslaved African men, deemed dispensable in the defence of British colonies (see Roger N Buckley, 'The British Army 's African Recruitment Policy, 1790-1807', Contributions in Black Studies: A Journal of African and Afro-American Studies, vol.5, September 2008). Historian Jane Kamensky has commented on the 'sensational' effect of Copley's depiction of a Black figure in such an active role, considering this a 'striking departure from the figuration of black bodies in European painting', referring to a tendency for European artists to represent Black figures in passive, subjugated roles (Kamensky 2016, p.326, 323). She argues that Copley's inclusion of the man in this very active role serves a propagandistic function as it supposedly elevates 'British liberty' over the 'false freedoms of the Americans and their French allies' (p. 323). This she positions as a positive 'progression ... in the direction of black freedom', which she sees as beginning with Copley's earlier depiction of a Black sailor in a position of relative prominence in the painting Watson and the Shark 1778 (National Gallery of Art, Washington) (Kamensky 2016, p.324). However, she concludes that the fact that there is no evidence to support Copley joining any abolitionist cause or of his family freeing their enslaved child makes it impossible to connect Compley's depiction of Black figures in both paintings with an antislavery conviction. Whether or not one detects antislavery sentiments in Copley's painting (an assertion that is vague at best), his evident disregard for the individual identity of the Black man in the scene typifies a widespread recourse to undifferentiated, symbolic typology in the treatment of Black people as artistic subjects.

Further reading
Richard Saunders, 'Genius and Glory - J.S. Copley's The Death of Major Peirson', American Art Journal, vol.22, no.3, 1990.
Louise Downie and Doug Ford, The Battle of Jersey and the Death of Major Peirson, Jersey 2012.
Jane Kamensky, A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley, New York and London 2016, plate 16, pp.316-27.

Caroline Anjali Ritchie and Arthur Goodwin
February 2022
Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.

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'The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781', John Singleton Copley, 1783 | Tate

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Artwork page for 'The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781', John Singleton Copley, 1783 on display at Tate Britain. France invaded Jersey on 5 January 1781. A young commander, Major Peirson, organised a successful counter-attack. Peirson was actually killed shortly before the battle, but Copley shows him at the centre of this scene, dying at the moment of British victory.

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Rollo was given the land of Normandy in France and with this the Channel Islands came with it.

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Rollo (l. c.860-c.930 CE, r. 911-927 CE) was a Viking chieftain who became the founder and first ruler of the region of Normandy. He converted to Christianity as part of a deal with the Frankish king Charles the Simple (893-923 CE) in 911 CE (changing his name to Robert) and his story was then embellished upon by later Christian writers who held him up as a role model: a savage Viking chief who became a paragon of Christian virtue and established law in the land. In doing so, however, they largely ignored whatever was known of Rollo's life prior to his involvement with Charles.

Rollo ruled with a Viking code of law based upon the concept of personal honor & individual responsibility.

He is the great-great-great grandfather of William the Conqueror (first Norman King of England, 1066-1087 CE) and ancestor, or supposed ancestor, of a number of European monarchs who trace their line to his immediate descendants. Since 2013 CE, Rollo has been featured in the TV series in which he is played by British actor Clive Standen. Contrary to his depiction in the series, there is no evidence to suggest that Rollo was the brother of Ragnar Lothbrok but there are suggestions that Rollo did participate in, or even lead, the siege of Paris in 885-886 CE as depicted in the show.

Whoever or whatever he was prior to ruling Normandy, Rollo kept his word to Charles and not only protected the region from Viking raiders but restored order to the land which he had previously helped destroy. He is said to have ruled with a Viking code of law based upon the concept of personal honor and individual responsibility and reformed the weak and ineffectual laws which magistrates had been struggling to enforce prior to his reign. He died sometime around 930 CE, probably of natural causes as no mention of his death appears in any records of the time indicating otherwise.

Early Life & Origins

Many of the details of Rollo of Normandy's life are semi-legendary, as the scholar Robert Ferguson notes:

Also known to his biographers, chroniclers, and poets as Rollo, Rollon, Robert, Rodulf, Ruinus, Rosso, Rotlo and Hrolf, Granger Rolf or Rolf the Walker, founder in about 911 of what became the duchy of Normandy, is another of those, like Ragnar Hairy-Breeches and Ivar the Boneless, whose prominence among their contemporaries conspired over the years with an almost complete lack of biographical information to transform them from ordinary mortals into dense hybrids of men, myth, and legend. (177)

Ferguson's point is well made in that no one knows where Rollo came from, his lineage, or what precisely he did prior to his involvement with Charles the Simple. Even after the foundation of Normandy (from `Northmen' to designate the land of the Vikings) his story is far from certain in that it was ornamented by the Norman historian Dudo of Saint-Quentin (10th century CE) some time around 986 CE in his History of the Normans.

Dudo claims he was an aristocrat from Denmark who raided the Kingdom of West Francia with his fellow Danes prior to his contract with Charles and conversion to Christianity. Dudo also claims he was a friend and comrade of one king Alstem of East Anglia whom scholars have identified as the former Viking leader Guthrum (died c. 890 CE) who was defeated at the Battle of Eddington by Alfred the Great in 878 CE, was forced to convert to Christianity, and rose to the kingship of East Anglia by 880 CE. Rollo's close relationship with Guthrum argues for his Danish origins since it is known that Guthrum was a Dane and, as Ferguson points out, their meeting, as described in Dudo's account, "has the unique ring of one ex-pat fondly greeting another" (178).

It has also been claimed that Rollo was from Norway, again of aristocratic lineage, but this claim appears later in the 11th century CE and was popularized in the 12th century CE in the works of William of Malmesbury (c.1095-c.1143 CE). Rollo's grandson, Robert II Archbishop of Rouen (r. 989-1037 CE) was known as Robert the Dane and it is also clear that the majority of Viking raiders came from Denmark so a Danish origin is not only probable but reasonable. There is no clear consensus on this, however, and recent efforts to finally substantiate Rollo's origins have failed.

In 2016 CE, Norwegian archaeologists were granted permission to open the tomb of Rollo's grandson Richard I (r.942-996 CE) and great-grandson Richard II (r.996-1026 CE) but found that the bodies in the sarcophagus belonged to neither of these men and, in fact, were much older than the time of the Viking raids. Most likely, according to the archaeologists who opened the tomb, the two bodies were placed in the sarcophagus from another grave and those of Richard I and II relocated at an unknown point in the past to protect them from grave robbers. However that may be, it sheds no light on Rollo's origins.

As with many great Viking figures, the legend of Rollo of Normandy eventually overshadowed & then obscured the man's actual life.

Dudo's account of Rollo's life, and therefore his Danish origins, has been repeatedly challenged by scholars who point out the obvious Christianization of the man and his actions. Even so, Dudo's work is the first to record anything about Rollo (it was commissioned by Richard I) and he had access to Rollo's immediate descendants as well as documents which were then lost.

Every later writer on Rollo, including William of Malmesbury, drew on Dudo's work for their own accounts and so, in spite of later claims of a Norwegian origin, it is most likely Rollo was from Denmark, as Dudo claims, even though many scholars prefer the Norwegian claim of the later Icelandic chronicler/historian Snorri Sturlson (1179-1241 CE) because they find corroboration for his claims in the earlier work of Richer of Rheims (10th century CE). As with many great Viking figures, the legend of Rollo of Normandy eventually overshadowed and then obscured the man's actual life.

Viking Chieftain

It is certain, however, that he was a Viking chieftain who conducted raids in the Kingdom of West Francia. The chronicler Flodoard (c.893-966 CE) describes a Viking raid c. 876 CE which devastated the region around Rouen and this corresponds to what Dudo says of Rollo's activity in the region at the same time. Viking raids in Francia began in 820 CE and continued regularly, with ships making easy incursions up the Seine River, until the peace was concluded with Rollo in c. 911 CE.

The first raid in 820 CE was unsuccessful because the Vikings had no idea of who or what they would encounter once they landed. They were therefore easily defeated by the shore guard and, suffering losses, retreated. When they returned in 841 CE, under the command of Asgeir, they were much better prepared. They sacked and burned Rouen and carried off enormous amounts of loot. This raid was followed by the Norse chieftain Reginherus' 845 CE siege of Paris which only concluded when Charles the Bald (r.843-877 CE) paid the Vikings to leave.

By c.858 CE, the raids on Francia were so lucrative to the Vikings that the famous leaders Bjorn Ironside (allegedly the son of Ragnar Lothbrok and his queen Aslaug) and Hastein (also known as Hasting) attacked the region either just before or following their famous raiding expedition to the Mediterranean. In 876 CE, 100 ships sailed up the Seine to lay waste to the region and this raid was most likely led or co-led by Rollo or, if not, he at least seems to have played a significant role in the event. It also seems fairly certain that he played a significant role in the later siege of Paris in 885-886 CE.

By this time, it was obvious to Charles the Simple that trying to fight off the Viking raiders was futile. The only times West Francia experienced anything close to a positive outcome in these raids was when the king paid the Vikings to leave the cities alone. As Ferguson notes, "the policy of a sometimes well-meaning appeasement had been practiced by Frankish rulers for almost a century prior to the agreement [between Charles and Rollo] and the beneficiaries were Danes" (175).

Their agreement, therefore, was nothing new but simply the continuation of a policy of defense which seemed to work the best. The difference between the contract of 911 CE and the earlier payoffs was the character of Rollo. Unlike the earlier Viking leaders who took their loot and then either returned or encouraged others to raid, Rollo took the deal offered seriously and committed himself to the king and the people he had sworn to protect.

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Rollo & Charles the Simple

According to Dudo, the Franks under Charles the Simple finally understood that there was no stopping the Viking raids and they were either going to have to continue to pay whatever price a Viking leader asked or find some new slant on the old policy. The king's counselors asked him why he was not prepared to do more to save his kingdom than he had been doing and he, enraged, basically told them that if they had any better ideas he would be happy to entertain them. Dudo writes that the counselors responded:

If you will trust us, we will give you advice fitting and wholesome for you and for the kingdom, so that the people, who are all too stricken with want, may have repose. Let the land from the River Andelle to the sea be given to the pagan peoples; and in addition, join your daughter to Rollo in marriage. And thereby you will be able to grow mightily in power against the peoples who resist you; for Rollo is born of the proud blood of kings and of chiefs; he is very fair of body, a ready fighter, far-sighted in counsel, seemly in appearance, amenable to us, a faithful friend to those to whom he gives his word, a ferocious enemy to those whom he opposes, a constant and amenable vassal in all things, with a shrewd mind, such as we need. (Dudo's History 2:25)

After considering their counsel, Charles sent the Archbishop of Rouen to Rollo to present the offer. Rollo consulted with his Danish chiefs who pointed out that the land, though presently desolate, had a number of redeeming features and that he should accept the proposal.

Rollo did so and a date was set for his baptism and marriage to Charles' daughter Gisla (also given as Gisela, c. 911 CE). When the day arrived, however, Rollo refused to go through with the baptism, pointing out that the land the king was offering him was in ruin and would take some years to restore to health. The king's counselors advised him to give Rollo whatever he wanted in order to not only protect the kingdom but win souls for Christ who would be impressed by a Viking leader embracing Christianity.

Charles offered Rollo Flanders but Rollo declined because the land was too marshy and so the king then offered him Brittany, which bordered the lands offered in the contract, and Rollo accepted all of it. In order to finalize the deal, and show proper respect to the king, Rollo was then asked to kiss the king's foot but, as Dudo relates:

Rollo was unwilling to kiss the king's foot and the bishops said: "He who accepts a gift such as this ought to go as far as kissing the king's foot." But Rollo replied: "I will never bow my knees at the knees of any man and no man's foot will I kiss." And so, urged on by the prayers of the Franks, he ordered one of his warriors to kiss the king's foot. And the man immediately grasped the king's foot and raised it to his mouth and planted a kiss on it while he remained standing, and laid the king flat on his back. So there arose a great laugh [from among the Vikings] and a great outcry among the [Franks]. (2:29)

The king and his nobles were not bothered by the upset, however, and Rollo was baptized, married to Gisla, and took possession of his lands in accordance with the Treaty of Saint Clair sur Epte in 911 CE. He instantly engaged in a policy of reformation and renovation as Dudo describes:

He imposed everlasting privileges and laws on the people, authorized and decreed by the will of the chief men, and he compelled them to dwell together in peace. He raised up churches that had been demolished to the ground, he rebuilt temples that had been ruined by the visitations of the heathens, and he made new and extended the walls and defenses of cities. (2:31)

Rollo improved the lands he had been given in every aspect but, just as significantly, honored the treaty he had made with Charles: there are no records of any more Viking raids into Francia after 911 CE.

Rollo of Normandy

Although Rollo is often referenced as the first Duke of Normandy, he never held that title (Richard II, his great-grandson, was the first duke). He is sometimes called Count Rollo by later historians but contemporary documents refer to him simply as "Rollo". A land grant from 918 CE, for example, mentions "lands which we have granted to the Normans of the Seine, namely to Rollo and his companions, for the defense of the kingdom" (Ferguson, 183). Whatever title he claimed for himself is unknown but early historians like Dudo and Flodoard refer to him as "Chieftain".

By all accounts, he ruled his kingdom as a Viking chief, reforming passive laws which seemed to merely suggest acceptable behavior and implementing a law code which emphasized personal honor and responsibility. Robbery, assault, and murder were punishable by death but so was fraud as one anecdote makes clear:

Rollo had introduced a decree ordering that farm implements be left out in the field and not taken into the house at the end of the day. To make it appear as though they had done so and been robbed, it seems that a farmer's wife hid her husband's ploughing implements. Rollo reimbursed the man for his loss and ordered the trials by ordeal of the potential suspects. When all survived the ordeals, he had the wife beaten until she confessed. And when the husband admitted that he had known it was her all along, Rollo handed down a finding of guilty on two counts: "The one, that you are the head of the woman and ought to have chastised her. The other, that you were an accessory to the theft and were unwilling to disclose it." He had them both hung and finished off by a cruel death, an action which Dudo credibly claims so terrified the local inhabitants that the territory became and remained free of petty criminality for a century afterwards. (Ferguson, 186-187)

In another instance, he punished some men who were guilty of dishonoring his reputation and that of his wife by having them executed in the public square of his capital at Rouen. This discouraged others from bearing false witness against their neighbors through gossip and slander.

These measures seem to have appeared harsh to some of the bishops of the region who appealed to the Pope for advice. They were told to view Rollo's conversion, and conversion of the pagans generally, "not as an event but a process which would inevitably take time to complete" (Ferguson, 188). Whatever problems the bishops had with Rollo's reign, they could not argue with his success in maintaining law and order or the prosperity he brought to the land.

Depiction in Vikings and Legacy

In the TV series Vikings, Rollo is the brother of Ragnar Lothbrok who, after the siege of Paris, is left in West Francia to hold a spot on the Seine in order to enable future raids. Having been told by the village seer back home that he would one day rule a kingdom, Rollo is easily persuaded by the Franks to betray his brother's trust and accept their offer of land and marriage to the princess Gisla. As noted, nothing is known of the historical Rollo's youth, upbringing, relatives, or even place of origin and there is no evidence he was related to Ragnar Lothbrok. The historical Gisela of France was a very young girl at the time of her betrothal to Rollo and so her character in the series is fictionalized.

The only events depicted in the TV series which correlate to the historical Rollo are those having to do with the foundation of Normandy and defense of the region; including, apparently, his mastery of the language. Rollo is also said to have been quite tall and broad-shouldered (as he is depicted in the show) and was given the epithet "the walker" because he preferred walking to riding a horse (or, alternatively, was too heavy for a horse to carry).

Rollo retired in c. 927 CE and was succeeded by his son William Longsword (r. 927-942 CE), dying shortly afterwards in c. 930 CE. William Longsword's illegitimate son, Richard I (also known as Richard the Fearless) came to the throne at around the age of ten, following his father's death. Richard I honored the policies of his father and grandfather and this policy would be continued by Richard II.

The reigns of his successors, Richard III (1026-1027 CE) and Robert I (1027-1035 CE) were marked by instability and civil war which ended with the reign of William I (William the Conqueror), who was Duke of Normandy 1035-1087 CE as well as King of England from 1066-1087 CE. William's conquest of England radically changed not only British society but European culture overall and his polices echo those implemented earlier by Rollo of Normandy.

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Rollo (l. c.860-c.930 CE, r. 911-927 CE) was a Viking chieftain who became the founder and first ruler of the region of Normandy. He converted to Christianity as part of a deal with the Frankish king...

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William I, the Conqueror, becomes King of England in 1066 and, as Duke of Normandy, brings the Channel Islands under the rule of England as well. Jersey has kept the monarch of Britain as its leader because they have always also been see as Duke of Normandy. This is because of what William did.

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William the Conqueror, the man who dared to invade England

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It was in 1204 that King John lost Normandy and Jersey decided to stay loyal to the British monarch.

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John was crowned King of England in 1199. Richard I had died without any , so John inherited the throne as Richard's only surviving brother.

During his reign, which lasted just under ten years, Richard had spent only six months in England. Fighting in the Crusades had been expensive, and England was heavily in debt. King John's reign has often been criticised, but he had to manage clashes with the Pope, France and his own barons. He had to deal with all these problems without the finances he needed to successfully manage them. John undoubtedly made some mistakes during his reign, but he did inherit several challenges on taking over from Richard I.

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John was crowned King of England in 1199. Richard I had died without any , so John inherited the throne as Richard's only surviving brother. During his reign, which lasted just under ten years, Richard had spent only six months in England. Fighting in the Crusades had been expensive, and England was heavily in debt.

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Sir Walter Raleigh was governor of Jersey from 1600-1603, and named Elizabeth Castle after Queen Elizabeth I.

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(; c. 1552 - 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion in Ireland, helped defend England against the Spanish Armada and held political positions under Elizabeth I.

Raleigh was born to a Protestant family in Devon, the son of Walter Raleigh and Catherine Champernowne. He was the younger half-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and a cousin of Sir Richard Grenville. Little is known of his early life, though in his late teens he spent some time in France taking part in the religious civil wars. In his 20s he took part in the suppression of rebellion in the colonisation of Ireland; he also participated in the siege of Smerwick. Later, he became a landlord of property in Ireland and mayor of Youghal in East Munster, where his house still stands in Myrtle Grove. He rose rapidly in the favour of Queen Elizabeth I and was knighted in 1585. He was granted a royal patent to explore Virginia, paving the way for future English settlements. In 1591, he secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, without the Queen's permission, for which he and his wife were sent to the Tower of London. After his release, they retired to his estate at Sherborne, Dorset.

In 1594, Raleigh heard of a "City of Gold" in South America and sailed to find it, publishing an exaggerated account of his experiences in a book that contributed to the legend of " El Dorado". After Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, Raleigh was again imprisoned in the Tower, this time for being involved in the Main Plot against King James I, who was not favourably disposed towards him. In 1616, he was released to lead a second expedition in search of El Dorado. During the expedition, men led by his top commander ransacked a Spanish outpost, in violation of both the terms of his pardon and the 1604 peace treaty with Spain. Raleigh returned to England and, to appease the Spanish, he was arrested and executed in 1618.

Little is known about Sir Walter Raleigh's birth but he is believed to have been born on 22 January 1552 (or possibly 1554). He grew up in the house of Hayes Barton (in the parish of East Budleigh), in East Devon. He was the youngest of the five sons of Walter Raleigh (1510-1581) (or Rawleigh) of Fardel Manor (in the parish of Cornwood), in South Devon. Raleigh's family is generally assumed to have been a junior branch of the Raleigh family, 11th-century lords of the manor of Raleigh, Pilton in North Devon, although the two branches are known to have borne entirely dissimilar coats of arms, adopted at the start of the age of heraldry (c. 1200-1215).

His mother was Katherine Champernowne, the third wife of Walter Raleigh senior, and the fourth daughter of Sir Philip Champernowne (1479-1545), lord of the manor of Modbury, Devon, by his wife Catherine Carew, a daughter of Sir Edmund Carew (d.1513) of Mohuns Ottery (in the parish of Luppitt), Devon, and widow of Otes Gilbert (1513-1546/7) of Greenway (in the parish of Brixham) and of Compton Castle (in the parish of Marldon), both in Devon. (The coat of arms of Otes Gilbert and Katherine Champernowne survives in a stained glass window in Churston Ferrers Church, near Greenway.) Katherine Champernowne's paternal aunt was Kat Ashley, governess of Queen Elizabeth I, who introduced Raleigh and his brothers to the court. In addition, Raleigh's maternal uncle was Sir Arthur Champernowne (c. 1524-1578), a Member of Parliament, Sheriff of Devon and Admiral of the West. Walter Raleigh junior's immediate family included his full brother Carew Raleigh, and half-brothers John Gilbert, Humphrey Gilbert and Adrian Gilbert. As a consequence of their kinship with the Champernowne family, all of the Raleigh and Gilbert brothers became prominent during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I.

Raleigh's family was highly Protestant in religious orientation and had a number of near escapes during the reign of Roman Catholic Queen Mary I of England. In the most notable of these, his father had to hide in a tower to avoid execution. As a result, Raleigh developed a hatred of Roman Catholicism during his childhood, and proved himself quick to express it after Protestant Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558. In matters of religion, Elizabeth was more moderate than her half-sister Mary.

In 1569, Raleigh left for France to serve with the Huguenots in the French religious civil wars. In 1572, Raleigh was registered as an undergraduate at Oriel College, Oxford, but he left a year later without a degree. Raleigh proceeded to finish his education in the Inns of Court. In 1575, he was admitted to the Middle Temple, having previously been a member of Lyon's Inn, one of the Inns of Chancery. At his trial in 1603, he stated that he had never studied law. His life is uncertain between 1569 and 1575, but in his History of the World he claimed to have been an eyewitness at the Battle of Moncontour (3 October 1569) in France. In 1575 or 1576, Raleigh returned to England.

See Plantations of Ireland

Between 1579 and 1583, Raleigh took part in the suppression of the Desmond Rebellions. He was present at the siege of Smerwick, where he led the party that beheaded some 600 Spanish and Italian soldiers. Raleigh received 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) (approximately 0.2% of Ireland) upon the seizure and distribution of land following the attainders arising from the rebellion, including the coastal walled town of Youghal and, further up the Blackwater River, the village of Lismore. This made him one of the principal landowners and colonists in Munster, but he had limited success inducing English tenants to settle on his estates.

Raleigh made the town of Youghal his occasional home during his 17 years as an Irish landlord, frequently being domiciled at Killua Castle, Clonmellon, County Westmeath. He was mayor there from 1588 to 1589. His town mansion of Myrtle Grove is assumed to be the setting for the story that his servant doused him with a bucket of water after seeing clouds of smoke coming from Raleigh's pipe, in the belief that he had been set alight. But this story is also told of other places associated with Raleigh: the Virginia Ash Inn in Henstridge near Sherborne, Sherborne Castle, and South Wraxall Manor in Wiltshire, home of Raleigh's friend Sir Walter Long.

Amongst Raleigh's acquaintances in Munster was another Englishman who had been granted land in the Irish colonies, poet Edmund Spenser. In the 1590s, he and Raleigh travelled together from Ireland to the court at London, where Spenser presented part of his allegorical poem The Faerie Queene to Elizabeth I.

Raleigh's management of his Irish estates ran into difficulties which contributed to a decline in his fortunes. In 1602, he sold the lands to Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, who subsequently prospered under kings James I and Charles I. Following Raleigh's death, members of his family approached Boyle for compensation on the ground that Raleigh had struck an improvident bargain.

In 1584, Queen Elizabeth granted Raleigh a royal charter authorising him to explore, colonise and rule any "remote, heathen and barbarous lands, countries and territories, not actually possessed of any Christian Prince or inhabited by Christian People", in return for one-fifth of all the gold and silver that might be mined there. This charter specified that Raleigh had seven years in which to establish a settlement, or else lose his right to do so. Raleigh and Elizabeth intended that the venture should provide riches from the New World and a base from which to send privateers on raids against the treasure fleets of Spain. Raleigh himself never visited North America, although he led expeditions in 1595 and 1617 to the Orinoco river basin in South America in search of the golden city of El Dorado. Instead, he sent others in 1585 to find the Roanoke Colony, later known as the "Lost Colony".

These expeditions were funded primarily by Raleigh and his friends but never provided the steady stream of revenue necessary to maintain a colony in America. (Subsequent colonisation attempts in the early 17th century were made under the joint-stock Virginia Company, which was able to raise the capital necessary to create successful colonies.)

In 1587, Raleigh attempted a second expedition, again establishing a settlement on Roanoke Island. This time, a more diverse group of settlers was sent, including some entire families, under the governance of John White. After a short while in America, White returned to England to obtain more supplies for the colony, planning to return in a year. Unfortunately for the colonists at Roanoke, one year became three. The first delay came when Queen Elizabeth I ordered all vessels to remain at port for potential use against the Spanish Armada. After England's 1588 victory over the Spanish Armada, the ships were given permission to sail.

The second delay came after White's small fleet set sail for Roanoke and his crew insisted on sailing first towards Cuba in hopes of capturing treasure-laden Spanish merchant ships. Enormous riches described by their pilot, an experienced Portuguese navigator hired by Raleigh, outweighed White's objections to the delay.

When the supply ship arrived in Roanoke, three years later than planned, the colonists had disappeared. The only clue to their fate was the word "CROATOAN" and the letters "CRO" carved into tree trunks. White had arranged with the settlers that if they should move, the name of their destination be carved into a tree or corner post. This suggested the possibility that they had moved to Croatoan Island, but a hurricane prevented John White from investigating the island for survivors. Other speculation includes their having starved, or been swept away or lost at sea during the stormy weather of 1588. No further attempts at contact were recorded for some years. Whatever the fate of the settlers, the settlement is now remembered as the "Lost Colony of Roanoke Island".

In December 1581, Raleigh returned to England from Ireland as his company had been disbanded. He took part in court life and became a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I because of his efforts at increasing the Protestant Church in Ireland. In 1585, Raleigh was knighted and was appointed warden of the stannaries, that is of the tin mines of Cornwall and Devon, Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall and vice-admiral of the two counties. He was a member of parliament for Devonshire in 1585 and 1586. He was also granted the right to colonise America.

Raleigh commissioned shipbuilder R. Chapman of Deptford to build a ship for him. She was originally called Ark but became Ark Raleigh, following the convention at the time by which the ship bore the name of her owner. The Crown (in the person of Queen Elizabeth I) purchased the ship from Raleigh in January 1587 for £5,000 (£1.1 million in 2015). This took the form of a reduction in the sum that Sir Walter owed the queen; he received Exchequer tallies but no money. As a result, the ship was renamed Ark Royal.

In the Armada year of 1588, Raleigh had some involvement with defence against the Spanish at Devon. The ship that he had built, Ark Royal, was Lord High Admiral Howard's flagship.

In 1592, Raleigh was given many rewards by the Queen, including Durham House in the Strand and the estate of Sherborne, Dorset. He was appointed Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard. However, he had not been given any of the great offices of state.

In 1591, Raleigh secretly married Elizabeth "Bess" Throckmorton (or Throgmorton). She was one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, 11 years his junior, and was pregnant at the time. She gave birth to a son, believed to be named Damerei, who was given to a wet nurse at Durham House, but he died in October 1592 of plague. Bess resumed her duties to the queen. The following year, the unauthorised marriage was discovered and the Queen ordered Raleigh to be imprisoned and Bess dismissed from court. Both were imprisoned in the Tower of London in June 1592. He was released from prison in August 1592 to manage a recently returned expedition and attack on the Spanish coast. The fleet was recalled by the Queen, but not before it captured an incredibly rich prize-a merchant ship (carrack) named Madre de Deus (Mother of God) off Flores. Raleigh was sent to organise and divide the spoils of the ship. He was sent back to the Tower, but by early 1593 had been released and become a member of Parliament.

It was several years before Raleigh returned to favour, and he travelled extensively in this time. Raleigh and his wife remained devoted to each other. They had two more sons, Walter (known as Wat) in 1593 and Carew in 1605.

Raleigh was elected a burgess of Mitchell, Cornwall, in the parliament of 1593. He retired to his estate at Sherborne, where he built a new house, completed in 1594, known then as Sherborne Lodge. Since extended, it is now known as Sherborne New Castle. He made friends with the local gentry, such as Sir Ralph Horsey of Clifton Maybank and Charles Thynne of Longleat. During this period at a dinner party at Horsey's, Raleigh had a heated discussion about religion with Reverend Ralph Ironsides. The argument later gave rise to charges of atheism against Raleigh, though the charges were dismissed. He was elected to Parliament, speaking on religious and naval matters.

In 1594, he came into possession of a Spanish account of a great golden city at the headwaters of the Caroní River. A year later, he explored what is now Guyana and eastern Venezuela in search of Lake Parime and Manoa, the legendary city. Once back in England, he published The Discovery of Guiana (1596), an account of his voyage which made exaggerated claims as to what had been discovered. The book can be seen as a contribution to the El Dorado legend. Venezuela has gold deposits, but no evidence indicates that Raleigh found any mines. He is sometimes said to have discovered Angel Falls, but these claims are considered far-fetched.

In 1596, Raleigh took part in the capture of Cádiz, where he was wounded. He also served as the rear admiral (a principal command) of the Islands Voyage to the Azores in 1597. On his return from the Azores, Raleigh helped England defend itself against the major threat of the 3rd Spanish Armada during the autumn of 1597. The Armada was dispersed in the Channel and later was devastated by a storm off Ireland. Lord Howard of Effingham and Raleigh were able to organise a fleet that resulted in the capture of a Spanish ship in retreat carrying vital information regarding the Spanish plans.

In 1597 Raleigh was chosen as member of parliament for Dorset and in 1601 for Cornwall. He was unique in the Elizabethan period in sitting for three counties.

From 1600 to 1603, as governor of the Channel Island of Jersey, Raleigh modernised its defences. This included the construction of a new fort protecting the approaches to Saint Helier, Fort Isabella Bellissima, or Elizabeth Castle.

Royal favour with Queen Elizabeth had been restored by this time, but his good fortune did not last; the Queen died on 24 March 1603. Raleigh was arrested on 19 July 1603 at what is now the Old Exeter Inn in Ashburton, charged with treason for his involvement in the Main Plot against Elizabeth's successor, James I, and imprisoned in the Tower of London.

Raleigh's trial began on 17 November in the converted Great Hall of Winchester Castle. Raleigh conducted his own defence. The chief evidence against him was the signed and sworn confession of his friend Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham. Raleigh repeatedly requested that Cobham be called to testify. "[Let] my acuser come face to face, and be deposed. Were the case but for a small copyhold, you would have witnesses or good proof to lead the jury to a verdict; and I am here for my life!" Raleigh argued that the evidence against him was " hearsay", but the tribunal refused to allow Cobham to testify and be cross-examined. Raleigh's trial has been regularly cited as influential in establishing a common law right to confront accusers in court. Raleigh was convicted, but King James spared his life.

While imprisoned in the Tower, Raleigh wrote his incomplete The Historie of the World. Using a wide array of sources in six languages, Raleigh was fully abreast of the latest continental scholarship. He wrote not about England, but of the ancient world with a heavy emphasis on geography. Despite his intention of providing current advice to the King of England, King James I complained that it was "too sawcie in censuring Princes". Raleigh remained imprisoned in the Tower until 1616. His son, Carew, was conceived and born (in 1604 or 1605) while Raleigh was imprisoned in the Tower.

In 1617, Raleigh was pardoned by the King and granted permission to conduct a second expedition to Venezuela in search of El Dorado. During the expedition, a detachment of Raleigh's men under the command of his long-time friend Lawrence Kemys attacked the Spanish outpost of Santo Tomé de Guayana on the Orinoco river, in violation of peace treaties with Spain and against Raleigh's orders. A condition of Raleigh's pardon was avoidance of any hostility against Spanish colonies or shipping. In the initial attack on the settlement, Raleigh's son, Walter, was fatally shot. Kemys informed Raleigh of his son's death and begged for forgiveness, but did not receive it, and at once committed suicide. On Raleigh's return to England, an outraged Count Gondomar, the Spanish ambassador, demanded that Raleigh's death sentence be reinstated by King James, who had little choice but to do so. Raleigh was brought to London from Plymouth by Sir Lewis Stukley, where he passed up numerous opportunities to make an effective escape.

Raleigh was beheaded in the Old Palace Yard at the Palace of Westminster on 29 October 1618. "Let us dispatch", he said to his executioner. "At this hour my ague comes upon me. I would not have my enemies think I quaked from fear." After he was allowed to see the axe that would be used to behead him, he mused: "This is a sharp Medicine, but it is a Physician for all diseases and miseries." According to biographers, Raleigh's last words, spoken to the hesitating executioner, were: "What dost thou fear? Strike, man, strike!"

Thomas Hariot may have introduced him to tobacco. Having been one of the people to popularise tobacco smoking in England, he left a small tobacco pouch, found in his cell shortly after his execution. Engraved upon the pouch was a Latin inscription: Comes meus fuit in illo miserrimo tempore ("It was my companion at that most miserable time").

Raleigh's head was embalmed and presented to his wife. His body was to be buried in the local church in Beddington, Surrey, the home of Lady Raleigh, but was finally laid to rest in St. Margaret's, Westminster, where his tomb is presently located. "The Lords", she wrote, "have given me his dead body, though they have denied me his life. God hold me in my wits." It has been said that Lady Raleigh kept her husband's head in a velvet bag until her death. After Raleigh's wife's death 29 years later, his head was removed to his tomb and interred at St. Margaret's Church. Although Raleigh's popularity had waned considerably since his Elizabethan heyday, his execution was seen by many, both at the time and since, as unnecessary and unjust, as for many years his involvement in the Main Plot seemed to have been limited to a meeting with Lord Cobham. One of the judges at his trial later said: "The justice of England has never been so degraded and injured as by the condemnation of the honourable Sir Walter Raleigh."

Raleigh's poetry is written in the relatively straightforward, unornamented mode known as the plain style. C. S. Lewis considered Raleigh one of the era's "silver poets", a group of writers who resisted the Italian Renaissance influence of dense classical reference and elaborate poetic devices. His writing contains strong personal treatments of themes such as love, loss, beauty, and time. Most of his poems are short lyrics that were inspired by actual events.

In poems such as "What is Our Life" and " The Lie", Raleigh expresses a contemptus mundi (contempt of the world) attitude more characteristic of the Middle Ages than of the dawning era of humanistic optimism. But his lesser-known long poem "The Ocean's Love to Cynthia" combines this vein with the more elaborate conceits associated with his contemporaries Edmund Spenser and John Donne, expressing a melancholy sense of history. The poem was written during his imprisonment in the Tower of London.

Raleigh wrote a poetic response to Christopher Marlowe's " The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" of 1592, entitled " The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd". Both were written in the style of traditional pastoral poetry and follow the structure of six four-line stanzas employing a rhyme scheme of AABB, with Raleigh's an almost line-for-line refutation of Marlowe's sentiments. Years later, the 20th-century poet William Carlos Williams would join the poetic "argument" with his " Raleigh Was Right".

All finished, and some unfinished, poems written by Raleigh or plausibly attributed to him:

"The Advice"

"Another of the Same"

"Conceit begotten by the Eyes"

"Epitaph on Sir Philip Sidney"

"Epitaph on the Earl of Leicester"

"Even such is Time"

"The Excuse"

"False Love"

"Farewell to the Court"

"His Petition to Queen Anne of Denmark"

"If Cynthia be a Queen"

"In Commendation of George Gascoigne's Steel Glass"

"Like Hermit Poor"

"Lines from Catullus"

"Love and Time"

"My Body in the Walls captive"

"The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd"

"Of Spenser's Faery Queen"

"On the Snuff of a Candle"

"The Ocean's Love to Cynthia"

"A Poem entreating of Sorrow"

"A Poem put into my Lady Laiton's Pocket"

"The Pilgrimage"

"A Prognistication upon Cards and Dice"

"The Shepherd's Praise of Diana"

"Sweet Unsure"

"To His Mistress"

"To the Translator of Lucan's Pharsalia"

"What is Our Life?"

"The Wood, the Weed, the Wag"

In 1845, Shakespeare scholar Delia Bacon first proposed that a group of authors had actually written the plays later attributed to William Shakespeare, the main writer being Walter Raleigh. Later, George S. Caldwell asserted that Raleigh was actually the sole author. These claims have been supported by other scholars throughout subsequent years, including Albert J. Beveridge and Henry Pemberton, but are rejected by the majority of Shakespearean scholars today.

In 2002, Raleigh was featured in the BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.

A galliard was composed in honour of Raleigh by either Francis Cutting or Richard Allison.

The state capital of North Carolina, its second-largest city, was named Raleigh in 1792, after Sir Walter, sponsor of the Roanoke Colony. In the city, a bronze statue, which has been moved around different locations within the city, was cast in honour of the city's namesake. The "Lost Colony" is commemorated at the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on Roanoke Island, North Carolina.

Raleigh County, West Virginia, is named after him.

Mount Raleigh in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada, was named for him, with related features the Raleigh Glacier and Raleigh Creek named in association with the mountain. Mount Gilbert, just to Mount Raleigh's south, was named for his half-brother, Sir Humphrey.

Raleigh has been widely speculated to be responsible for introducing the potato to Europe, and was a key figure in bringing it to Ireland. However, modern historians dispute this claim, suggesting it would have been impossible for Raleigh to have discovered the potato in the places he visited.

Due to Raleigh's role in the popularisation of smoking, John Lennon humorously referred to him as "such a stupid git" in the song " I'm So Tired" on the "White Album" The Beatles (1968).

Various colourful stories are told about him, such as laying his cloak over a puddle for the Queen, but they are probably apocryphal. The story of Raleigh's trial is included in John George Phillimore's 1850 book The History and Principles of Evidence, and his commentary on the story is included in many law school textbooks on evidence in common law countries.

The author George Garrett's historical fiction novel Death of the Fox explores Raleigh's relationships with Elizabeth I and her successor James I.

Raleigh's descendants

Many people claim descent from Sir Walter Raleigh, but nearly all have no basis in fact. The only authentic lines of descent are as follows:

Raleigh's only surviving child, Carew Raleigh, had three surviving children-Walter (d. 1660), Anne (d. 1708) and Philip (d. 1705).

The elder son, Walter Raleigh, was knighted in June 1660, but died two months later. He was buried at West Horsley. He left three surviving children-Elizabeth, Philippa and Anne. Philippa (who married Oliver Weekes, of Tortingdon, Sussex) and Anne (who married William Knight, of Barrells, Warwickshire) left descendants. It was Philippa Weekes' daughter, Elizabeth Elwes, who seems to have owned the main store of Raleigh memorabilia and was consulted by William Oldys in 1735 when he was writing his Life of Raleigh.

Anne Raleigh married Sir Peter Tyrrell, of Castlethorpe, Bucks. Her granddaughter, Harriet, married Francis Mann, of Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and died in 1785, leaving descendants.

Philip Raleigh championed his grandfather's cause, publishing several of his hitherto unpublished papers. He had a family of four sons and three daughters. The youngest son, Carew Raleigh, page of honour to William III, was serving as a captain's servant on HMS Bredah when he died of fever in the West Indies in 1697, aged seventeen. The second son, Lieut. Brudenell Raleigh, was also serving in the navy in the West Indies when he died of fever in June 1698, aged 22. The eldest son, Captain Walter Raleigh, Grenadier Guards, was page of honour to Queen Mary, and was killed at the siege of Schellenberg in 1704, aged 31. He was unmarried. After Walter's death, his father was granted a pension by the crown, 'in consideration of his 3 sons being slain in the late and present war'. The third son, Captain-Lieutenant Grenville Raleigh, served in the Duke of Marlborough's army throughout the War of the Spanish Succession and died of fever in 1717, while guarding the prisoners at Chester after the 1715 Jacobite rising. He had married and had two sons and a daughter, Mary. On the death of his daughter in Bath in 1783, it was noted that she was 'the only surviving descendant in the direct line of Sir Walter Raleigh'.

Of Philip Raleigh's daughters, Anne and Elizabeth both died unmarried. The eldest daughter, Frances, married William Honywood, eldest son of Sir William Honywood, of Evington Place, Elmsted, Kent and died in 1730. Her many descendants include the present Lord Mountbatten and the actor Hugh Grant.

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Collier, John Payne (1852). "Additional Information respecting the Life and Services of Sir Walter Raleigh". Archaeologia. The Society of Antiquaries of London. 34 (2): 151. doi:10.1017/S026134090000103X.

Fairholt, Frederick William (1859). Tobacco, Its History and Associations. London: Chapman and Hall.

Farrand, Michael J. (26 January 2013). "Far and few between: Walter Raleigh Wrote Shakespeare?".

Gibson, H. N. (2005) [1962]. The Shakespeare Claimants. Routledge Library Editions-Shakespeare. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-35290-1.

Kathman, David (2003). "The Question of Authorship". In Wells, Stanley; Orlin, Lena Cowen (eds.). Shakespeare: an Oxford Guide. Oxford Guides. Oxford University Press. pp. 620-32. ISBN 978-0-19-924522-2.

King, Walter Raleigh (2019). Sunk Down among the People: The Story of the Descendants of Sir Walter Raleigh. Kindle Direct Publishing. ASIN B081SKM5HD.

Laughton, John Knox; Lee, Sidney (1896). "Ralegh, Walter (1552?-1618)" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 47. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

Laughton, John Knox (1898). "Stucley, Lewis" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 55. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

Ley, Willy (December 1965). Frederik Pohl (ed.). "The Healthfull Aromatick Herbe". For Your Information. Galaxy Science Fiction.

May, Steven W. (1989). Sir Walter Ralegh. Boston, MA: Twayne. ISBN 9780805769838. Raleigh as a writer and poet.

(Subscription or Nicholls, Mark; Williams, Penry (17 September 2004). "Ralegh, Sir Walter (1554-1618)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23039. UK public library membership required.)

Nelson, Alan H. (2004). "Stratford Si! Essex No!". Tennessee Law Review. Tennessee Law Review Association. 72 (1): 149-69. ISSN 0040-3288.

Paster, Gail Kern (April 1999). "The Sweet Swan" (subscription required). Harper's Magazine. pp. 38-41.

Pendleton, Thomas A. (1994). "Irvin Matus's Shakespeare, IN FACT". Shakespeare Newsletter. University of Illinois at Chicago. 44 (Summer): 21, 26-30. ISSN 0037-3214.

Racin, John (1974). Sir Walter Ralegh as Historian: An Analysis of The History of the World. Inst. f. Engl. Sprache u. Literatur, Univ. Salzburg.

Rowse, Alfred Leslie (1962). Ralegh and the Throckmortons. London: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9787800419980.

Sutherland, John; Watts, Cedric T. (2000). Henry V, War Criminal?: and Other Shakespeare Puzzles. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-283879-7.

Wallace, Willard Mosher (1959). Sir Walter Raleigh. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-7900-7. OCLC 927442536.

Williams, Norman Lloyd (1988). Sir Walter Raleigh. Cassell Biographies. ISBN 9780304322411. OCLC 18325609. OL 24939443M.

(Subscription or Wolffe, Mary (23 September 2004). "Stucley, Sir Lewis". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26740. UK public library membership required.)

Adamson, J.H. and Folland, H. F. Shepherd of the Ocean, 1969

Beer, Anna Sir Walter Raleigh and his readers in the Seventeenth Century (Springer, 1997).

Beer, Anna Patriot or Traitor: The Life and Death of Sir Walter Ralegh (Oneworld, 2018)

Hiscock, Andrew. "Walter Ralegh and the Arts of Memory." Literature Compass 4.4 (2007): 1030-1058.

Dwyer, Jack Dorset Pioneers The History Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-7524-5346-0

Gallay, Alan. Walter Ralegh: Architect of Empire (2019), a major scholarly biography excerpt

Holmes, John. "The Guiana Projects: Imperial and Colonial Ideologies in Ralegh and Purchas." Literature & History 14.2 (2005): 1-13.

Lawson-Peebles, Robert. "The many faces of Sir Walter Ralegh" History Today 48.3 (1998): 17+.

Lewis, C. S. English Literature in the Sixteenth Century Excluding Drama, (1954).

Lyons, Mathew. The Favourite: Ralegh and His Queen (Hachette UK, 2011).

Lyons, Mathew. "Cloaked in Mystery." History Today (2012) 62.7 pp 72-72

Pemberton, Henry (Author); Carroll Smyth (Editor), Susan L. Pemberton (Contributor) Shakespeare And Sir Walter Raleigh: Including Also Several Essays Previously Published In The New Shakspeareana, Kessinger Publishing, LLC; 264 pages, 2007. ISBN 978-0548312483

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Stebbing, William: Sir Walter Ralegh Oxford, 1899 Project Gutenberg eText

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(; c. 1552 - 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion in Ireland, helped defend England against the Spanish Armada and held political positions under Elizabeth I.

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Royal mistress and actress Lille Langtry, christened the Jersey Lily by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais, was one of the most celebrated beauties and successful social climbers of her age. Born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton, she was the daughter of the Dean of Jersey. A precocious child in a household full of men, she rejected a governess and was educated with her brothers by a series of tutors. This would stand her in good stead. As George Bernard Shaw said of her in her prime, 'I resent Mrs Langtry, she has no right to be intelligent, daring and independent as well as lovely'.

Lillie secured her first husband landowner Edward Langtry in 1872. She seemed more taken with his yacht the Red Gauntlet than the man himself and was rather exasperated not to settle in London. After a near-fatal bout of typhoid, she persuaded Langtry that London would be good for her health (?!) and they took a townhouse in Eaton Place in 1874. Under the patronage of Lord Ranleigh and painter Frank Miles, Mrs Langtry was introduced to London Society and bewitched rakes such as Lord Randolph Churchill. Copies of her portraits by Miles, Millais and Burne-Jones were sold as postcards to a public enchanted by her charms.

On the 24th of May 1877, a private dinner was arranged to introduce the famous Mrs Langtry of the violet eyes and sharp wit to the sybaritic Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII). Christopher Hibbert's definitive biography of Edward VII (1976) says the Prince was 'immediately captivated by this tall, graceful, glowingly voluptuous woman who had recently established herself as one of the most sought after beauties in London. Led by the Prince's long-suffering wife Alexandra, Society accepted the presence of Mrs Langtry at any occasion attended by the Prince of Wales'.

Ditties were penned for Mrs Langtry including one with the amusing couplet 'London Society has gone quite silly, Fallen at the feet of the Jersey Lillie'. Oscar Wilde said of her 'I would rather have discovered Lille Langry than America' and Queen Victoria received the royal mistress who mischievously wore the Prince of Wales's three ostrich feathers in her hair. In 1877 the Prince built a love nest called the Red House for the Jersey Lille outside Bournemouth. A window with their initials and entwined hearts etched by Mrs Langtry still exists I the building; now a hotel.

The affair died in 1880 when Mrs Langtry allegedly put ice down her prince's collar at a private dinner. Removal of his patronage could have proved fatal for Lillie Langtry. Her husband's alcoholism had resulted in a dwindling of their fortunes. Not to be defeated, Mrs Langtry made her stage debut a year later at the prompting of Sarah Bernhardt, in a production of She Stoops to Conquer.

Largely thanks to the Prince attending her performance numerous times, Mrs Langtry was a success despite possessing limited talents as an actress. Cast adrift but not abandoned by the Prince of Wales, Mrs Langtry embarked on an affair with the Earl of Shrewsbury and Prince Louis of Battenberg (father of Lord Louis Mountbatten) who was allegedly the father of an illegitimate daughter born in Paris. Mrs Langtry conquered American touring with her own theatre company and found several wealthy patrons on the road.

Mrs Langtry's relationship with Henry Poole & Co began in 1885 when she was having an affair with American millionaire and thoroughbred trainer Frank Gebhart who was also a customer. It was Gebhart who furnished Mrs Langtry with a stud in Newmarket and bought her beloved horse Merman who won the Ascot Gold Cup. Mrs Langtry's stable raced under the assumed name Mr Jersey because the Jockey Club forbade women from joining. Her first ledger page in the Poole livery books records Mrs Langtry living at 21 Pont Street in Mayfair and the clerks note that her account was to be transferred to Mr Gebhart's for payment.

Mrs Langtry's only personal order at Poole was a black cloth riding habit. Her remaining orders are recorded over twenty pages. They are for lavish liveries to dress her households and stables. In 1890, the ledger clerk records no orders to be executed without her written authority. This tallies with Mrs Langtry's separation from her American benefactor. In 1899 Mrs Langtry married Lord Gerald de Bathe, 19-years her junior, on the same day Merman won the Goodwood Cup. As Lady de Bathe, she perpetuated her fame by endorsing products such as Pears soap and selling wine from her Californian estate emblazoned with her image. Mrs Langtry's last years were spent in Monte Carlo where she died in 1929. It is believed that Mrs Langtry was Arthur Conan-Doyle's inspiration for the adventuress Irene Adler in his 1891 Sherlock Holmes mystery A Scandal in Bohemia.

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Royal mistress and actress Lille Langtry, christened the Jersey Lily by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais, was one of the most celebrated beauties and successful social climbers of her age. Born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton, she was the daughter of the Dean of Jersey.

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João Gonçalves Zarco ( c. 1390 - 21 November 1471) was a Portuguese explorer who established settlements and recognition of the Madeira Islands, and was appointed first captain of Funchal by Henry the Navigator.

Zarco was born in Portugal, and became a knight at the service of Prince Henry the Navigator's household. In his service at an early age, Zarco commanded the caravels guarding the coast of the Algarve from Muslim incursions, was at the conquest of Ceuta, and later led the caravels that recognized the island of Porto Santo in 1418 to 1419 and afterward, the island of Madeira 1419 to 1420. He founded the city of Câmara de Lobos. He was granted, as hereditary leader ( Capitania), half the island of Madeira (the Capitania of Funchal, being its first Captain-major). Together with his fellow fleet commanders, Tristão Vaz Teixeira and Bartolomeu Perestrelo, he initiated the colonization of the islands in 1425. As a knight of the House of Avis, he participated in the siege of Tangier, in 1437, which ended in failure. He died at Funchal, Madeira.

He married Constança Rodrigues, daughter of Rodrigo Lopes de Sequeiros (?) and wife, and had the following issue:

João Gonçalves da Câmara (d. Funchal, Madeira, 26 March 1501), married to Dona Mécia de Noronha, daughter of Dom João Henriques de Noronha (bastard son of Alfonso, Count of Gijón and Noroña) and wife Beatriz, Lady de Mirabel and sister of Dom Garcia Henriques, and had issue, and also one bastard son by an unknown mother

Rui Gonçalves da Câmara, 3rd Donatary Captain of São Miguel Island, married to Maria de Bettencourt, natural daughter of Maciot de Bettencourt by Teguise, without issue, he had a bastard son by one Maria Rodrigues and three more children by an unknown mother

Garcia Rodrigues da Câmara, married to Violante de Freitas, and had issue

Beatriz Gonçalves da Câmara, married to Diogo Cabral, and had issue

Isabel Gonçalves da Câmara, married to Diogo Afonso de Aguiar, o Velho (the Old), and had issue

Helena Gonçalves da Câmara, married to Martim Mendes de Vasconcelos, and had issue

Catarina Gonçalves da Câmara, married to Garcia Homem de Sousa

There are discussions as to whether João Gonçalves Zarco could have been of Jewish Converso origin. Zarco was a prominent Jewish family from Santarém and Lisbon. Mossé Zarco was King João II's tailor. There was also a Portuguese doctor named Joseph Zarco, whom some authors claim to be Joseph Ibn Sharga, the great kabbalist, and a sixteenth-century poet named Yehuda Zarco. Augusto Mascarenhas Barreto suggested that Christopher Columbus could have been of Jewish descent from Portugal and his real name was Salvador Fernandes Zarco. Isabel Violante Pereira also attributes Jewish ancestry to João Gonçalves Zarco.

The novel of Arkan Simaan, L'Écuyer d'Henri le Navigateur (Harmattan, Paris, 2007), deals with Zarco's life.

António da Costa de Albuquerque de Sousa Lara, 2nd Count de Guedes, Vasco de Bettencourt de Faria Machado e Sampaio and Marcelo Olavo Correia de Azevedo, Ascendências Reais de Sua Alteza Real a Senhora Dona Isabel de Herédia Duquesa de Bragança, I, pelos Costados Herédia, Bettencourt e Meneses da Ilha da Madeira" (Universitária Editora, 1999)

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João Gonçalves Zarco ( c. 1390 - 21 November 1471) was a Portuguese explorer who established settlements and recognition of the Madeira Islands, and was appointed first captain of Funchal by Henry the Navigator. Zarco was born in Portugal, and became a knight at the service of Prince Henry the Navigator's household.

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Recently we here in Jersey were treated to a lovely little playlet which portrayed six 'forgotten' Jersey women, those that defied convention and helped others to follow on more easily. I've blogged before about the 'Surreal Sisters' Lucie Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe. Others to feature were Caroline Trachy (politics), Elinor Glyn (literature) and Florence Boot née Rowe (philanthropist).

In truth, Lilian Mary Grandin was never entirely forgotten, but maybe one Jersey resident in a hundred would recognise the name today. We think nothing these days of women doctors, but it was noteworthy in the extreme until fairly recent times.

Ms Grandin was born in Regent Road in 1876, where a plaque commemorates that fact. She was educated at Jersey Ladies College. A devout Methodist, she was determined to serve as a missionary. To this end she studied medicine and chemistry in Edinburgh, midwifery in Dublin (no doubt at the Rotunda) and tropical and eye diseases in London. She was sent off to Yunnan Province in China where she was to spend what remained of her life.

In Yunnan she set up a clinic and leper colony and trained many Chinese women as nurses. In 1912 she married the author Edwin Dingle but continued with her profession.

In 1924 she developed typhus symptoms, but gave her remaining dose of typhus medicine to a patient. She died a short time later, aged just 48.

The clinic she founded in Yunnan is now a hospital which treats 60,000 patients a year. There Grandin is remembered as the Angel of Zhoutong.

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Lilian Grandin, Jersey's first female doctor

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Recently we here in Jersey were treated to a lovely little playlet which portrayed six 'forgotten' Jersey women, those that defied convention and helped others to follow on more easily. I've blogged before about the 'Surreal Sisters' Lucie Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe. Others to feature were Caroline Trachy (politics), Elinor Glyn (literature) and Florence Boot...

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The Chris Beetles Gallery is one of London’s most popular commercial art galleries, specialising in traditional British watercolour, illustration, oil paint

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Charles II stayed in Jersey as a Prince during the English Civil War, and was later proclaimed King in Jersey before his return to England to claim the throne in 1660 with the Restoration of the Monarchy.

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King Charles II | The public and personal life of a British monarch

He was certainly mercurial and brilliant, and quite possibly lustful and in the grip of dark and foreign powers. King Charles II was however, one of the nation's most interesting and beguiling rulers.

As a teen, his golden childhood was ripped away from him by the Civil War. Fight and flight marked these years with the execution of his beloved father shattering his world. His twenties were spent hopping around continental courts, begging favours and finances.

A time to celebrate

On his thirtieth birthday, he left all that behind and triumphantly returned to London as King. In the end, the national experiment with republicanism had collapsed and the dour days of Cromwell and the Commonwealth were swept away with festivities and mirth.

Charles II was tall, handsome, sharp of mind, impeccably attired and charming. But he would need all his guile to manoeuvre and survive the tempestuous times in which he ruled.

Charles II's coronation

After the death of Oliver Cromwell, his son Richard became Lord Protector. However Richard lacked the leadership qualities of his father, and he was quickly resigned.

It was decided that Charles' son should return to his rightful role, and become king. He would rule closely with parliament, and returned to popular acclaim.

New regalia was made (the previous crown had been melted down when Charles I was executed) and the coronation took place on 23 April 1661.

Affairs of the heart: Charles II's mistresses

The young King's heart was soon taken by the married beauty Barbara Villiers who Charles would show off publicly. Villiers came to symbolise the excess and promiscuity of the Restoration court. His brother's secret marriage to a commoner also added an air of scandal to the crown.

The early years of his reign were marked by a flair for public spectacle, winning over nobility and commoner alike. There was also private tragedy with the death of two of his closest family members.

Despite having fathered a child by his mistress, Charles was keen to marry. Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King John IV of Portugal, was chosen. Her dowry was generous indeed: two million crowns and the cities of Bombay and Tangiers thrown in for good measure.

Catherine of Braganza, the Royal Collection

The marriage was to be courteous rather than passionate. The couple spoke no common language and the Portuguese Catherine was considered to measure up poorly next to the beauty of the King's mistress. Worse, the King insisted on openly carrying on his affair and fathering a second child with Barbara.

Charles II and religion

Just as Charles negotiated the conflicts of marriage and mistresses, the nation was an irreconcilable tangle of religious conflicts. Puritanical Protestants still had great sway in England and even more so in Scotland. The King was personally close to many Catholics and their sympathisers. Somewhere in the middle lay the established Church of England, itself wracked by similar tensions.

To show favouritism to one side or even tolerance was potentially fatal. Although Charles managed to please no one in this respect he somehow managed to avert open rebellion. Nevertheless, Charles was to be frustrated constantly by warring factions in Parliament divided along religious lines.

Because Charles had no legitimate children, there was a widespread fear that his Roman Catholic brother James would inherit the throne.

Plague, Fire, War and Peace

Although it would be remembered as a time of great scientific advances with Charles' Royal Society at the forefront, the 1660s were still dominated by superstition. What could speak more strongly of divine displeasure than pestilence and disaster? The Great Plague of London came a mere five years into his rule. Followed by the Great Fire of London the following year should surely have seen off the King but with guile Charles survived these events. As well as this the English lost the Second Anglo-Dutch war in 1667.

Just as the City seemed to spring anew from the ashes of the Great Fire of London, science and commerce offered hope of a better future. The misery of the recent past was perhaps enough to discourage the discontent from rebellion. Charles sued for peace abroad with the Dutch and signed the Treaty of Breda. Soon after, a formal alliance with Holland and Sweden was created.

Peace seemed to unleash the King's loins and now he would be linked with a long list of women, presumably overlapping. Countesses, singers and, famously, the orange seller turned actress Nell Gwyn graced the royal bed. Barbara was pensioned off.

Charles II and the founding of the Royal Observatory

Improving navigation at sea was a major challenge for 17th century merchants and their sailors. Thanks to Charles II's French mistress, Louise de Kéroualle, rumours started to circulate at court that French astronomer, Sieur de St. Pierre, had devised a means of determining longitude at sea by using observations of the Moon's position in relation to the background stars.

On 4 March 1675, the King signed a Royal Warrant appointing John Flamsteed as 'astronomical observator..[..]..so as to find out the so much-desired longitude of places for the perfecting the art of navigation'. It was the founding of Britain's first state-funded scientific research institution.
Find out more about the history of the Royal Observatory

Charles II by Peter Lely (1630-1685)

Brinksmanship

Charles had survived so far, and wisely kept his distance from his competing ministers and mistresses. Somehow he managed to keep them all in play but none ascendant.

Charles II signed a secret treaty with King Louis XIV of France in which England offered aid in a war against the Dutch in return for the French stalling their naval expansion.

Sensationally, he also offered to declare himself a Catholic in return for money. Although the funds began to flow, (freeing Charles of some of the influence of Parliament) the conversion never seemed to happen, at least not publicly.

His brother James was forced to resign as Lord Admiral, despite noted service, when he refused to renounce his own new-found Catholicism. At once this explosive secret about the heir to the throne became public news.

How did Charles II die?

Charles was caught between support for his brother and a hysterical reaction to 'Popish' plotting. Parliament tried to cut James out of the succession and Charles looked to marry off James' daughter to Protestant Prince William of Orange in Holland.

In 1681 with Parliament poised to declare itself in charge of the royal succession, the King dissolved it to sit no more in his reign. At the very edge of the precipice, somehow Charles clung on. His final years were spent settling scores and concentrating power.

On his deathbed, he finally converted to Catholicism and on 6 February 1685 he passed away peacefully. His brother James fared less well and ruled for only three years before fleeing the country to make way for William of Orange.

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King Charles II | The public and personal life of a British monarch

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He was certainly mercurial and brilliant, and quite possibly lustful and in the grip of dark and foreign powers. King Charles II was however, one of the nation's most interesting and beguiling rulers. As a teen, his golden childhood was ripped away from him by the Civil War.

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Queen Victoria restored the reputation of a monarchy tarnished by the extravagance of her royal uncles. She also shaped a new role for the Royal Family, reconnecting it with the public through civic duties.

At just 4ft 11in tall, Victoria was a towering presence as a symbol of her Empire. She and her husband Albert and their nine children came to symbolise a new, confident age.

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Queen Victoria: The woman who redefined Britain's monarchy

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A timeline of Queen Victoria's life: The Queen who restored the reputation of the British monarchy tarnished by the extravagance of her royal uncles.

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Queen Elizabeth II served from 1952 to 2022 as reigning monarch of the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and numerous other realms and territories, as well as head of the Commonwealth, the group of 53 sovereign nations that includes many former British territories. Extremely popular for nearly all of her long reign, the queen was known for taking a serious interest in government and political affairs, apart from her ceremonial duties, and was credited with modernizing many aspects of the monarchy.

In September 2015, Elizabeth surpassed the record of 63 years and 216 days on the throne set by Queen Victoria (her great-great-grandmother) to become the longest-reigning British monarch in history. In February 2022, Elizabeth celebrated her Platinum Jubilee-marking seven decades of her service to the Commonwealth.
READ MORE: Queen Elizabeth II: 15 Key Moments in Her Reign
Childhood and Education of a Princess

When Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, the elder daughter of Prince Albert, Duke of York, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, was born on April 21, 1926, she apparently had little chance of assuming the throne, as her father was a younger son of King George V.

But in late 1936, her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated to marry an American divorcée, Wallis Simpson. As a result, her father became King George VI, and 10-year-old "Lilibet" (as she was known within the family) became the heir presumptive to the throne.

Though she spent much of her childhood with nannies, Princess Elizabeth was influenced greatly by her mother, who instilled in her a devout Christian faith as well as a keen understanding of the demands of royal life. Her grandmother, Queen Mary, consort of King George V, also instructed Elizabeth and her younger sister Margaret in the finer points of royal etiquette.

Educated by private tutors, with an emphasis on British history and law, the princess also studied music and learned to speak fluent French. She trained as a Girl Guide (the British equivalent of the Girl Scouts) and developed a lifelong passion for horses.

As queen, she kept many thoroughbred racehorses and frequently attended racing and breeding events. Elizabeth's famous attachment to Pembroke Welsh corgis also began in childhood, and she owned more than 30 corgis over the course of her reign.

Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth

Elizabeth and Margaret spent much of World War II living apart from their parents in the Royal Lodge at Windsor Castle, a medieval fortress outside London. In 1942, the king made Elizabeth an honorary colonel in the 500 Grenadier Guards, a Royal Army regiment.

Two years later, he named her as a member of the Privy Council and the Council of State, enabling her to act on his behalf when he was out of the country.

In 1947, soon after the royal family returned from an official visit to South Africa and Rhodesia, they announced Elizabeth's engagement to Prince Philip of Greece, her third cousin (both were great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert) and a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. She had set her sights on him when she was only 13, and their relationship developed through visits and correspondence during the war.

Though many in the royal circle viewed Philip as an unwise match due to his lack of money and foreign (German) blood, Elizabeth was determined and very much in love. She and Philip wed on November 20, 1947, at Westminster Abbey.

Their first son, Charles (Prince of Wales, then King Charles III) was born in 1948; a daughter, Anne (Princess Royal) arrived two years later. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's third child and second son, Prince Andrew, was born in 1960 and the couple's youngest child, Prince Edward, was born in 1964.

Elizabeth and Phillip were married for an extraordinary 73 years, until the Prince died in April 2021 at the age of 99.
SEE MORE: Glorious Behind-the-Scenes Photos of Queen Elizabeth's 1947 Wedding
Queen Elizabeth's Coronation

With her father's health declining in 1951, Elizabeth stepped in for him at various state functions. After spending that Christmas with the royal family, Elizabeth and Philip left on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, making a stopover in Kenya en route.

They were in Kenya on February 6, 1952, when King George VI succumbed to lung cancer at the age of 56, and his 25-year-old daughter became the sixth woman in history to ascend to the British throne. Her formal coronation as Queen Elizabeth II took place on June 2, 1953, in Westminster Abbey.

In the first decade of her reign, Elizabeth settled into her role as queen, developing a close bond with Prime Minister Winston Churchill (the first of 15 prime ministers she would work with during her reign), weathering a foreign affairs disaster in the Suez Crisis of 1956 and making numerous state trips abroad.

In response to pointed criticism in the press, the queen embraced steps to modernize her own image and that of the monarchy, including televising her annual Christmas broadcast for the first time in 1957.

Elizabeth and Philip had two more children, Andrew (born 1960) and Edward (born 1964). In 1968, Charles was formally invested as the Prince of Wales, marking his coming of age and the beginning of what would be a long period as king-in-waiting.

Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee in 1977, marking her 25 years on the throne, proved a bright spot in an era of economic struggles. Always a vigorous traveler, she kept a punishing schedule to mark the occasion, traveling some 56,000 miles around the Commonwealth, including the island nations Fiji and Tonga, New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, the British West Indies and Canada.

Royal Scandals

In 1981, all eyes were on the royal family once again as Prince Charles wed Lady Diana Spencer at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Though the couple soon welcomed two sons, William and Harry, their marriage quickly imploded, causing considerable public embarrassment for the queen and the entire royal family.

In 1992, Elizabeth's 40th year on the throne and her family's "Annus Horribilis" (according to a speech she gave that November) both Charles and Diana and Prince Andrew and his wife, Sarah Ferguson, separated, while Princess Anne and her husband, Mark Phillips, divorced.
READ MORE: How Prince Charles and Lady Diana's Wedding Became a Global Phenomenon
Queen Elizabeth's Net Worth

A fire also broke out at Windsor Castle that same year, and amid public outcry over the use of government funds to restore the royal residence, Queen Elizabeth agreed to pay taxes on her private income. This was not required by British law, though some earlier monarchs had done so as well.

At the time, her personal fortune was estimated at $11.7 billion. In another modernizing measure, she also agreed to open the state rooms at Buckingham Palace to the public for an admission fee when she was not in residence.

After Charles and Diana divorced in 1996, Diana remained incredibly popular with the British (and international) public. Her tragic death the following year triggered a tremendous outpouring of shock and grief, as well as outrage at the royal family for what the public saw as its ill treatment of the "People's Princess."

Though Queen Elizabeth initially kept the family (including Princes William and Harry) out of the public eye at Balmoral, the unprecedented public response to Diana's death convinced her to return to London, make a televised speech about Diana, greet mourners and allow the Union Jack to fly at half-mast above Buckingham Palace.

A Modern Monarchy

The queen's popularity, and that of the entire royal family, rebounded during the first decade of the 21st century. Though 2002 marked Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee-50 years on the throne-the death of her mother (the beloved Queen Mum) and sister early that year cast a pall on the celebrations.

In 2005, the queen enjoyed public support when she gave her assent to Prince Charles' once-unthinkable marriage to his longtime love Camilla Parker Bowles.

In her seventh decade on the throne, Queen Elizabeth presided over the pomp and circumstance of another royal wedding at Westminster Abbey, that of Prince William to Catherine Middleton in April 2011. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who are in line to become Britain's next king and queen, continued the line of succession with their children, Prince George (born 2013), Princess Charlotte (born 2015) and Prince Louis (born 2018).

A consistent presence by his wife's side and one of Britain's busiest royals for much of her reign, Prince Philip stepped down from his royal duties in 2017, at the age of 96. That same year, the royal couple celebrated 70 years of marriage, making theirs the longest union in the history of the British monarchy. Philip died in 2021, at the age of 99.

In May 2018, Prince Harry wed the American actress Meghan Markle, a biracial divorcée whose embrace by the royal family indicated just how modern it had become during Elizabeth's long reign. The couple had a son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, in 2019, and a daughter, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, in 2021.

Rumors swirled at various times that Queen Elizabeth would step aside and let Prince Charles take the throne. In 2017, she delegated some of her royal obligations, such as the official Remembrance Day ceremony, to him, fueling speculation that she was preparing to bequeath the throne to her eldest son. Instead, she remained a consistent, stable presence at the head of Britain's reigning family until her peaceful death in September 2022 at her beloved country residence, Balmoral Castle.

In the final years of her reign, she continued many of her official duties, public appearances and spent plenty of time outside with her beloved dogs and horses. Two days before her death, she officially installed a new prime minister, Liz Truss.

Sources

Her Majesty the Queen, The Royal Household website.
Sally Bedell Smith, Elizabeth the Queen ( Penguin Random House, 2012).
Queen Elizabeth II - Fast Facts, CNN.
"Will Queen Elizabeth Give Prince Charles the Throne in 2018?" Newsweek.

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Queen Elizabeth II served from 1952 to 2022 as reigning monarch of the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and numerous other realms and territories, as well as head of the Commonwealth, the group of 53 sovereign nations that includes many former British territories.