29th January 2015

A familiar name is sworn in as Bailiff

William Bailhache was sworn in as the 87th bailiff of Jersey upon the retirement of his predecessor, Sir Michael Birt. He wasn’t the first Bailhache to assume the role, though: his brother, Sir Philip, had been Bailiff before him, for 15 years between 1994 and 2009.

If that wasn’t confusing enough, when Jersey’s new phone directory was published in April 2019, the Bailiff was listed not as Sir William Bailhache but the Right Honourable Earl John Fogarty. Around 6000 copies were distributed before the error was spotted. Comments on news stories about the mix up suggested that few residents used the phone book any more so it seems unlikely many would have noticed.