4th April 1771
Major Moses Corbet is appointed Lieutenant Governor of Jersey
Corbet served the army in Menorca and Gibraltar before retiring to Jersey on the grounds of ill-health. He was appointed the island’s Lieutenant Governor in 1771 and, eight years later, led a team of men who repelled an attempted French-Dutch invasion at St Ouen’s.
The French were not easily deterred however, and in 1781 they staged a second invasion, this time enjoying a far greater degree of success. They captured Corbet and forced him to surrender the island. However, British army officer Francis Peirson refused to accept Corbet’s surrender to the French, and he attacked the French forces, succeeding in driving them back and, in the process, killing the French forces’ leader, Philippe de Rullecourt. Peirson was also killed in the attack.
Corbet was disgraced and, as a result of his actions – or lack thereof – tried by court-martial and found guilty. He was dismissed as Lieutenant-Governor.
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Other events that occured in April
Stranded fishermen are found on Minquiers
- Five fishermen went messing in March 1934 and were found early the following month sheltering on Les Minquiers.
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Inquiry opens into naked, burned motorist
- A man was found naked and burned to death in Jersey in unexplained circumstances in April 1946. An open verdict ruling was given.
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Corbière lighthouse is lit for the first time
- Corbiere’s 19m-tall lighthouse sits on a tidal island, which lifts the light a further 17m above the high tide mark. It was first lit in 1874.
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The death of a very wealthy shipping baron
- When ship builder Sir Robert P Houston died, he left a £7m fortune and no male heir, which was bad news for his wife.
- Read more…