16th April 1859
First Jersey Royals are exported to London
Jersey new potatoes only found fame on the mainland after the first shipment went on sale in Covent Garden on 16 April 1859. They were an immediate hit, and three further shipments were sent before the end of the season, plus a fourth to Swansea. That was just the start of their success. Less than 10 years later, Jersey was exporting more than 4000 tons of potatoes to the mainland, and demand has been strong ever since.
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Other events that occured in April
Man denies that killing counted as murder because he was drunk
- George Elias Le Rougetel admitted that he'd shot his sister to death but claimed that it wasn't murder as he'd been drunk at the time.
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Royal Amphitheatre opens in Gloucester Street
- The Royal Amphitheatre was built as a replacement for the Theatre Royal, which had burned down two years earlier.
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States votes to buy land to build Jersey Airport
- Prior to the opening of Jersey Airport, all aircraft serving the island took off from and landed on the beach.
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Race car crash kills driver and spectators
- A leading light in the world of motor racing was killed when he skidded and crashed his Bugatti into a house at Jersey's Marquand’s Corner.
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