27th April 1949
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 Marquand’s Corner. Kenneth Wilfred Bear had been practicing for the 176-mile Jersey International Road Race at the time. The car collided with six people at the side of the road. A doctor died on the spot and a policeman died the following morning. The other four injured were kept in hospital. Bear’s funeral took place in Jersey.
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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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Occupation prisoner Paul Desire Gourdan is born
- Paul Gourdan was one of the many islanders who was transported to mainland Europe to serve a prison sentence during the Occupation.
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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.
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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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