22nd August 1643
Bailiff Philippe de Carteret II dies
Philippe de Carteret II was the third Seigneur of Sark (his grandfather, Hellier de Carteret had been appointed the island’s first Seigneur) and from 1627 until his death was also Bailiff of Jersey. Born in Sark in 1584, de Carteret studied at Oxford and graduated from the university with a Batchelor of Arts degree when aged just 17. By then he had already been Siegneur of Sark for seven years, following his father’s death in 1594.
Most important family in Jersey
The fact that the de Carterets were the most important family in Jersey may well have assisted Philippe in his meteoric rise to power. Three years before being appointed Bailiff, he had been appointed the first Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey, and he kept that role until his death. Thus, he held two of the most important political roles on the island simultaneously, concentrating a great amount of power in one man’s hands.
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states that, during the Civil War, de Carteret, who was a royalist and lived at Mont Orgueil, was not universally liked, in part because holding these two offices simultaneously gave him the opportunity to appoint his own family members to other positions of authority – something of which he frequently took advantage.
He lived out his last days in Elizabeth Castle, in the chapel of which his heart and intestines were buried following his death. The rest of his body was buried at St Ouen’s Church the following year.
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Other events that occured in August
Curious bottles wash up on Jersey’s beaches
- Dozens of strange bottles washed up on beaches around the Channel Islands in 1893 as part of an experiment.
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Dolmen discovered on Le Mont de la Ville
- The dolmen below Le Mont de la Ville was discovered when the area was cleared to create a parade ground in August 1785.
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Jersey judge and prosecutor find themselves prosecuted in court turn-around
- A bit of clever argument from the accused saw a court in Jersey reconsider who exactly was to blame in an unusual case.
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Parliament debates Jersey’s treatment of prisoners of war
- A Conservative MP in London was concerned that Jersey might have been treating German PoWs too leniently during the First World War.
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