28th May 1946
Corbiere’s assistant lighthouse keeper drowns
Corbiere lighthouse is cut off at high tide, and it’s easy to be caught out if you don’t keep watch. That’s what happened to a pair of English visitors on 28 May 1946. One of them made it safely to the shore, but his wife didn’t, and assistant keeper Peter Edwin Larbalestier set out to rescue her.
Despite knowing what the sea can be like there, Larbalestier was washed away, along with the unfortunate woman, and they were both drowned.
A plaque was erected in his honour close to the lighthouse, “In memory of Peter Edwin Larbalestier, assistant keeper at Corbiere Lighthouse who, on 28th May 1946, gave his life in attempting to rescue a visitor cut off by the incoming tide. Take heed all ye who pass by”.
Larbalestier was 34 years old when he died. His grave is in the yard of St Brelade’s parish church.
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Other events that occured in May
Jersey hosts UK’s first post-war Grand Prix
- British driver Reg Parnell won the 1947 Jersey International Road Race, considered to be the UK's first post World War II Grand Prix race.
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Potato diggers start work but end up in court
- Philippe Simon appeared in court when he refused to pay the labourers he’d employed to dig up his potatoes.
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Jersey court fines man three months’ pay for swearing
- The Jersey court fined a man almost three months' pay for uttering a single swear word at his boss in 1891.
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Jersey historian Philip Falle dies
- Philip Falle produced a definitive history of Jersey, found favour as an advisor to the king, and was ordained a priest.
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