23rd April 1908
Jersey tries to abolish church pews sale
Your seat in church once said a great deal about your social standing, so many of the great and good wanted to bequeath their regular pews to their offspring when they died. The matter came to a head when the States passed the “Loi au Sujet des Bancs dans les Eglises Paroissailes de l’Ile” – the law on the subject of benches in the island’s parish churches. In essence, it looked to ban either the sale of pews or their passing on in wills.
Family assets
Until that time, the Royal Court considered pews to be property that could be bought and sold, just like a house or field. Their owners were responsible for their upkeep and could thus will them to whoever they chose on their death. If someone wanted to sell a pew, it would be up to the parties involved to decide on a fair price. So long as the church in question agreed to the transfer, and a small contribution was made to the parish poor, the sale almost always proceeded without issue.
It had worked like this since the 16th century, but after the 1908 law change, each pew was the property of its owner only for the length of their life, and couldn’t be sold. Those who had invested in or inherited a pew petitioned the king to refuse to give the law sanction.
An iniquitous trade
However, not everyone felt that way. An editorial in the Jersey times described the pew trade as “iniquitous”, saying that “it makes the House of God a house of merchandise and reduces it to the level of an auction mart”.
The Loi, as passed, once again made the pews the common property of the parishes, to be used and enjoyed by any local who so chose. Should any parishioner “own” a pew, and find they no longer had need of it, it would pass back into collective ownership, as it was no longer theirs to sell.
FREE Jersey history newsletter
Don't miss our weekly update on Jersey's fascinating history. We promise never to sell your data to anyone else, and there's a super-easy unsubscribe link on the bottom of each email so you can leave whenever you want.
Other events that occured in April
The Durrells debuts on ITV
- ITV serialised the stories of Gerald Durrell's childhood in Corfu in The Durrells, which debuted in April 2016.
- Read more…
Law heralds creation of wartime currency
- When Jersey's local currency started to disappear during the Occupation, measures were put in place to design a new one.
- Read more…
Major Moses Corbet is appointed Lieutenant Governor of Jersey
- Corbet served in Menorca and Gibraltar before retiring to Jersey on the grounds of ill-health. He was appointed Lieutenant Governor in 1771.
- Read more…
The National Trust for Jersey is formed
- The National Trust for Jersey held its first formal meeting on 3 August 1936 with Samuel Falle, the Dean of Jersey, in the chair.
- Read more…