4th April 1771

Major Moses Corbet is appointed Lieutenant Governor of Jersey

Corbet served the army in Menorca and Gibraltar before retiring to Jersey on the grounds of ill-health. He was appointed the island’s Lieutenant Governor in 1771 and, eight years later, led a team of men who repelled an attempted French-Dutch invasion at St Ouen’s.

The French were not easily deterred however, and in 1781 they staged a second invasion, this time enjoying a far greater degree of success. They captured Corbet and forced him to surrender the island. However, British army officer Francis Peirson refused to accept Corbet’s surrender to the French, and he attacked the French forces, succeeding in driving them back and, in the process, killing the French forces’ leader, Philippe de Rullecourt. Peirson was also killed in the attack.

Corbet was disgraced and, as a result of his actions – or lack thereof – tried by court-martial and found guilty. He was dismissed as Lieutenant-Governor.