6th March 1902
Social Security pioneer Cyril Le Marquand is born
The imposing Cyril Le Marquand House, in Union Street, is the home of Jersey’s civil service, and with good reason: the man it was named after was elected to the States Assembly in 1948 and is responsible for setting up the island’s social security system to provide hospital treatment and pensions.
Le Marquand was born in 1902 and spent the Second World War on the mainland where he worked for the Ministry of Food. Upon his return to Jersey, after several years serving in the States, he was given responsibility for the island’s overall finances. He also argued to preserve the island’s autonomy when Britain joined the European Community – later the European Union – and was remembered through the creation of a scholarship upon his death on 27 February 1980.
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Other events that occured in March
Jersey rewrites its inheritance laws
- Prior to 2010, Jersey women got a raw deal when their spouses died, being entitled in law to only a third of their husband’s estate.
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Female murderer is a court sensation
- The court was full when 40-year-old Mary le Gendre answered the charge of murder. She pleaded not guilty of stabbing a Centenier to death.
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Jersey and Edinburgh courts argue over inmate
- The court in Edinburgh was just as interested as Jersey in seeing an accused man in its dock in March 1939.
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Jersey Zoo opens for the first time
- Jersey Zoo opened for the first time in March 1959 and, the following year, took in three unwanted rattlesnakes from the RAF.
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