CHANNEL ISLANDS
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Since
then, the islands have been self-governing possessions of the British Crown,
successfully using the ongoing conflicts between France and England to trade
with both countries. Sark was colonized during the reign of Queen Elizabeth
I, with the seigneurship established by the monarch barely changed from the
present day. Ever searching for trading opportunities, the islanders built
commercial and political connections with the New World and, in 1640, King
Charles II granted a Jersey supporter the right to land in the American
colonies, and New Jersey was born. During
WWII, the Channel Islands were the only British soil threatened by German
troops. Prior to the invasion, many island children were evacuated to the
mainland, and Alderney became uninhabited, later to be used for concentration
camps by the Nazis. The occupation lasted five years ending in 1945, although
the Royal Navy occasionally blockaded the islands after the Normandy invasion
in 1944. When
Britain joined the European Union, the Channel Islands declined to follow
suit, and remain independent to this day.[1] |
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Essay |
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The leopards
of England and the Channel Islands This
article was first published in the 1943 Annual Bulletin of La Société
Jersiaise. This is
an edited (and slightly abridged) version suitable for online reproduction,
omitting some of the details and illustrations in the original. [2]
I About the arms of England see: England
Banner of Arms of the King of England. Designed by the author of this article and made by the Royal School of
Needlework for the States of Jersey on the occasion of the Royal Visit, June
1921. II - How King Edward I granted a Royal seal
of office to his Bailiffs in the islands The
connection between the Leopards of England and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and
Guernsey begins when Edward I, in 1279, despatched to his Bailiffs in the
Islands a specially cut seal of office bearing the royal arms. Though
the letter announcing this regal gift makes heavy reading, it is necessary
that I should reproduce it in full. The Latin version of the desparch (not
reproduced) was copied from the Rev Philip Palle's Caesarea or an
Account of Jersey. The translation has been kindly made for me by Dr R R
Marett, Rector of Exeter College, Oxford. "Edward by the Grace of God King of
England, Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine, to the Bailiffs of Jersey and
Guernsey Greeting. Whereas our men of the aforesaid Islands have oftentimes
hitherto suffered divers losses and no slight perils sometimes at sea through
shipwrecks sometimes on land by robberies and other hazards of the road, on
that account especially because in those Islands we have up to now had no Seal,
with or by which the Briefs/Writs of the meri in those parts might be
confirmed by sealing or their transactions there be furthered: We, for the
common benefit of the men of those parts, desiring that provision be made by
a suitable remedy for perils and losses of this kind, have caused to be made
ready a certain Seal of ours which as for the rest (otherwise) we have willed
to use there and which we despatch to you, so that for the future the
Briefs/Writs which the men of the aforesaid Islands have been accustomed to
obtain in our Chancery in England and as for the rest have been willing to
obtain, and the Agreements and contracts which happen to have been made there
by way of mutual pledge and hitherto were wont to be made only by word of
mouth and not in Writing, may otherwise be confirmed by the same Seal.
Wherefore we charge you that you receive that Seal and cause 'to be
proclaimed throughout the whole territory of the aforesaid Islands that all
those of those Parts who from now shall have been willing to have our
aforesaid Writs do obtain them there in accordance with the ancient Register
of those parts, just as hitherto they were wont to do in our Chancery. And,
ye aforesaid Bailiffs, do ye cause the Briefs/Writs of this sort and the
Agreements and Contracts to be confirmed in due form with the same Seal; and
do ye send to us a copy of the aforesaid Register under Seal; and do ye cause
all that is here laid down to be otherwise maintained in those Islands and to
be steadily observed in (after) the aforesaid form. "In witness whereof
we have caused these Letters Patent to be made, bearing witness in our own
person at Westminster the 15th day of November in the Seventh year of our
reign. Variations
on the leopard theme used in the Channel Islands, including a leopard from
the shield on Lempriere's 1694 map (top left), and variations used on various
coins, tokens and flags in the 19th and 20th centuries Referring
to the Patent Rolls, it will be found that the grant of the seal is recorded
as follows: "Whereas the men of the Islands of
Geresey and Gernesey suffer much by wreck at sea and by depredations on land
and in many other ways, chiefly because the king has no seal in those
islands, wherewith writs of men of those parts might be sealed and their business
expedited, the king has provided a seal, which he sends to the bailiffs of
those islands to seal writs which heretofore the said men had to obtain in
the Chancery of England, and agreements and contracts which heretofore they
used to make only by word of mouth and not by writing. The said bailiffs are
to make proclamation of the said seal, and that all men of those islands who
wish to have the king's writs may have them according to the old register of
those parts, as they used to have them in the Chancery: and the bailiffs are
to send a transcript of the said register under their seal." Entered under the date
15 November 1279 From the
confusing prolixity with which the King clothes his letter to the Bailiffs of
Jersey and Guernsey, two important facts emerge. The first fact is that the
seal sent by the King is a Royal Seal and the second fact is that the use of
the seal is limited to the confirming of writs and contracts. Had these
facts been recognised by post-Tudor islanders, the story of the Leopards of
England in the Channel Islands would have been easier both to write and to
read.
Five varieties of the seals
of office of the Bailiffs are displayed. The plate appeared originally in the Cartulaire des Iles Normandes: Recueil de Documents concernant
l'Histoire de ces Iles conserves aux Archives du Departement de la Manche et
de Calvados, de la Bibliotheque Nationale du Bureau des Roles, du Chateau de
Warwick, etc. III - The seals of office of the Bailiffs of
Jersey and Guernsey While preparing
this work for publication, the editors, G. F. B. de Gruchy, R. R. Marett and
E. T. Nicolle encouraged me to study its heraldic and sphragistic aspects.
The results of this study were incorporated in the Cartulaire under
the title of L'Art heraldique du Cartulaire. Impressions
of the Bailiffs' seals of office on documents dating back to the beginning of
the 16th century are not uncommon in these Islands. Earlier impressions are
rarer. Age, moreover, combined with rough usage, has blurred in nearly every
instance one or more important details of their designs and rendered them
unsuitable for reproduction. In order
to gain a first-hand knowledge of the best preserved impressions of the seals
mentioned in the Cartulaire I accompanied E. T. Nicolle to St Lo,
(Manche), where so many ancient documents relating to the Channel Islands are
housed in the Departmental Archives. Having
selected a series of impressions of the five different seals issued to the
Bailiffs by Edwards I, II and III, we had them photographed by a local man
who, unfortunately, had had no previous experience of this type of work and
the results he obtained were not, perhaps, as effective as they might have
been. Nevertheless
the picture shows with sufficient clarity that the leopards of the three
kings varied little in treatment. The shape of the shields on the seals is
noteworthy, for the sides of the shields converge very little and the bases
are broad and rounded. This treatment of the shield, which has no heraldic
significance, permitted the seal cutter to deal fairly with the lowest
leopard, an unfortunate animal which in normal shields had to endure severe
compression. The Cartulaire is
composed of 365 documents or groups of documents and covers a period
extending from the first half of the 11th century to the middle of the 16th
century. 28 of the documents bear, or bore, seals of office affixed by the
Bailiffs of the Isles; by the Bailiffs of Jersey; or by the Bailiffs of
Guernsey. Each seal carries or carried the King of England's shield of arms,
(three leopards). Each original / seal-matrix, therefore, was cut before 1340
when Edward III began to quarter on his shield the lilies of France and the
leopards of England. . Of the 28
documents four were sealed with the seal granted to the Bailiffs of the
Islands; 16 were sealed with the seal granted to the Bailiff of Jersey; and
nine were sealed with the seal granted to the Bailiff of Guernsey. A
statement of special significance is to be found in the document referred to
under the number 22, for its seal is described by the King as 'Our seal which
is used in the island of Guernsey. The expression 'Our Seal', it will be
remembered, occurs in the grant of 1279. To draw attention to this ownership
of the seal ought to be unnecessary, for the only possible proprietors of the
Leopards of England are the Kings of England. In these
small and remote islands, however, there exists a double necessity for
emphasizing it; (or since the 17th century the people of both our Bailiwicks,
befogged in the darkness which descended here more densely than elsewhere
upon armory after armour had gone out of use, developed a firm belief that
the seals of office entrusted to their Bailiffs bore, not the arms of
England, but arms which actually belonged to each of their own beloved
agglomerations of rocks and islets. Further,
they clung to this foolish belief with such tenacity that in the end a
Bailiff of Jersey induced a tactful King of England apparently to reject the
advice of his heraldic experts and accede to their unrighteous and
preposterous claim. This dubious triumph will be discussed in Part V. The seal
of office issued to the king's bailiffs in the islands in 1279 continued to
be used until 1291 at least; that is to say for a year or so after the seal
of office of the Bailiff of Guernsey had appeared. The exact
date of the issue of the Bailiff of Jersey's seal of office is not recorded,
but the year 1290 may be a reliable approximation for the apparition. The seal
now in the keeping of the Bailiff of Jersey is not, as might have been
expected, the one in use in 1367; for the 'stop' on the present seal is a
star similar to that of the seal functioning in 1329. This
diminutive design has become a sort of national emblem in Guernsey, where it
is popularly supposed to be a bunch of laurel leaves awarded to the islanders
by Edward I for their prowess in an action concerning which history remains
obstinately silent. The
metamorphosicians, whose dealings with the royal leopards were mentioned in
the Introductory Note, did not neglect also to experiment with the blossoming
twig and during the past 150 years have evolved from it many a varied vegetal
form. The one
on the larger Guernsey coin is a group of three leaves on one stem, while
that on the smaller coin shows nine leaves on two stems. Moreover, the seal
used by the Bailiffs of Guernsey between 1884 and 1938 bears a sprig adorned
with seven leaves. In these
instances, therefore, it is clear that Guernsey has added to her laurels. In
1938 the blasts and chills of a rigorous autumn seem to have descended and
the disastrous effects of this climatic catastrophe are at once apparent in
the newly minted edition of the ancient seal. We now
see, in place of the blooming old twig, a wintry, naked and inartistic bough
rising gaunt and stark from the King of England's shield. This horrid object
purports to be a replica of the sprig borne on a suppostitious seal of 1472,
which seal, it is said, was issued to replace the seal of 1290. One other
argument put forward to favour the theory that a new seal was cut in 1472 was
that its legend, or circumscription, is not contained in the customary double
ring, for, it was averred, the inner ring is absent. In making
the 1938 edition, therefore, an inner ring was omitted by the engraver. I
happen to possess nine documents ranging in date from 1523 to 1830, each of
which is sealed with the so-called seal of 1472. From the
notes that follow it will be seen that the suppression of the inner ring
cannot be justified. Also I do not hesitate to add that to make a drawing
purporting to be a true restoration of the representations of the sprig borne
on these seals would be impossible, and if concocted, would be dishonest. The
attempted restoration of the sprig in the 1938 edition of the seal is completely
out of keeping with 15th century sphragistic tradition and I confidently
assert that no medieval craftsman, with the 1290 design before him, could
possibly have made such a hash of it. The
whimsical manner in which the sprig has been treated and the pother which was
linked with the existence or non-existence of an inner ring, serve to show
how complicated the facts connected with so simple a thing as a Bailiff's
seal of office can be made. I now
record an equally unnecessary complication which arose quite recently in
Jersey over part of the hirsute adornments of the third or lowest leopard on
the King of England's shield. A
microscopic examination of the Bailiff of Jersey's seal of office by two
careful investigators disclosed the fact that this third animal did not
possess the same sort of full-bottomed mane as those which decorated his two
larger companions. He owned, the investigators found, only a kind of Newgate
Fringe. Whether
this defect be due to the comparative smallness of mane-space in the third
leopard, or to the wear and tear of the seal throughout many centuries, is,
heraldically speaking, immaterial. It does not imply that the beast belongs
to a different brood or breed, nor indeed, let me add, does its dropped hind
leg. The local
authorities, nevertheless, gave an official recognition to this Newgate
Fringe and shortly after its discovery caused it to be immortalized in bronze
and stone in three representations of the King of England's shield, or, as
they would have it, of the shield of arms of the Bailiwick of Jersey. The first
of these representations is to be seen at the end of the Victoria Pier, St
Helier, where a bronze plaque commemorates the completion of recent harbour
improvements. The second and third are to be found on the new States
Buildings and the new Telephone Offices, respectively. Otherwise all three
are admirable pieces of work. As it
would be unfair to Guernsey to draw attention only to this one defect on the
Jersey seal, I took the trouble to see if I could find another. In 1931 the
Bailiff of Jersey, aware that the ancient seal matrix had been for many years
too worn to reproduce satisfactory impressions and wishing to prevent the
further deterioration of this venerable emblem of office, decided to withdraw
it from common use. He placed it, therefore, in honourable retirement, and in
its stead caused a replica of it to be fashioned by the Royal Mint. I have
handled an impression of this replica as well as the replica itself and I
find that the replica is not a replica of the ancient seal, for the outer
ring enclosing the legend is not recorded upon it and the inner ring is only
faintly indicated. These rings are quite clearly defined in the photograph of
the 1329 seal and, indeed, on all the good impressions of the seal preserved
in the manuscript collections of La Société
Jersiaise. The
danger of making and using a replica of a worn seal matrix need not be stressed,
for it is obvious that the replica will reproduce and perpetuate all the
imperfections acquired during the wear and tear of centuries. It may be
observed that in all the foregoing remarks I have not described the wording
of the legends encircling the seals. The omission was intentional. I have
left the subject to the last, not because it is a thing apart from the
Leopards, but because it is responsible, in part, for the claim which will be
discussed in Part V. The
legend on the seal of 1279 runs thus: S' BAILLIVIE INSVLAR VM PRO REGE ANGLIE. (Seal of the Bailiff of the islands for the
King of England). The
letter accompanying the grant of this seal is addressed, however, to the
Bailiffs of the islands, - Ballivis insularum - and not to the Bailiff of the
islands. The
legends on the other seals are worded :- S' BALLIVIE INSVLE DE GERNEREYE S' BALLIVIE: INSVLE: DE IERSEYE S' BALLIVIE. INSVLE: DE IERESYE S' BALLIVIE: INSVLE: DE IERSEYE Herein is
no mention of the King of England. One seal is the seal of the Bailiff of
Jersey and the other seal is the seal of the Bailiff of Guernsey. It might be
inferred, therefore, by armorially uninstructed persons, that each seal bears
either the personal arms of the Bailiff who used it, or the arms of the
territory under the administration of the user. It is
this latter inference, I suspect, which has inspired post-Tudor islanders to
claim as their own the arms which are the inalienable property of the King of
England.
IV - Royal seals issued for the use of minor
officials between 1272 and 1327 No local
historian has drawn attention to the fact that the Bailiffs of Jersey and
Guernsey were not the only minor officials to whom the use of royal seals was
granted in the 13th and 14th centuries. To remedy
this oversight and to examine cursorily the technique of some of the
Edwardian seal-cutters I obtained from the British Museum in 1937 the
admirable series of impressions illustrated on the right. I offer now a short
description of these seals and compare them, as far as I can, with the
imperfect impressions of the Bailiffs' seals of office illustrated above. There can
be no doubt as to the ownership of the seals on the right, for each obverse
(two obverses in the upper picture are missing) bears the legend "Seal
of Edward King of England etc", or "Seal of the Lord Edward King of
England etc", while each shield of arms or lozenge of arms, bears the
leopards of England. The royal beasts figure conspicuously on the reverses
also. In those
days few people could read. The seals' legends, therefore, would convey
nothing to the populace at large. The meaning of the leopards, however, would
be understood by all and in these beasts the inhabitants of England, the
Channel Islands and the King's French territories would recognise without
difficulty the emblems of royal authority. The King's arms appear on the obverse only, of the seals issued to the Bailiffs of Jersey and Guernsey. The reverses of the seals were reserved for counter-sealing with the Bailiff's personal seal, if any. If none, a bailiffian finger print had to suffice.
The seals
shown opposite were in the keeping of Customs Officers responsible for the
control of the exports of wool and hides in certain selected cities and their
ports: eg Winchester and Southampton: York and Hull. From the duties levied
by these Officers the Crown benefited substantially, especially after 1275,
when an increase on duties was sanctioned by Parliament. The seals
illustrated bear, on their obverses, the name of a staple town or its port,
as for example; "Sigill Edwardi Regis Angl apud Wynton" - The Seal
of Edward King of England at Winchester: and on their reverses the purpose
governing the use of the Seal; thus : "Pro lanis et coreis
liberandum" For the release of wool and hides. In
examining and comparing in detail the designs and lettering of the seals
certain differences in style and finish may be detected without much
difficulty and from these it may be possible to separate the work of
different craftsmen. I suggest that the seals in the upper picture and those
of Carmarthen, the reverse next to it, Salop and Winchester in the lower
picture, were cut by the same hand. Five other craftsmen produced the remaing
seals . The
impressions of all these seals are so clear that a comparison between them
and the blurred impressions of the five Channel Islands seals cannot produce
conclusive results. Nevertheless the comparison must be attempted. When
trying to visualize the original appearances of the royal seals used in the
Channel Islands it is necessary to remember that when these early impressions
were made the seal matrices were new and sharp. Impressions made from sharp
matrices, however, are not necessarily sharp themselves, for carelessness in
the act of sealing will produce, almost certainly, distortions and other
blemishes. The wear
and tear of six and a half centuries may not be, therefore, the only agencies
responsible for the lack of definition in the surviving seal impressions. Each
individual seal cutter imparted to his leopards and lettering his own style
and mannerisms. No official sealed pattern cramped the freedom of his hand,
though his work was influenced by what might be termed the fashion of the
period. The fashions, of course, overlapped; but in spite of that it is
possible to fix an approximate date to any given Edwardian leopard.
Conversely, it should be possible to assign a distinct type of leopard to any
given period of time. On these
grounds I have attempted in the illustration (below left) to restore four of
the insular seals. Figs. 6 and 7 are inserted for three reasons. Firstly for
the shapes of the shields; secondly for the shapes of the leopards; and
thirdly to show that if Jersey and Guernsey claim to be the rightful owners
of the King of England's arms, Faversham and Appleby with equal reason could
advance a similar claim.
Four Bailiff's seals of
office restored. Top left, seal granted in 1279 to the Bailiffs of
the islands; top right, a Guernsey seal dated 1291; bottom left, a Jersey
seal from a 1329 document; bottom right, a Jersey seal from a 1332 document V - How a Bailiff of Jersey laid claim to the
arms of the King of England and how the King dealt with the claim The claim
that Jersey owned territorial arms and the manner in which the claim was
presented to and received by the Home Office are embodied in the Actes
et correspondence au sujet de l'emploi par le Vapeur Duke of Normandy de
Pavillons distinctifs, published by J.T. Bigwood in 1907 under the authority
of the Committee of Piers and Harbours, States of Jersey. 150 copies of this
32-page pamphlet were issued. The
correspondence covers a period extending rather over two and a half years,
from 1 March 1905, to 10 October 1907. Its length, in time and space, is partially
due to the trammels and hindrances imposed by official procedure. A Bailiff
cannot write officially direct to a Department of State. His communication
has to meander along a correct channel and pass through the hands of minor,
as well as major officials, before it reaches its goal. The reply has to
follow the same course in reverse. Lengthy, complicated, and even ridiculous,
the contents of the pamphlet, must now be reviewed. The
comedy opens on 1 March 1905 when the Bailiff of Jersey writes direct to the
Secretary of the Admiralty and asks for a Warrant authorizing the steam tug,
Duke of Normandy, owned by the Local Government of Jersey to fly both or
either of two distinguishing flags. One of these is the Blue Ensign and the
other a curiosity described as The Jersey Flag bearing Jersey Arms in Shield
under Royal Crown as Office Badge and distinguishing sign in the fly. The Duke
of Normandy is a slow but stout tug of 22 tons; but lest this description
should give a false impression of the vessel, I quote from another letter
written by the Bailiff in which it is stated that on occasions the Duke of
Normandy is used for public purposes and: practically, as a government yacht,
as it were. A month
and two days after the Bailiff had applied for the warrant, the official
rebuke arrives accompanied by copies of letters from the Admiralty, (8
April), and from the Home Office, (30 April). The
Lieut-Governor tells the Bailiff that he should have submitted his request in
the first instance to the Home Office and not direct to the Admiralty. He
adds that if the Bailiff were to write to him explaining why he wishes to fly
a flag of the design submitted, he would forward the letter and recommend the
flag. The
Admiralty in their letter of 8 April see no reason why the tug should not
wear the Blue Ensign and Jack with Badge, the Badge being the "Badge of
Jersey", placed in a circle in the centre of the Jack. To the
Home Office, (30 April), it appears that the Admiralty must take action under
Section 73 (I) of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, as the States are not
"a Public Office" nor a "colony". Further, the Home
Secretary finds that the phrase "the local Government of Jersey" is
not clearly understood by him. In this
involved manner the fight for the flag opens and in so far as the flag itself
is concerned, I shall follow it no further. In so far, however, as one of its
details is concerned, I refer to the "Arms of Jersey", I shall
follow it to the end. Spring,
summer, autumn and winter 1905 come and go and the fight for the flag
continues. On 3 March 1906 the Bailiff launches a violent spring offensive on
the "Arms of Jersey" sector. On 15 December 1905 the Home Office
had written to the Bailiff, via the Deputy Lieut-Governor, and had stated
that Mr H. J. Gladstone, the Home Secretary, had been in correspondence with
Garter King of Arms on the subject of the arms of Jersey and that Garter had
given him to understand that Jersey had no official arms. It was suggested
that application might be made through the Home Office for a Royal Warrant
appointing Arms for Jersey. Before
passing on to the Bailiff's counterblast of 3 March, I must point out that Mr
Gladstone's action was the first and only sensible demarche yet taken in the
controversy. In effect Mr Gladstone said: "All
you people have been talking for months about Arms of Jersey and Badges of
Jersey, yet none of you has troubled to find out whether or no Jersey
possesses such things. Like all of you, I have but a vague acquaintance with
armory. Consequently I have sought the opinion of the highest authority in
the land and he tells me that Jersey has no arms." The
Bailiff's letter of 3 March may now be examined. To prove that Jersey does
possess arms, the Bailiff produces the following evidences, which I group
under six heads in the order in which they occur in the letter and quote
verbatim. The remarks which follow each evidence are my own. The Bailiff's first evidence The
ancient Arms of the Channel Islands were naturally those of the Province and
Duchy of Normandy, of which they originally formed part. William the
Conqueror, Duke of Normandy and his three sons, Robert Courthose, William
Rufus and Henry I (Beauclerk) bore the arms of Normandy 'Gules, two leopards
passant or'. Eleonore of Aquitane brought to Henry II the Arms of that
Province: 'Gules, a lion passant guardant, or', which he added to his two
Norman leopards, converting them then into lions like that of Aquitaine, for
uniformity's sake. But the
Abbe de la Rue, an eminent Norman antiquarian, was clearly of opinion that
the ancient arms of Normandy were neither lions nor leopards, but a composite
imaginary animal, with the head and mane of the lion and the body spotted
like a leopard, in French heraldic language styled 'lions leopardes'. Remarks: When the Channel Islands were politically
part of the Duchy of Normandy, heraldry did not exist, and William the
Conqueror and his three sons, Robert, William and Henry, all died before the
science had established itself. They could not, therefore, have borne the
arms of Normandy as Normandy possessed none. Richard the Lionheart, who
succeeded Henry II, is credited with being the first King of England to
display the three leopards as his royal arms, and John, who followed after
him, lost Normandy. The Bailiff's
claim that the ancient arms of the Channel Islands were naturally those of
the Duchy of Normandy - two gold leopards on a red ground, does not,
therefore, seem to have been too well founded. Nevertheless, had he continued
to claim for the islands the arms of Normandy instead of claiming the arms of
England, his case at any rate would have been more reasonable. As for
the Abbe de la Rue's "composite imaginary animals", the least said
the better. The Armorial Zoo, already overstocked with monstrosities, must
refuse to admit them within its borders. Should, however, anyone of my
readers intend to write a book entitled Heraldry pour rire, I would
hasten to recommend these beasts to his favourable notice. The Bailiff's second evidence On the
"new and accurate map by Lempriere, the Philomat", appended to
Falle's "account of the Isle of Jersey, the greatest of those Islands
that are now the only remainder of the English Dominions in France"
(Edition 1694) there is engraved a shield with the legend, above: "The
Arms and Seal of the Island and Bailiwick of Jersey - Given by K Edward I,
Anno Regni 70" and underneath: "Gules, Three Leopards, passant,
gardant or". Remarks: Lempriere the Philomat mistook the grant of
a royal seal of office for a grant of arms and erred in engraving an
inaccurate statement above the inaccurate shield of arms with which he had
embellished his inaccurate map. If he had copied faithfully the seal itself
and described it as "The Seal of Office of the Bailiffs of the Islands
given by Edward I, Anno regni septimo", he would have recorded a simple
fact. As it was, however, he published a perversion of fact and misled, over
two centuries later, persons holding high office who waged, what was to some
of them, a momentous controversy. His spotted
leopards were probably the first of their kind to be seen in the archipelago.
Their progeny became popular in the 19th century, notably on insular coins,
tokens and medals. How came these leopards of gold by their spots? Early in
the 17th century English engravers on copper adopted a system by which
tinctures were indicated in armorial engravings. Thus red, (gules), was
represented by vertical lines ; blue (azure) by horizontal lines ;
black (sable) by a cross¬hatch of vertical and horizontal lines ; and
green (vert) by transverse lines. Surfaces or figures of silver (argent) were
left bare; and surfaces or figures of gold (or) were dotted. And so
our leopards were shown spotted, not because they were leopards, but because
they were gold. Lempriere the Philomat, though an engraver, turned what
should have been small dots, indicating gold, into large blots, indicating
Leopards. O philo mat! The errors that you made live after you. Your pards
were not interred with your bones. The Bailiff's third evidence King
Edward I had, indeed, granted the use of a public seal (quoddam Sigilus
nostrum) to the islands of Jersey and Guernsey. It is addressed Ballivis
Insularum de Jersey and Guernsey. The Herald's College was only incorporated
in 1484. King Edward's grant of the Seal dates from I279. This may be one
reason why they have no record there of the Jersey Arms, and Jersey,
probably, would not have come within the limits of any heraldic visitation
that might have been subsequently held. Gustave Dupont describing this seal
says: "il erait aux armes de la Normandie trois lions leopardes passant
guardant". Julien
Havet (Les Cours Royales des Iles
Normandes) says: "le veritable sceau de I279 n'existe
plus", but describes an impression still fairly distinct at the foot of
a deed of 1286 preserved in the Archives
de la Manche. Fonds du Mont St Michel. The description of the shield on
that seal tallies exactly with the shield shown on Falle's Map. The legend on
it reads: S BALLIVIE INSULARUM PRO REGE ANGLIE, but round the shield of the Jersey Seal,
still in use and in my official custody as Bailiff of Jersey are the
words: S BALLIVIE INSULE DE JERSEY whilst round the Guernsey seal, which is
surmounted with a sprig of laurel, are the words: S BALLIVIE INSULE
DE GERNSEYE. Remarks: One reason, the Bailiff suggests, why the
Heralds College has no record of the arms of Jersey is that the College was
only incorporated in 1484, (1483), while Edward I's seal had been in use
since 1279. As well
might he have said that because the Great Pyramid was built some five
thousand years before the British Museum was founded, it would be useless to
apply to the Museum for information about the Pyramid. Possibly
he did not know that the Heralds College is a repository of heraldic lore and
possesses first-to-last records of the science. Heraldic Visitations were
made in England in the 16th and 17th centuries, but none ever was made in the
Channel Islands. Nevertheless, a case which came before the Court of Chief
Pleas in Jersey in 1567 shows that the influence of the College of Arms was
not unknown here. In a dispute as to the rightful ownership of certain arms,
one disputant said that the matter must be settled by the "King of
Heralds" as it concerned not the Bailiff who was incompetent to judge
armorials. Gustave
Dupont's statement is wrong. Normandy's arms were two gold leopards set on
red, never three. Julien Havet's description of the arms on the seal of 1279
is correct, and therefore it does not tally with the Philomat's
misrepresentation on Falle's map. On
referring to Havet's Cours Royales
des Iles Normandes, I find the following: Le sceau de chacune des deux ties, comme le sceau privé du roi et
comme le sceau donné aux ties en 1279, est rond, et porte l'écu d'Angleterre,
aux trois leopards passants, avec une légende circulaire entre deux filets. Perhaps
the Bailiff overlooked this paragraph? The Bailiff's fourth evidence This
consists of a long extract taken from Miss Edith Carey's The Channel
Islands. In this extract the arms on the seal are described as the
"three leopards passant of England", but as the authoress does not
claim them to be the arms of the Bailiwicks, her evidence tends to damage the
Bailiff's case. The Bailiff's fifth evidence The
Bailiff here gives instances of documents ranging in date from 1495 to 1771
in which the seal is described variously as: Commun Sceel de la dire Isle; Sceau de la Baillye de cette
Isle; Sceau du Bailliage de cette dite Isle; Sceau comun de la dite
Isle and Le Sceau de
l'Isle. He then
writes: "The arms which it (the seal) bears and which have been in use
here, practically from time immemorial for all public purposes, are therefore
and by implication recognised as the arms of the Island. Remarks: Recognised by whom? Certainly not by Garter
Principal King of Arms. The Bailiff's sixth evidence They (the
arms) have, moreover, been officially described and recognised as such in
other matters, notably as regards the local coinage. On reference for
instance to the Acts of the States of 26 October 1812, 12th December same
year. 20 March 1813 and 26 July, same year, and also to the coinage Committee
Acts of the year 1876, and to the local coinage itself (both the obsolete and
that in use), whether of silver, of copper, or as now exists of bronze metal,
it will be seen that the silver pieces (3 shillings and one shilling and a
half) bear on the obverse a shield with the arms of Jersey (the three
leopards or lions leoperdised passant guardant) surrounded by the words
"States of Jersey" and the millesim 1813, and on the reverse an
inscription of their face value as tokens, surrounded by wreaths of oak
leaves (distinctive of this island as the laurel sprig is distinctive of
Guernsey), whilst the subsequent issues of copper and bronze coins bear on
the obverse the head of the Sovereign and on the reverse the Arms of Jersey
with the legend: "States of Jersey". The old
Guernsey "doubles" and other Guernsey coins bear on the obverse the
arms of that Island surmounted by the sprig of laurel and on the reverse the
value and year between wreaths of laurel. The designs on all the coins of the
various issues have received in due course, Royal and Official Sanction and
recognition. In
conclusion, Jersey, possessing Arms of old there does not seem to be any
necessity or justification for applying for a Royal Warrant to appoint Arms
for this Island. Remarks: This is the weightiest evidence produced by
the Bailiff, and if it cannot be accepted as proof that Jersey and Guernsey
possess arms, it can be accepted as proof that the English authorities
displayed ignorance and negligence in sanctioning the use of the heraldic
designs borne on the coins. The wreaths of oak leaves on the Jersey coins and
of laurel on those of Guernsey, to which the Bailiff attaches special
importance, are modem fabrications, offshoots of the heraldic technique of
19th century stationers. With these remarks my criticisms end. It
remains but to quote an extract from a letter dated 2 January 1907, addressed
by the Lieut-Governor of Jersey to the Bailiff of Jersey: "The Secretary of
State has recently submitted to His Majesty for decision, the question of the
continued use by the Island of Jersey of the Arms at present claimed, and His
Majesty has been graciously pleased to sanction their continued use." A letter
couched in similar terms had already been received by the Bailiff of Guernsey
from the Lieut-Governor of that island. Though
the islanders are now satisfied that their territories are really and truly
armigerous, I cannot share their satisfaction and do not hesitate to suggest
that King Edward VII's sanction should be submitted to competent official
authorities in England for reconsideration. Channel Islands |
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Seal of the Channel Islands of 15 November 1279. Arms: [Gules], three lions passant guardant [Or] L. X S’BALLIVIE
INSVLARVM PRO REGE ANGLIE The
oldest seal of the Channel Islands is known from a document of 15 November
1279. It was given to the Channel Islands by King Edward I of England.
Jersey. Guernsey and Alderney One penny token, 1813 The badge of the Prince of Wales of a crown and three ostrich
feathers is borrowed here to symbolize the three islands. Arthur Fox-Davies, writes in his “The Book of
Public Arms” in 1915: CHANNEL ISLANDS. Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or. The Channel Islands, the sole remaining portion of the Dukedom of Normandy still appertaining to the English Crown, are not a portion of the United Kingdom, of which they are simply a dependency, and consequently, upon the coinage and elsewhere, the arms of Scotland and Ireland are not introduced. One instance has come under the editor's notice in which the charges are distinctly leopards. Whether such a practice is strictly legal is certainly open to question. Refer to "Great Britain." Actually
there was no coat of arms for the "Channel Islands” that also did not
exist as a political unit. |
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Due to
its position between the English and Normandy coasts, Britons settled
Alderney and it remained loyal to the crown, yet autonomous. Although the
origins of the States of Alderney are unknown, it has functioned since the Middle
Ages, making it one of the world's oldest parliaments. The town of St
Anne originating in the 15th century grew around the old church, which was
nothing more than a small village containing the Platte Saline mill, some
random buildings and the odd farm nearby. Forts were erected in the 1500’s and also in the 1800’s to
repel French attacks, some of which have been transformed into hotels today. The
breakwater at Baye Harbor was also built in the 1800’s to protect from
Alderney’s big tides, while the Alderney Railway was constructed to carry
stone. The Germans occupied Alderney during WWII, building bunkers, labor camps and damaging many forts. A memorial at Saye is dedicated to those who died under their reign. Alderney is self-governing, though is part of the Bailiwick handles tax and customs.
ALDERNEY
The device published by the Admiralty is vert, a lion rampant or, crowned
gules, holding in his dexter paw a sprig of broom proper. The lion,
was first used on a seal of the Court of Alderney from 1745. The lion holding
a sprig of broom (Planta Genista,
after which the English House of Plantagenet was named), was confirmed as
arms of Alderney by King Edward VII. The arms, however, were not officially
registered at the College of Arms until 1993. |
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Court of Alderney seal, 1745 |
badge of Alderney, 1915 [3] Arms: Vert, a
lion Or, royally crowned a sprig of broom in his dexter paw |
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The Armorial Bearings for STATES OF ALDERNEY as recorded by Her Majesty’s College of Arms Conrad Swan Garter 20 XII
‘93 Garter Principal King of Arms
Present logo |
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The Bailiwick of Guernsey symbols The
Bailiwick Guernsey lies near the French Channel coast and covers all Channel Islands
beyond Jersey 3. The main islands are Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm.
Twelve parishes operate on them, and in each a church is built in the 11th
century. The island of Guernsey has an area of 62 km2. Its name
in Norman means "green island". The number of inhabitants of the
island reaches 70,000. The capital is St. Peter Port (17,000 inhabitants). Under the
name Sarnia, the island was already known to the Romans. Sources from the
eleventh century indicate that the main landowners on the island were the
rulers of Saint-Sauveur. Apart from them, the property was also managed by
the abbots of Le Mont-Saint-Michel and the dukes of Normandy. At the end of
the fifteenth century, Guernsey (along with the islands of Alderney and Sark)
were under the authority of a captain, later a governor. The governor's
office ceased to exist in 1835. During the Second World War, from July 1940
to May 1945, the island was occupied by German troops. Residents are mainly
of Norman and Breton origin. The
official language until 1946 was French. It was only later that this was
changed into English. Old French is still a ceremonial language. The
legislative body of Guernsey is the United State of Guernsey with 55
deputies. Parliament is presided over by the bailiff. Two people appointed by
the English Crown also sit in Parliament, (but without the right to vote),
and two representatives of the Alderney Island. There are no political
parties on Guernsey. So all members of the parliament are independent.
Guernsey is not a part of the United
Kingdom but is subject to the British crown. The island manages its own
affairs. Foreign policy, granting citizenship and defense are in the hands of
Great Britain. A shield
with three leopards was placed in the field of the seal Bailiwick Guernsey
Seal of Bailiwick of Guernsey from 1291 Arms: [Gules, three lions passant guardant [Or] Crest: A sprig of the Planta Genista Legend: S
'[igillum] BALLIVIE INSVLE DE GERNEREVE The twig of Planta Genista is a pun on the name of the
ruling ducal family called Plantagnets after the twig of planta genista said to be worn on the helmet of Geoffrey, spouse
of Queen Mathilda.
Seal of Guernsey, 17th century From:
"Note-Book of Pierre Le Roy" (1600-1675), published 1893 by
Guernsey Historical and Antiquarian Society Already
in 1302, separate seals were given to both Guernsey and Jersey. However,
because the old seal was damaged, new seals were made in the years 1472, 1832
and 1884. They are now stored in the greffiera
4 office. The seal is round with the coat of the island in the middle,
which are three leopards, at the top the coat of arms is topped with a branch
of the broom (Planta Genista) The
legend reads: S '[igillum] BALLIVIE INSVLE DE GERNEREYE (Seal of Bailiwick of Guernsey).
Four doubles,
1864 Sprig of three leaves
Badge on blue ensign, 1915 multi-leafed sprig for crest
8 doubles 1934 multi-leafed sprig for
crest, garland
The Bailiwick Guernsey seal matrix (1938) The ring omitted The Bailiwick
Guernsey seal is made of brass. The photograph has a mirror image to make it
easier to read its legend. 3
German Occupation 1941-1945 issue
£ 1 coin, 1983 After the seal of 1291 |
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present logo
Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey, flag |
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Police |
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The
earliest record which shows the existence of the Parish Constables is dated
February 1438, and this deals with the action taken by them when any stranger
arrives on the Island without lodgings. From the official records which are
housed at the Greffe The
mandate of the duties and functions of the Island Police Force is set out
under Article I of the Order in Council of 1919, which states the following:
"There will be established at the cost of the States, a salaried Police
Force for the whole Island, which will exercise the following functions in
place of the Constables of the Island – This new
Force commenced duty on 10th April 1920 The
helmet badge first appeared on the helmets of the St Peter Port Police at the
end of the 19th century. The same badge, with only minor changes, was adopted
by the new Force. The badge is a circlet with the words 'Guernsey Police'
enclosed in a shield with three lions passant guardant, surmounted by three
laurel leaves. The circlet is enclosed in a laurel wreath, and surmounted by
an Imperial Crown. [4]
Emblem 1920-
2014
from 2014
Cap badge
Helmet badge The helmet badge has not
changed since the formation of the Force in 1920. |
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Armed
Forces |
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The Royal
Guernsey Militia is first mentioned in
1331. It was demilitarised in 1940, with all equipment being shipped to
England just before the invasion of Guernsey by German forces. The militia
was reconstituted after the WWII however in 1951 the States of Guernsey finally
decided not to revive the militia.
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Jersey (Jèrriais:
Jèrri ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (Bailliage de Jersey; Jèrriais: Bailliage dé Jèrri), is a British
Crown dependency located near the coast of Normandy, France. It is the second
closest of the Channel Islands to France, after Alderney. Jersey was part of the Duchy of Normandy,
whose dukes went on to become kings of England from 1066. After Normandy was
lost by the kings of England in the 13th century, and the ducal title
surrendered to France, Jersey and the other Channel Islands remained attached
to the English crown. The bailiwick consists of the island of Jersey,
the largest of the Channel Islands, along with surrounding uninhabited
islands and rocks collectively named Les Dirouilles, Les Écréhous, Les
Minquiers Les Pierres de Lecq, and other reefs. Although the bailiwicks of
Jersey and Guernsey are often referred to
collectively as the Channel Islands, the "Channel Islands" are not
a constitutional or political unit. Jersey has a separate relationship to the
Crown from the other Crown dependencies of Guernsey and the Isle of Man,
although all are held by the monarch of the United Kingdom. Jersey is a self-governing parliamentary
democracy under a constitutional monarchy, with its own financial, legal and judicial systems, and the power of
self-determination. The Lieutenant
Governor on the island is the personal representative of the Queen. Jersey is not part of the United Kingdom, and
has an international identity separate from that of the UK, but the UK is
constitutionally responsible for the defence of Jersey. The definition of
United Kingdom in the British Nationality Act 1981 is interpreted as
including the UK and the Islands together. The European Commission have
confirmed in a written reply to the European Parliament in 2003 that Jersey
is within the Union as a European Territory for whose external relationships
the UK is responsible. Jersey is not fully part of the European Union but has
a special relationship with it, notably being treated as within the European
Community for the purposes of free trade in goods.
Coat of arms or Jersey on a map of
Lempriere, 1694
Jersey 3 shillings token, 1813 pointed shield
1841-1866
1841-1861
Jersey, 1/24 of a shilling, 1877 pointed shield
Badge on the blue ensign. Admiralty, 1915
German occupation, 1941-‘45
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present
logo Bailif and Lieutenant
Governor The respective
responsibilities of the bailiff and the lieutenant governor were laid down.by
an Order in Council dated 18 February 1617 reading "the charge of
military forces be wholly in the Governor, and the care of justice and civil
affairs in the Bailiff". |
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Bailiff of
Jersey [Sir William Bailhache] |
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Lieutenant
Governor of Jersey. Flag |
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The Royal Mace |
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The Royal Mace is carried before the Bailiff at the
sittings of the Royal Court and meetings of the States. It was presented by
King Charles II to the island on 28 November 1663 in gratitude for the
hospitality he received on two visits during his years in exile. The mace
is one of the great maces of the 17th century. It consists of eleven pieces,
made of silver gilt, is 4 ft 9½ inches (146,05 cm) long, weighs 237 ounces
(6788 g) and bears no hallmarks. Engraved on the foot is a Latin inscription,
which translated reads- Not all doth he deem worthy of such a reward.
Charles II, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, as a proof of his
royal affection towards the Isle of Jersey (in which he has been twice
received in safety when he was excluded from the remainder of his dominions)
has willed that this Royal Mace should be consecrated to posterity and has
ordered that hereafter it shall be carried before the Bailiffs, in perpetual
remembrance of their fidelity not only to his august father Charles I but to
His Majesty during the fury of the civil wars, when the Island was maintained
by the illustrious Philip and George de Carteret, Knights, Bailiffs and
Governors of the said Island At the
sittings of the Royal Court and meetings of the States, the Mace is placed
standing upright in a socket in front of the Bailiff's desk.
Sovereign bailiffs’chair With Banner and Royal mace The lieutenant governor and
bailiff sitting [5] |
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Police |
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The
States of Jersey Police has a history dating back to 1853, when a small group
of uniformed officers operated in St Helier.The officers wore locally-made
uniforms, but their helmets, rattles, lamps and truncheons came from the UK. They
had to pay for their own uniforms- the cost was deducted from their 23
shillings weekly wage. The
officers worked from the Town Hall in Seale Street, and were also responsible
for fighting fires. However, this changed 15 years later when a
volunteer fire fighting service was established. After
WWII, in 1950, a mobile section was formed, but the paid police remained a
parish body until 1951.In 1952 a Police Bill transferred the control of the
paid police from the parish of St Helier to the States of Jersey.
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Armed Forces |
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Formed in
1337, the Royal Militia of the Island of Jersey can claim to be the oldest
sub-unit of the British Army, although, because it is not a regiment, and was
disbanded for decades in the late 20th century, it is not the most senior. In 1987,
it was re-formed as a Territorial Army regiment, the Jersey Field Squadron
(The Royal Militia Island of Jersey), 111th Regiment, Royal Engineers, later
73rd Regiment, Royal Engineers. In 2007, it came under the operational
command of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia).
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© Hubert de Vries 2019-07-30
Heraldry of the World