100 



CHANNEL ISLANDS 



mon to Brittany and the islands. This population, 

 which came to be represented by what may be 

 termed the Celtiberian nationality, was gradu- 

 ally isolated by the action of the tides and mari- 

 time currents. The Christian religion was intro- 

 duced into the islands by missionaries from Ireland 

 and from Brittany ; and the Gallo-Roinan hier- 

 archy was centred at Dol. There is some evidence 



EnglishMiles 



IVaiker 6- Boutall sc. 



of a partial occupation of the islands by Saxon and 

 Danish sea-rovers. Guernsey is named in the Edda, 

 and arms of Viking character have been dug up 

 there. The islands were probably used as dep6ts in 

 the conquest of Neustria by the Northmen. Some 

 time elapsed after that event, during which they 

 continued subject to Brittany, but in the early 

 part of the 10th century A.D. the Cotentin was 

 added to the duchy of Normandy, and the islands 

 followed in the annexation. The institutions then 

 introduced were those already established on the 

 mainland of Normandy derived from the Frankish 

 legal system as it existed when the duchy was 

 first separated from the Frank empire by the treaty 

 of St-Clair-sur-Epte (Stubbs's Const. Hist. i. 92). 

 The feudal system, however, was only partially 

 introduced. The parishes did not become manors 

 as happened in England after the Conquest nor 

 did the Norman seigneurs make a general practice 

 of residing in the islands. They drew rents as 

 absentee landlords from the allodial proprietors 

 who, willingly or otherwise, accepted their pro- 

 tection. But these did not yield military service ; 

 and the island militia, when formed, adopted 

 and preserved, till comparatively recent times, 

 a parochial organisation. The 12th century is 

 the beginning of the authentic history of these 

 singular little communities, and of the ecclesi- 

 astic organisation already transferred from the 

 see of Dol to that of Coutances. When Philip 

 Augustus declared the duchy of Normandy forfeit 

 on the ground of the alleged contumacy, as a vassal, 

 of John Lackland, he also pronounced the con- 

 fiscation of the fiefs of those seigneurs who might 

 adhere to John ; some of these then settled in 

 Jersey, where they formed the chief notables and 

 members of such local government as might be 

 in existence. John confirmed and strengthened the 

 privileges of this body, and appointed coroners 

 sworn to watch over the judicial interests of the 

 crown. By degrees the seigneurs ceased to attend 

 the sittings of the states, where the rural popula- 

 tion was represented by the constables or mayors 

 of the parishes or communes : these, together with 

 the rectors, became associated with the coroners, 



or ' jurats, ' as they came to be called ; and the whole 

 assembly was presided over by a bailiff, or lieutenant- 

 governor appointed by the crown. There was also 

 a lord-lieutenant, comes, or governor, but he was 

 often an absentee. In the process of time this 

 latter post became chiefly titular ; the office of 

 lieutenant-governor was separated from that of 

 bailiff, though the two were occasionally held by 

 the same person, and a regular system of judicial 

 and executive iidministration came into action. 

 From the time of John to that of Henry VI. , many 

 attempts were made by France to conquer the 

 islands. Guernsey was held by the French for 

 some years during the 14th century, though finally 

 reconquered by the English with help from Jersey. 

 In 1461 Jersey itself was conquered, and was held 

 by a French governor for about six years, being 

 finally liberated early in the reign of Edward IV. 

 by Sir R. Harleston. Henry VII. carried his re- 

 pression of the aristocracy into the islands, where 

 he curtailed the feudal jurisdictions and did some- 

 thing for the popularisation of the militia. The 

 Reformation took early and deep root in the Chan- 

 nel Islands, aided by a considerable immigration 

 of exiled Huguenots from the mainland ; but the 

 Anglican ritual was not introduced without diffi- 

 culty. For most of the time the islands con- 

 tinued subject to the spiritual sway of the 

 Bishop of Coutances ; but in 1568 Elizabeth 

 attached them to the diocese of Winchester. 

 Other effects of Elizabeth's reign are the founda- 

 tion of the college (grammar-school) of St Peter 

 Port, in Guernsey, the grant of Sark to the Car- 

 terets of Jersey, and the improvement of the Castle 

 of St Helier, in Jersey, which, like the Guernsey 

 ' College,' still bears the name of the virgin queen. 



During the reign of Charles I. Guernsey sided 

 for the most part with the English parliament, 

 Jersey with the crown. In the former island, 

 however, Castle Cornet, which commands the 

 harbour, held out for Charles, and was not reduced 

 until after Jersey had been conquered. This took 

 place in 1651. Under the Commonwealth the 

 Channel Islands continued to enjoy their old 

 privileges, being specially excluded from the 

 ' Instrument of Government, ' and from the opera- 

 tion of the excise, because not governed by our 

 laws, but by municipal institutions of their own 

 ( Burton's Diary ). 



In the reign of Charles II. the Channel Islands 

 were once more threatened by France, and the 

 militia was improved and formed into regiments. 

 The total population of the Channel Islands was 

 then about 25,000 ; and the chief towns began to 

 increase in importance. The reign of William III. 

 witnessed the famous victory of the British navy 

 at Cape La Hogue, largely due to information 

 conveyed to the admiral by a gentleman of Guern- 

 sey. The privilege of neutrality was taken from 

 the inhabitants to whom it had ceased to be 

 useful and they entered upon a course of priva- 

 teering, which made them, in the words of Burke, 

 ' one of the naval powers of the world. ' 



In 1781, after the French had espoused the cause 

 of the revolted British colonies in America, a semi- 

 official landing took place in Jersey, headed by an 

 adventurer named Macquart, styling himself Baron 

 de Rullecourt. His defeat by Major Pierson, who 

 fell in the engagement, has been rendered famous 

 by Copley's picture in the National Gallery. Since 

 then the chief event has been in Jersey the intro- 

 duction of elected deputies into the legislature 

 ( 1856). In the reign of William IV. the militia of 

 the Channel Islands was declared 'Royal.' Queen 

 Victoria visited them in 1849. 



The present constitution of the islands is a 

 development of the ancient institutions, slowly 

 modified to meet changes in surrounding circum- 



