Daughter of the Queen of Castile who was Sister of Richard I. and K. John that to compound the matter he was forced to quit his Title to Normandy but never made any Cession of these Islands On the contrary he had so tender a regard to their Safety that he issued forth his Royal Mandate to the Barons of the Cinque Ports commanding them when-ever these Islands were attack'd and upon Notice thereof from the Warden or Governor to hasten to their Succour And the reason the King gives for this extraordinary Care of them is very remarkable ità quod Dominus Rex eos viz. Insulanos meritò debet commendare cum gratiarum Actione i. e. for that the King in Justice owes them Commendation and thanks for their Loyalty and good Service In the 2d Year of this King Philip de Aubigny Lord or Governour of these Islands obtained a great Naval Victory over the French who were going over into England with Supplies to Prince Lewis In the time of K. EDWARDI Son of Henry III the French enraged to see themselves Masters of the rest of Normandy and not of these Islands made a fresh Assault on them but with no better Success than before There is still to be seen in Ancient Records the Provision that was made by Order from the King for the Widows and Orphans of such of the Inhabitants as were slain in the Repulse they gave to the Enemy with Gratifications to others that had signalized themselves or sustained any considerable Loss on that Occasion Which Gratifications were among others extended to some of the Clergy who in these Islands have always been Examples to others of Zeal and Affection to the English Government I shall pass over the Reign of EDWARD II and come to that of EDWARD III wherein some things more memorable occurr concerning these Islands in relation to the French No sooner did K. Edward III proclaim his Title to France and thereupon a War ensued betwixt him and Philip de Valois but the French to make a Diversion invaded these Islands again Hugh Queriel Admiral of France made a Descent upon Guernezey An. 1339 laid siege to Castle Cornet took it and held it 3 Years The Loss of that Island did but minister an Occasion to the Inhabitants of JERSEY to shew their Fidelity to the Crown of England They raised a Contribution of 6400 Marks which was a great Summ in those Days for so small an Island for the Recovery of Guernezey and upon the Approach of the English Fleet under command of Reynold of Cobham and Geffrey de Harcourt who were sailing into Normandy with Recruits for the King and in their way were ordered to attempt the Reduction of Guernezey went out joyned the Fleet and assisted the English in retaking both the Island and Castle of Guernezey Many JERSEY-Men of Note losing honourably their Lives upon that Occasion as the Seigneurs de Vinchelez de Matravers des Augrez de Garris de La Hougue Lempriere and other Leaders named for their special Service besides private Adventurers Not long after Alain le Breton a famous Sea rover infested both Islands especially Guernezey though rather in the way of Piracy than of down-right Invasion Of him it is that Guillelmus Brito an Ancient Poet speaks in his Philippidos Et qui rostratis Navibus secat aequor Alanus Piratas secum assumat quibus utitur ipse Cum Grenesim rebus juvat expoliare So many repeated Hostilities of the French against these Islands had awakened the Parliament in England and had produced a Resolution still extant upon Record to move the King to set out his Fleet and provide for the Defence of the Isles of JERSEY and Guernezey Anno 1354 an Interview was agreed on betwixt K. Edward and the King of Navarre who was then fallen off from the French and the Place pitched upon by both Kings for that Interview was the Isle of JERSEY Accordingly K. Edward sets out from the Thames towards JERSEY with a Royal Navy but by contrary Winds was put back to Portsmouth where understanding that the King of Navarre had reconciled himself to the French and declined the Meeting he sailed to Calais and we lost the honour we should have received from the Presence of those two Great Kings and the Splendor of their Courts amongst Us. While the Victorious Edward pursued his Conquests and dyed the Fields of Cressy and Poitiers with the best Blood of France these Islands were safe under the Protection and Shade of his Lawrels But when in the declining time of that great King and after the Death of his Son the Noble Prince Edward commonly called the Black Prince the Fortune of the English in France began to forsake them these Islands were exposed to greater Danger than before In the Year 1372. Evans the pretended Prince of Wales sailing from Barfleur in Normandy with a Fleet of French Ships Landed in Guernezey but finding greater Resistance from the Castle than he expected gave over the Design and departed out of the Island Four Years after the two Admirals of France and Castile attacqued the same Island The French ransomed it for a Summ of Money but the Castillan returning carried away all he could The Strength and brave Defence of the Castle being still the Preservation of the Island and a means to keep it in the Possession of the English Nor was JERSEY less exposed to these Insults than Guernezey Anno 1374 three Years before K. Edward died Bertrand du Guesclin Constable of France famous for his many Victories over the English in that unlucky Turn of their Affairs in France at the Head of an Army of above 10000 Men wherein were the Duke of Bourbon and the Flower of the French Chivalry passed suddenly from Bretagne into JERSEY and encamped before Gouray Castle the same that is now called Mont-Orgueil into which the Principal Persons of the Island had retired upon landing of the French The Siege lasted some Months and was carried on with great Bravery on both Sides That Fortress being as valiantly defended by those within as it was vigorously assaulted by those without After many violent Attacks the Constable withdrew leaving many of his best Men slain under the Walls This was almost the only Place which in that general Defection from the English withstood the Arms of that fortunate and renowned Commander There had been before this a Treaty wherein the King had laid down his Claim to Normandy but being deeply sensible of the Importance of these Islands and much pleased with that constant Fidelity they had always expressed to him he caused an especial Clause to be inserted in the Treaty that those Islands which he possessed on the Coast of France should remain his as before I find little Action relating to these Islands in the time of RICHARD II Son of the Black Prince nor much in that of HENRY IV. This only
CHAP. III. Military Government THE Chief Officer in this Island He that more immediately represents the King's Person and that hath the Precedency of all others is the Governor While this Island was subject to the Kings of France of the First and Second Race the Governors were styled Comites and Duces i. e. Counts and Dukes Thus LOYESCON who commanded here in the time of Clothaire and Charibert an 560 is called Comes a Count as we learn from the Compilers of the Life of St. Magloire the Apostle of this Island And AMWARITH who had the same Command about 200 Years after viz. in the time of Charlemagne is called Dux a Duke as appears from that ancient Fragment mentioned before where 't is said concerning Geroaldus Abbot of Fontenelles that is quadam Legatione fungebatur in Insulam cui nomen est AVGIA JERSEY cui tempore illo praefuit Dux nomine AMWARITH Under the Dukes of Normandy and the first English Kings after the Conquest the Government of all these Islands was generally given to one Man who was called sometimes Dominus sometimes Ballivus sometimes Custos Insularum i. e. Lord Bailly or Warden of the Islands But K. Henry VI. gave them together with the Isle of Wight to Henry de Beauchamp Earl of Warwick with a very extraordinary Title viz. with that of KING as is seen from an ancient MS. Chronicle of the Abby of Tewkesbury mentioned by Mr. Selden where this Passage is found Obiit Dominus Henricus Nobilis Dux Warichiae Primus Comes Angliae Dominus le Dispenser de Abergevenny REX de Insulis Wight Gardsey JARDSEY Dominus quoque Castri Bristoliae cum suis annexis 3 Id. Junii A. D. 1446. Anno Aetatis suae XXII apud Castrum de Hanleyâ et sepultus est in medio Chori Theokesburiae When these Islands were separated and particular Governors assigned to each of them they were styled Captains and at last Governors which Title was fixed by a special Ordinance of Council June 15. 1618. This Office has been anciently held by Persons of very great Note and Eminency and we can reckon among our Governors the Sons and Brothers of some of our Kings As 1 John Earl of Mortain afterwards King who had these Islands given him in the Nature of an Appanage by K. Richard I his Brother 2 Prince Edward afterwards K. Edward I. Son and Successor of Henry III who held them in the same Right in the time of his Father 3. John Duke of Bedford and 4. Humphrey Duke of Glocester Brothers of Henry V. I shall only give an Account of the Governors of JERSEY from the time of Edward IV ever since which time this Island has always been a separate Government Sir RICHARD HARLISTON Vice-Admiral of England who assisted Philip de Carteret in the Reduction of Mont Orgueil Castle which had been seized by the French and had thereupon the Government given him for his good Service He died in Flanders MATTHEW BAKER Esq Groom of the Bed-Chamber to K. Henry VII ejected afterwards for Misdemeanors THOMAS OVERAY lyeth buried in St. George's Chappel in Mont-Orgueil Castle then the Residence of the Governors Sir HUGH VAUGHAN who was also at the same time Lieutenant of the Tower of London Captain of the King's Life-guard c. Resigned the Government to Sir ANTHONY UGHTRED whose Wife was nearly related to Q. Anne Bolein He came in by that interest and lies interred in St. George's Chappel in Mont Orgueil Sr. ARTHVRD ARCY who sold the Government to THOMAS Lord VAVX of Harrowdon and he soon after to Sir EDWARD SEYMOVR Viscount Beauchamp afterwards Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector Sir HVGH PAWLET Treasurer to K. Henry the 8th's Army at the Siege of Bologne Governor of Havre de Grace an 1563. that Town being then in the hands of the English Reputed one of the best and most experienced Captains of his Time A zealous Promoter of the Reformation in this Island of which he was Governor about 24 Years was succeeded by his Eldest Son Sir AMIAS PAWLET Privy Councellor to Q. Elizabeth Ambassador in France an 1576 who had also for Successor Sir ANTHONY PAWLET his Son and he Sir WALTER RALEIGH whose very Name is an honour to this Island But the unfortunate Gentleman held the Government not long it being forfeited together with all his other Great Offices and Preferments by his Attainder in the First year of K. James I. Sir JOHN PEYTON Lieutenant of the Tower c. Sir THOMAS JERMYN who in his Life-time did also obtain the Reversion of the Government after him for his younger Son HENRY JERMYN created first Lord Jermyn then Earl of St. Alban's Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter c. To whom was afterward joyned in the same Patent and with equal Authority Sir GEORGE DE CARTERET who with so great Valour held the Island for the King against the whole force of the Parliament in the late Civil Wars After the Restoration in 1660 made Vice-Chamberlain and one of the Lords of the Privy-Council and lastly created Baron Carteret of Hains in Bedfordshire After the said Restoration the Earl of St. Alban's remained sole Governor but a War ensuing with France an 1665 the Earl was allowed 1000 l. per annum out of the Exchequer And Sir THOMAS MORGAN that renowned and valiant Commander was sent into this Island and made Governor by special Commission After whose Decease the like Commission was directed to Sir JOHN LANIER recalled upon the Earl of St. Alban's Death to make way for The Right Honourable THOMAS Lord JERMYN Baron of St. Edmund's Bury who claimed the Government by virtue of a Grant to him formerly made by Letters Patent under the Great Seal in case he survived his Uncle the said Earl of St. Alban's He holds it as the Earl did for Life This Office has been held sometimes Quamdiù Domino Regi placuerit sometimes Quamdiù se benè gesserit sometimes for a certain and determinate number of Years sometimes during Life sometimes during Life and five years beyond it and at other times again without Condition or Limitation of time For the support of this Dignity the King allows the Governor his whole Revenue in the Island a small part thereof only deducted for Fees and Salaries to the Officers of the Court. In ancient times this Revenue consisted of seven Mannors which were the Patrimony of the Dukes of Normandy These Mannors were by K. Henry II. let out in Fee-farm to several Tenants at the rate of about 460 Livres Tournois yearly which with many other old Money-Rents expressed in the Extent or Register of the King's Revenue made an 1331. amounted to more than 1000 Livres Tournois per annum A Livre Tournois Libra Turonensis being then worth as much as an English l. Sterling is now This together
AN ACCOUNT Of the Isle of JERSEY This may be Printed Novemb. 28. 1693. EDWARD COOKE AN ACCOUNT Of the Isle of JERSEY The Greatest of those Islands that are now the only Remainder of the ENGLISH DOMINIONS IN FRANCE WITH A New and Accurate MAP of the Island By PHILIP FALLE M. A. Rector of St. SAVIOUR in the said Island and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty At the Parliament holden at Westminster the Wednesday next after the Translation of St. Thomas the Martyr An. 14. Edw. III. Remembrances for the King c. To keep the Sea and to purvey for the Navy and to defend the Isles of JERESEY and Guernezey Sir Robert Cotton's Abridgment of the Records in the Tower of London fol. 29. n. 28. LONDON Printed for John Newton at the Three Pigeons over-against the Inner-Temple-Gate in Fleet-street 1694. TO THE KING SIR THe Design of this Book humbly laid at YOUR MAJESTY's Feet is to give some Account of an Island which tho' subject to Your Royal Predecessors upwards of Six hundred years and seated in the Channel is less known than some other of YOUR MAJESTY's Dominions and Islands that are latter Acquisitions and remov'd to a greater Distance The Knowledge of Us may be of some Use to YOUR MAJESTY's Service and may minister to some of those Great Ends of Providence for which God has rais'd You up and which are one day to be wrought by Your Means Ever since our Ancient DUKES exchang'd their Coronet for that Imperial Crown which YOUR MAJESTY now wears we have been noted for Our Fidelity to Our KINGS We Glory not in the Extent or Riches of Our Country which cannot be brought into Parallel with the meanest of those Provinces that constitute Your Great Empire but we Glory in Our Loyalty which we have kept unblemish'd to this Day What profound Veneration then must we now have for a Matchless Pair of Incomparable Princes whom God has given to these Nations in his Love That Heaven would preserve YOUR MAJESTY from the many Dangers to which You daily expose Your Sacred Person and crown with Success the Justice of Your Arms is the hearty Prayer of May it please YOUR MAJESTY YOUR MAJESTY's Most humble and most faithful Subject and Servant Philip Falle THE PREFACE THE Island of JERSEY with the Others adjacent is of that Importance to England and the Loss of it would be attended with Consequences so prejudicial to this Crown that 't is fit the Nation should understand the Interest it has in the Preservation of that Place which of all other Their Majesties Territories is by its Vicinity to France the most exposed to an Invasion from thence Therefore I presume it will not be so much wondered at that an Account should be given of it now as that none should have been given heretofore The only thing that has appeared in Print concerning this Island besides what is found scattered in Cambden and others is Dr. Heylin's Survey containing the Relation of a Voyage which he made to JERSEY and Guernzey in the Year 1628. We must own the Doctor 's candid and ingenuous dealing in the Report he gives of Vs tho' being a Stranger and sojourning but Six days in JERSEY he could not so throughly acquaint himself with our Constitution The want of a due Knowledge whereof has led him into some Errors not to mention the greater Defects of that Work For having written that Book only for the Vse of Archbishop Laud then Bishop of London and without any design of making it Publick as appears in that it was not Printed till after the Archbishop's Death viz. Anno. 1656 almost Thirty years after it was written 't is evident he aimed not so much at an Account of Vs as we are a Frontiere and a Garrison under which Notion we ought chiefly to be considered now as to lay before that great Prelate the State of Religion in these Islands in Order to bring them to a full Conformity to the Church of England The Presbyterian Government being then established in Three of them Guernzey Alderney and Serck However in the main we have reason to be satisfied with his undertaking and to applaud our selves in the Character he gives of Vs in relation to these great Points viz. Our constant Affection to the English Nation our just aversion to the French our inviolable Fidelity to the Crown to which we are Vnited and the great advantage these Islands are of to England for the security of the Channel These Islands says he are the only remainder of our Rights in Normandy unto which Dukedom they did once belong Ever since they were annexed unto the English Crown they have with great Testimony of Faith and Loyalty continued in that Subjection The Sentence or Arrest of Confiscation given by the Parliament of France against King John nor the surprizal of Normandy by the French Forces could be no perswasion unto them to change their Masters Nay when the French had twice seized on them during the Reign of that unhappy Prince and the State of England was embroyled at home the People valiantly made good their own and faithfully returned unto their first obedience In after-times as any War grew hot betwixt the English and the French these Islands were principally aimed at by the Enemy and sometimes also were attempted by them but with ill Success And certainly it could not but be an Eye-sore to the French to have these Islands within their Sight and not within their Power to see them at the least in possession of their ancient Enemy the English a Nation strong in shipping and likely by the opportunity of these Places to annoy their Trade For if we look upon them in their Situation we shall find them seated purposely for the Command and Empire of the Ocean The Islands lying in the chief Trade of all Shipping from the Eastern Parts unto the West and in the middle way between St. Malo's and the River Seine the only Traffick of the Normans and Parisians At this St. Malo's as at a common Empory do the Merchants of Spain and Paris barter their Commodities the Parisians making both their passage and return by these Isles which if well aided by a small Power from the King's Navy would quickly bring that Inter-course to nothing An opportunity neglected by Our former Kings in their Attempts upon that Nation as not being then so powerfull on the Seas as now they are but likely for the future to be husbanded to the best advantage if the French hereafter stir against Us. Sure I am that my Lord Danby conceived this Course of all others to be the fittest for the impoverishing if not undoing of the French and accordingly made Proposition by his Letters to the Council that a Squadron of Eight ships might be employed about these Islands for that purpose an Advice which had this Summer took effect had not the Peace betwixt both Realms been so suddenly concluded And a
ROBERT his elder Brother seized the Crown and kept it while himself lived Normandy with these Islands remaining in the Possession of ROBERT who made a shift to hold them during the Reign of his Brother Rufus There was a Pact of mutual Succession betwixt the two Brothers But Rufus being suddenly killed by the glance of an Arrow as he was hunting in the New Forest while Robert was with Godfrey of Bouillon and other Noble Adventurers fighting against the Sarrazins for the recovery of the Holy Land the Crown was again seized by Henry Beauclerk third Son of the Conqueror and so Robert twice one after the other excluded from the Succession of England by his younger Brothers Still nevertheless he kept possession of Normandy and of these Islands He was a brave but unfortunate Prince He won such Reputation in the Holy War that after the taking of Jerusalem he was by common Consent of all the Princes in the Christian Army chosen King of that newly conquer'd Kingdom But having then the Crown of England in his eye he declined that honourable Offer after which it has been observed that he never prospered For at his return from the Holy Land he found not only that Crown which was his by Right of Primogeniture fast on the head of young Beauclerk but himself reduced to the necessity of defending Normandy against his Brother who plainly now endeavoured to out him of all The War grew hot betwixt them in which the Fortune of Henry prevailing Duke Robert was taken his eyes put out and himself imprisoned in Cardiff Castle where he languished about Twenty six years in great Misery till with the extreme Indignities his Brother continued even then to put upon him his great Heart broke The Body of this injured Prince lies interr'd in the Cathedral Church of Glocester in as mean a Tomb as that of his Father at Caen for I have seen both Were Men allowed to search into the Counsels and Judgments of God one would be very apt to suspect that the misfortune which sometime after befell King Henry in the loss of his Children shipwrack'd in their passage from Normandy to England was an effect of the Divine Vengeance and Indignation for his Cruelty and Injustice to his Brother The young Princes the eldest of whom bore the Title of Duke of Normandy and with it the weight and load of his Father's sin were driven by the storm among these Islands and were cast away upon Casquet a dangerous Rock two Leagues West of Alderney where they miserably perisht After the Reduction of Normandy and of these Islands by HENRY he declared them unalienable from the Crown of England in which State they remained under the succeeding Reigns of STEPHEN of Blois Grandson of the Conqueror by his Daughter Alice HENRY II. Son of Maud the Empress who was Daughter of Henry I. RICHARD I Sirnamed Coeur de Lion Son of Henry II. But under the unfortunate Administration of King JOHN who was Brother of Richard I and succeeded him in the Kingdom the Dukedom of Normandy tho' not these Islands was lost on this occasion Henry II had among other Sons these Three following 1. Richard to whom he left the Kingdom and who died without Legitimate issue 2. Jeffrey who died in his Father's Life-time leaving a Son called Arthur Duke of Bretagne in Right of his Mother And 3. John Count de Mortain in Normandy afterwards King Upon Richard's Death the right of Succession devolved on Arthur his Second Brother's Son But John stept in betwixt him and the Crown whereupon the young Prince applies himself to Philip Augustus King of France for Protection and Succour against his Uncle that had stript him of his Inheritance The French who have always found their advantage in our Civil Distractions and have accordingly always improved and fomented them were glad of the opportunity offered A Quarrel was pickt with King John on the Prince's account but so managed that it soon appeared that persidious Nation pursued their own ends more than the Interest of the Prince whose Title they had undertaken to defend Which the Prince himself seeing reconciled himself once to his Uncle but that held not long To be short the poor Prince fell into the hands of the exasperated King by whom he was shut up close Prisoner in the Castle of Rouen in Normandy and soon after was found dead in the Castle-ditch whether made away by the Jealousie of his Uncle as some suspect or that himself not brooking so severe a Restraint and endeavouring to escape perished in the Attempt as is given out by others is uncertain Upon this Philip Augustus to embroil more and more the King's Affairs chargeth King John with the Murder of the Prince and on pretence that he was his Vassal for what he held in France cites him before the Parliament of Paris to answer the Accusation Where the King not thinking it consistent with his Dignity or Safety to appear was condemned as a Felon and as such declared to have lost and forfeited his Right to Normandy and to all other Estates which he held as Fiefs of that Crown which were seized accordingly an Army being ready to execute the Summary Sentence and the King's hands so full of other business at home that he was forced to sit still and see those fair Provinces torn from him without being able to apply a sutable Remedy to so great an Evil. The French having thus possessed themselves of Normandy invaded these Islands Twice they entred them and twice they were beaten out of them again The Inhabitants had under their Dukes contracted a great Aversion to the French and stood stoutly on their own Defence The King himself looking on them as the last Plank left of so great a Shipwrack and that they would always serve to shew his Right to that Dukedom to which they had once belonged and might perhaps one time or other be a means to recover it resolved to keep them whatever they cost him and accordingly hastned himself over hither and was twice in Person in JERSEY Which he caused to be fortified and gave special Order for the Custody and Safeguard of the Castles and Ports which before lay too open to the Enemy To this King therefore we owe our Preservation From him we have many Excellent Laws and Priviledges which he granted us at his being here and which have been confirmed to us in after-times by his Successors Kings and Queens of England Him for that reason we must consider as our special Benefactor and whatever ill things may be otherwise said of him must in Gratitude have a Veneration and an Esteem for his Memory K. John died An. 1216. His Son HENRY III. was so plagued by his Rebellious Barons who had set up the Title of Prince Lewis of France Son of Philip Augustus against his Father and Him which pretended Title of Lewis was in right of his Wife
Convoy Which brought so great an Interruption to Trade and Charge to the Nation that it was then understood of what Consequence the keeping of these Islands is to England and a Resolution was taken to spare no Cost for the Reduction of JERSEY This is an example which methinks should never be forgotten and I purposely insist thereon to shew what a fatal Error it would be to suffer the French to possess themselves of these Islands seated as they are in the Channel where instead of their own shallow Bays and Creeks they would find good Roads and safe Harbours if not for their greatest Fleets at least for their Pyracies While matters stood thus in England Prince Charles who was afterwards King Charles II came to JERSEY where he was received with a Joy equal to the Honour we received from his Presence amongst Us tho' even this was not without a great mixture of Sorrow for the Detention of his Royal Father who was then close Prisoner in Hurst Castle a most unhealthy place seated on a Point of Land that shoots far into the Sea destitute of fresh water and annoyed with the Salt and stinking Vapours that arise out of the neighbouring Marshes and for that very reason probably made choice of by the infamous Regicides to weary the good King out of his Life whom they were resolved one way or other to remove out of the World A Project was formed by some of our Loyal Islanders to rescue the afflicted King out of his Captivity and to bring him to JERSEY where the Prince then was The King was priviâ—y acquainted with the Design and was pleased to Consent to his removal to JERSEY But when the thing came to be executed it was unhappily defeated by the vigilancy of his Majesty's Keepers or rather by an unsearchable Providence which had decreed to make of that best of Kings the greatest Example of injured and oppressed Innocence that has been in the World since our blessed Saviour It is nevertheless no small satisfaction to Us that while too many others of his Majesty's Subjects looked unconcerned on his unparallel'd Sufferings we did our honest endeavours for the Preservation of his sacred Life so that at whosesoever door the Guilt of that Blood may lie we of this Island have blessed be God no otherwise contributed to the shedding of it than by our sins in general which added to the heap of the sins of the Nation drew down that heavy Judgment on Us all After the barbarous Murder of that blessed King his Son the undoubted Heir of all his Dominions was immediately Proclaimed and his Title recognized in JERSEY His Majesty was pleased once again to make some residence amongst Us. He came the Second time to JERSEY attended by his Royal Brother the Duke of York and several of the Loyal Nobility that adhered to him in his Exile Neither must I omit a very singular Honour which his Majesty did our little Island during his abode there He himself took a Survey of it and being well skilled in the Mathematicks did with his own Royal hand draw a Map of it so accurately done that to this day it is carefully preserved among a Collection of other noble Curiosities of Art and Nature in the Heer Van Adlershelm's famous Cabinet at Leipsich in Germany where it is seen by Travellers About this time Charles Fort was built which is an Out-work to Elizabeth Castle that commands the entrance and approach to it on the Land-side His Majesty being invited to a Treaty with the Scots he left JERSEY again but so highly satisfied with those many Demonstrations of duty and affection which in his greatest Distress he had received from the Islanders that while he lived he was pleased to retain a gratefull and a generous Sense of them The Treaty with the Scots went on successfully The King was Crown'd at Scoone Jan. 1. 1650 and soon after came into England at the head of a Royal Army to dispute his Right with the Usurpers of his Kingdoms The two Armies encountred at Worcester Sept. 3. 1651 where it pleased God again to give the Rebels such Success that the King not only lost the day but was forced to abscond with great danger of his Person till he found a passage into France where he Landed the 22d of October following In the mean while the Parliament in England was making great Preparations for the Reduction of JERSEY being strangely alarmed at the taking of so many of their Vessels by the Privateers of this Island who continued to annoy the Channel and were grown so bold that they would set upon English Ships in the very Harbours A Fleet of about Eighty Sails increased afterwards to a greater Number was set out for that Expedition under command of Admiral Blake while Major General Hains headed the Forces designed for the Descent The Fleet appeared in sight of the Island October 20. 1651. and the same day came to an Anchor in St. Oüen's Bay The Bay lies open to a Westerly wind which blows in so violently the greatest part of the Year and rolls in such a Sea that 't is very unsafe for Shipping But the same unaccountable Success that used to attend the Rebels in other places attended them here All the time they lay in this Bay they had so smooth a Sea that in the Memory of man the like had not been known at that Season of the year Which was no small Discouragement to our People who thought it in vain to sight against men that seemed to have the very Winds and Seas to sight for them But that indeed which quite dispirited them was the unhappy News they received at that time of the King's defeat at Worcester which came accompanied with a Report tho' false of his being taken in endeavouring to escape This brought such a Consternation amongst them and so sunk their Courage that they who at another time would have most gladly sacrificed their Lives to promote his Majesty's Affairs were ready to have laid down their Arms had not the extraordinary Conduct and Gallantry of their Governor Sir George de Carteret brought them on to fight The first day and the night following nothing was attempted by the Enemy The next day Octob. 21. early in the Morning their Cannon began to play which was answered by several little Forts and Redoubts in the Bay and by twenty four Brass-Field-Pieces which attend the Militia upon occasion Some of the lesser Frigats drew so near the Shore that they made use of their Small-shot which was answered with equal Bravery by our Men who wading into the very water fired briskly upon the Enemies calling them Rebels and Traitors and Murderers of their King The Battery lasted Four hours after which the whole Fleet drew off and went to St. Brelard's Bay distant about a League from that of S. Oüen where being all come to an Anchor they sent back a Squadron to St. Oüen the place where
more than he had done for his Service That he was sorry the ill Posture of his Affairs was such that he could not promise him Relief requiring him not to throw away the Lives of so many brave Men who may 't be reserved for a better Occasion And in short to Capitulate and Surrender on the best Terms he could Which was done accordingly some Weeks after upon a very honourable Composition This being one of the last Garrisons that held for the King His Majesty being restored to his Crowns was pleased to remember the Loyalty and Services of his Subjects of JERSEY and as he conferred many Marks of his Royal Favour on Sir George de Carteret so he ever expressed great Kindness to the rest of the Inhabitants whom he took into his particular Protection among whom reciprocally the Name of K. CHARLES is never mentioned to this Day but with singular Veneration and Honour I shall only give one Instance of the Care which that Prince took of our Safety During the War betwixt France and this Crown which begun Anno 1665 he completed and with great Expence finished the Fortifications of Elizabeth Castle causing the Green that is betwixt the lower Ward and Charles Fort where an Enemy may 't have lodged himself in time of a Siege to be enclosed with Walls and planted with Ordnance there being now no ground within half a Mile of the Castle but what is taken into the Fortification or covered by the Sea at every half Flood which has no doubt brought a great Accession of Strength to the Place During the abovesaid War one Vaucour Captain of Chauzé which is a small Island possessed by the French not far from JERSEY was hanged in Guernezey by Sentence of the Court there for endeavouring to surprize and betray that Island to the French The Preservation of the Isle of JERSEY in the late amazing Revolution is under God chiefly owing to the great Prudence and Resolution of our Magistrates There was then a Popish Commander a Popish Priest and many Popish Soldiers in Elizabeth Castle Men that had Temptations and Opportunities enough in that Conjuncture to have called in the French and indeed we were not without great Apprehensions of it But matters were so managed that the Inhabitants were admitted to mount the Guard in the Castle by equal Proportions with the Soldiers of the Garrison which secured that strong Fortress against any Design which that Party may 't have had to deliver it up to the Enemy Nor must we pass under silence the signal Obligation we have to the Right Honourable the Earl of Bath who knowing the Danger we were in did upon the Prince's Landing in the West send his own Regiment to our Succour commanded by the Honourable Sir Bevil Granville his Lordship's Nephew at whose coming the Papists were disarmed and the Island was secured for the Prince And thus I have traced the History of this Island so far as relates to my present Design through the Reigns of our former Kings down to that of their present Majesties K. WILLIAM and Q. MARY under whose auspicious Government we promise our selves the same Happiness and Security which we have enjoyed all along under a long Series of so many Excellent Princes His Majesty was pleased with his own Royal Mouth to assure Us of his Care and Protection when Mr. Durel their Majesties Advocate together with the Author of these Sheets introduced by the Right Honourable the Lord Jermyn our Governour had the Honour to kiss his Majesty's hand and to Present him from the States of the Island the following Address To the KING 's and QUEEN's Most Excellent Majesties The Humble Address of the States of Your Majesties Island of JERSEY May it please Your Majesties WE acknowledge Your Majesties Great Goodness in giving Vs Access to Your Royal Throne and leave to lay this Address at Your Sacred Feet We are the Representatives of a People which tho' distinguished from others of Your Majesties Subjects in Language and peculiar Customs concurs with them in the common Interest of Your Kingdoms and yields to none in Zeal and Affection to Your Majesties Persons and Government We are Your Majesties Ancient Subjects The Remainder of that once goodly Patrimony which Your Renowned Progenitors had on the Neighbouring Continent rescued from the unhappy Fate of the rest by that great care which Your Majesties Predecessors in all their Wars with France ever took for the Preservation of this important Place extending upon all Exigencies their Protection to Vs and constantly supplying Vs with every thing needful for Our Defence Which by the Blessing of God has had that Success that tho' Our Situation exposes Vs to a Formidable Enemy who in the space of above Six Hundred years has often projected to Invade Vs and has sometimes actually attempted it he has been as often repulsed Insomuch that after the Revolution of so many Ages wherein whole Kingdoms have been torn asunder and divided from each other we have still at this day the Happiness of remaining united as at first to the rest of Your Majesties Dominions We humbly conceive this Island to be no less important to Your Majesties now than when it it was thought so in the time of Your Royal Ancestors since the known Endeavours of the French for some years to increase their Naval Power and their late bold entring the Channel and disputing with Your Majesties the Empire of the Sea is a pregnant Proof how greatly it would prejudice the Safety and Honour of Your Crown should they become Masters of This and the adjoyning Islands In this Conjuncture we think it Our Duty to assure Your Majesties that with the Divine Assistance we will defend this Place to the utmost for Your Majesties Service and that We wish to live no longer than we are Your Majesties Subjects Hoping Your Majesties will believe that tho' Our Tongues be French Our Hearts and Swords are truely English These two Last are entirely Your Majesties and the First are employed in nothing more than in celebrating Your Majesties great Virtues and just Praises and in beseeching Almighty God who hath so wonderfully placed You on the Throne and who by so many Miracles of his Providence hath hitherto preserved You thereon to continue his powerful Protection over You to go out with Your Fleets and Armies and to complete that Great Work for which he hath so evidently designed You which is to raise the Glory and Reputation of this Nation to put a stop to the boundless Ambition of the unjust Disturber of the Quiet of Christendom and to procure a safe and lasting Peace to Europe We are May it please Your Majesties Your Majesties most Faithful and Most Loyal Subjects c. I cannot better conclude this Chapter than with some of those remarkable Testimonies which our Kings have given of our Loyalty and Zeal for their Service in the many Charters by them granted to the Inhabitants of this Island
with several Parcels of Lands and Meadows Wheat-Rents Escheats Forfeitures Fines Services Wardships Customs and other Emoluments not reckoned in Money made up a pretty Revenue for the King in so small an Island But now the Livre Tournois is fallen so low viz. 13. of them for one l. Sterl that the said 1000. Livres Tournois are brought under the value of 100. l. Sterl And many Alienations have been made of the Revenue It consists now chiefly in the Tythes of Ten Parishes of the Island which having been appropriated to several Religious Houses in Normandy in time of Popery were at the Reformation assumed by the Crown As also in several Quarters of Wheat-Rents and other Profits certain and casual estimated all together at about 15000 Livres Tournois per annum Out of which Sum the aforementioned Deductions are made the rest belongs to the Governor who has a peculiar Officer appointed by himself for the Collection of the said Revenue called Le Receveur du Roy i. e. The Kings Receiver Our Kings heretofore did use to dispose of this Revenue more thriftily than they now do laying on it the whole Charge of the Garrison causing the remainder to be accounted for in the Exchequer and out of that allowing a Proportion to the Governor greater or less as he could agree or had an Interest in the Prince's favour Thus Johannes des Roches who was Warden of these Islands in the time of Edward III. had but 40. l. a year allowed him out of the said Revenue The more usual way was for the Governor to receive the whole Revenue paying a certain Sum yearly out of it into the Exchequer Thus Thomas de Ferrariis and Thomas de Hampton who succeeded Johannes des Roches paid 500 Marks yearly The last that had it with these Deductions was Sir Thomas Jermyn Grandfather of the Lord Jermyn the now Governor who paid 300 l. yearly to the King Nor was this without Exceptions For Philip de Aubigny Drogo de Barentin Otto de Grandison c. in the time of K. John Henry III Edward I c. received and enjoyed the whole Revenue as the Governors do now sine Computo So did those Sons and Brothers of our Kings mentioned before who seem to have had these Islands inpurum absolutum Dominium Therefore very properly called Domini Insularum Lords of the Islands The Power of the Governors has likewise been greater or less as their Commission has from time to time been either enlarged or restrained Anciently the Governor here was a Person of a mixt Power I mean that he had the Administration of both the Civil and Military Authority He was Judge as well as Governor had the disposal of all places in Court Church or Garrison Then he was called Bailly which in the Gottish Tongue signifies Custos i. e. a Warden or Guardian For he was both Custos Terrae and Custos Legum Guardian of the Land and Guardian of the Laws In process of time he reserved only the Exercise of the Military and Commanding part to himself transferring the Judicial to another who remained in possession of the Title of Bailly while himself retained the sense and meaning of the Word in the new Name of Custos or Warden which he assumed Thus that Office which at first was but one became two Yet so as that he who had the Judicial part and was now called the Bailly was still dependant and at the Nomination of the other So were the other Ministers of Justice Which was a great obstruction to a free Administration of it since the Court must still be at the beck and devotion of him from whom it derived its Power K. John began and K. Henry VII completed the Establishment of a Jurisdiction in this Island independant from the Governor taking away from him the Nomination of the Bailly Dean King's Officers and Viscount And forbidding him to interpose his Authority in Matters that were purely of the Cognizance of the Civil or Ecclesiastical Tribunals But tho' the Governor has no proper Jurisdiction yet in regard of his Dignity his Presence is often required in Court and is in some sort necessary for the passing of some Acts there viz. Such as concern the King's Service the Maintenance of the publick Peace the Safety and good Government of the Island He has the Court under his Protection being obliged to assist the Bailly and Jurats with his Authority in the Execution of their Judgments He has Power with the Concurrence of two of the Jurats to arrest and imprison any Inhabitant upon vehement Suspicion of Treason No Inhabitant may go out of the Island no Foreigner may come sojourn or settle in it without his Knowledge and Privity No Estates can be held nor any thing therein transacted without his Consent but this with some restrictions of which more hereafter On the other side at his Admission and before he can do any Act of Government he must produce his Patent or Commission in Court and must swear to maintain the Liberties and Priviledges of the Island His more immediate Province is the Custody of Their Majesties Castles the Command of the Garrison and Militia of the Island Which last he models and regulates at Pleasure The Place of his Residence is Elizabeth Castle called also the New Castle in distinction to Mont-Orgueil which is the Old Castle Sometimes again called L'Islet because seated in a small Island in St. Aubin's Bay taking up the whole Ground or Compass of that Island Inviron'd round on all sides by the Sea unless at Low-water at which time there is access to it over the Sands especially over a Beach of Pebbles called the Bridge but neither is this dry above 6 Hours sometimes not 5 Distant from the nearest Land 663 Geometrical Paces Well mounted with Ordnance and stored with all necessary Provisions of War Begun An. 1552 in Consequence of an Order of Council of An. 1551 injoyning the Bells of the Island leaving only one in every Church to be sold and the Mony to be applied to the Building thereof Impregnable by its Situation and on which under God depends the Safety of the whole Island I wish I could give the same account of Mont-Orgueil Castle standing aloft on a steep and craggy Promontory in the East of the Island and as it were proudly overlooking the neighbouring Coast of France But that Noble and Ancient Castle under whose Walls the French have so often digged their Graves falls daily to decay through want of repair 'T is somewhat awed by a Hill that lies too near it on the Land-side f The Fort or Tower of St. Aubin is o good use for the Defence of the Road and for the Security of our shipping which lie safe in the Mole or Peer under the Guns of the Place These are all the Fortresses in this Island where the King keeps Garrison both in Peace and War For tho' the Map mentions