225th Anniversary of the Battle Of Jersey
6th January 1781 Grouville Church 7th January 2006
An almost full turnout complete with the press and about 75 members of the public in attendance. Good weather for the time of year and everything went well. Terry Underwood gave the crowd the background to the memorial and here is what he said:
On January 6th 1781, 225 years ago the French led by Baron de Rullecourt invaded Jersey landing on the east coast at La Rocque. They landed with approximately 700 men of which 100 were left at the landing site to act as guard should a withdrawal by boat be required. The 600 French then left for St Helier via the lanes of the east coast arriving in town in the early morning. A capitulation was ordered by a captive Governor but a brave Major Peirson refused to surrender and led his force comprising of the 95th Regiment with units of the Jersey Militia into the Royal Square to confront De Rullecourt and his troops which, after a short engagement he succeeded to overcome.
At the same time, back at the French landing site, the 83rd Regiment of Foot supported by the East Regiment of Militia, which comprised of men from St Saviour, Grouville and St Clement, engaged the remaining French troops. The 83rd split their force to attack from two sides. The first to engage was Lieutenant James Robertson with his party of 40 men comprising of 30 Grenadiers and 10 Militia men led by Lieutenant Helier Godfray. Robertson brought his men up to within nine yards of the enemy and ordered their surrender, which was refused; he then opened fire and charged the French with fixed bayonets. The French surrendered, but left seven Grenadiers wounded and seven killed. Those seven are named on this memorial.
The Militia marches in The Memorial Colours at the Memorial
With the Constable of the Parish, Dan Murphy in attendance, the Revd. Mike Lange-Smith gave a reading and blessing at the Memorial. There was a minute's silence at eleven o'clock followed by three volleys of musket fire. To applause from the crowd, the Militia dismissed to the Church and onwards to the Pembroke pub for a welcome pint.
Elizabeth Castle - Sunday 9th April 2006
12 good men, 6 women and 3 year old Alice sailed to Elizabeth Castle for our first event of the year. The weather was excellent, although very cold. Amongst our company we were pleased to welcome Des Thomas, Secretary of NARES (National Association of Re-enactors' Societies) and his wife, Judy. Our first event is normally fairly quiet but this year the morning was very busy with visitors and locals. Visitors included members of The Time Tarts who were presenting living history during Mont Orgueil's opening week. We learnt much from our visiting English re-enactors and look forward to hopefully welcoming more in the future.
21st April - 21 Gun salute - The Queen's birthday
The Queen's 80th birthday and 21 shots plus a volley with 6 cannons went well. A small crowd of the general public assembled behind us giving us a fine reception when we had finished. Our thanks go to all the local media for good coverage of our event.
Elizabeth Castle - Sunday 23rd April 2006
A busy morning, slowing down as the rain set in. With a good crowd the various events of musket drill followed by cannon fire were much appreciated. A new recruit was on display for his first event and performed admirably. After a good lunch, the afternoon brought light rain and the drizzle started. The afternoon cannon demonstration was a hurried affair but enjoyable never the less. An early finish was on the cards and we were away from Elizabeth Castle earlier the usual.
Elizabeth Castle -Sunday 14th May 2006
The tide was low for most of the day giving walking access to the Castle. This resulted in our having fair crowds throughout the day at each of our presentations. The morning sped by and so it was time for lunch. Jean did the lunch. What a feast - more than a man can eat and little Alice as well, it was wonderful. We all staggered out to the afternoon session wishing that wine had been permitted but alas, as per the rules, it was not. The muskets and cannon went very well and we finished the day off with a duel between two of our members.
Elizabeth Castle -Sunday 11th June 2006
It was a lovely day to start with sunshine and the odd cloud. The cannons roared wonderfully with a rebounding sound echoing down the coast with a boom, boom, boom. The morning went well until lunch time when a large, persistent downpour cleared the castle of most of its visitors. The rain cleared, and the afternoon, although poorly attended, went very smoothly. Unfortunately there are no pictorial memories of our day this time, however Judy demonstrated her inkle loom in the Militia Room and Katie, Rita and Elizabeth made Dorset buttons beside her. Polly hemmed a fichu and occasionally was spinning wool from the Castle sheep, her lacemaking paraphernalia having suffered the consequences of an accident with her husband's cart, the shaft having broken and the cart left at the carpenter's shop for repair.
St Georges School Fete - Saturday 24th June 2006
Set in the beautiful grounds of St George's School on a warm, sunny day the Militia set up its display. We had a good turn out of members. However after the first round of Artillery fire the rebounding sound from the natural curving landscape in front of the guns gave cause for concern as to its intensity. A re-positioning of the guns gave no relief to the sound which was a great disappointment. Nevertheless the event went very well and was enjoyed by all. Our women made lavender bags and bobbin lace.
22nd and 23rd July - Fix Bayonets - Elizabeth Castle
This was a rare 2 day event as we joined a multi-period event at Elizabeth Castle. The 1st Foot, of the Napoleonic period, were camped on the Green and our 1781 Artillery and Foot soldiers manned their cannon behind the camp. The 1st Foot gave musket displays, demonstrated the "thin red line" over the mound, and one unfortunate was flogged for his misdemeanours. Two camp followers accompanied the 1st Foot, one to cook and explain her methods and the other showed her adeptness at sewing. Our own women took their places in the Militia Room spinning and explaining herbs and midwifery; in the Militia Museum lace making and sewing, and amongst the men, supplying them with clear, cool water on these warm days. It was a great pleasure to work with the 1st Foot and make new friends like Brian Bamford, Mel Witham and others. We hope we'll work with them again. The weekend culminated in an exchange of musket fire between the 1st Foot and two of our men on the slipway whilst awaiting transport.
The weekend was a special one in other ways. Gunner Graves (alias David Lewis) took his place on the Parade Ground for the last time on Sunday. He will be sorely missed and will be a hard act to follow. A presentation of an engraved tankard was made in cockpit by his regular artillerymen on behalf of all of us and a hand made lace bookmark presented for his wife, as we were assured she had been taught to read. (In fact Pat Lewis had spent many years teaching the children of the Island.) We will miss you David Lewis, especially your devilish sense of humour!
Our thanks to Doug Ford for taking photographs of the day.
25th July 2006 - Starting off the Clipper Race
With squally rain approaching just as the start of the race was about to commence it was all hands to man the cannon to make sure of a good bang. The Governor of Jersey fired the starting signal and the boats were away on time.
Picture produced by courtesy of Pierre Horsfall
10th September 2006 - Greve de L'Ecq Barracks & Fort Catel
The National Trust Open day on 10th September drew good crowds to see the Militia mustering for demonstrations of musket fire at the Barracks and cannon fire at Fort Catel. The weather was good and there was much interest in the lace demonstrations given by the ladies and the musket displays held throughout the day. The cannon roared on the hour at Fort Catel to keep the time.
24 September 2006 - Elizabeth Castle
A stiff breeze and heavy swell in the bay made a spectacular arrival at the Castle testing the skills of the DUKW driver in the cross tide. The group made their last appearance at the Castle this season and although not many in number they performed their skills to a surprisingly large amount of visitors for the time of year. Nell and Polly served lunch and told of lace making, cord making and the garrison during the year 1781. The Lecrivain family had generously contributed to BBC Radio Jersey's Charity Auction to take part in 'A Day with the 1781 Militia' and father and son joined in enthusiastically with cannon firing and musket drill, while mum made sure they had wonderful photographic memories of the day. Graham once again produced some brilliant photographs for the Militia archives - some of them are shown below.
Farmers' Inn - Bonfire Night - 4 November 2006
The Farmers' Inn held their annual Guy Fawke's celebration on Saturday 4 November and members of the 1781 Jersey Militia started it with a cannonade from two cannons. The Farmers' kindly made a donation to the British Legion's Poppy Appeal from the night's proceedings.
British Legion Poppy Appeal - 11th November 2006
The red and blue uniforms of the seven 1781 Jersey Militia soldiers attracted a good deal of support from the public and their collection tins filled up quickly. George's 6 pounder took its place at the junction of King Street and Peirson Place. Laurie took up a position near Woolworth's entrance and Paul and Ian (not in photographs) focused on Halkett Place and the Central Market.
Roger, George, Laurie, David, Terry Laurie
Militia Christmas dinner - 9th December - Mermaid Inn
A welcome return to the18th century Mermaid Tavern for this year's dinner. It was a good evening which both members and their guests enjoyed. Heaps of food, great company and copious amounts of wine for all, held in candlelight.
This site was updated on 4 Jan 2007