Channel Islands – Death On My Doorstep

1/ St Peter’s Murder, Jersey, May 1866

A murder took place in a small cottage called La Frontiere, near Mount des Vignesi in St Peter’s parish, a few miles from St Helier; Esther Susan Le Brun was the elderly victim. Her neighbour, Miss Le Cornu saw her the night before she died and she also heard some noises during the night as well, but it wasn’t till they found Esther dead in bed with strangulation marks on her neck, that she thought it could have been an intruder. There was blood on the window sill, floor and on Esther’s nightdress that suggested the murderer cut himself on the smashed glass he’d used to gain entry. The strange part is that it seemed to be a personal attack, as no money or jewellery was taken. (Did they ever find the murderer?)

2/ Guernsey, August 1884 (Six Lost)

A solicitor from Kensington-Park, London, a MrW.H.Irving, came to Guernsey for a six-week holiday. He brought his wife, three kids and the governess as well. They hired a boat from a man named Steward, while the governess and Mrs Irving sat this one out. Irvin along with his thirteen-year-old daughter and his two lads aged seven & ten, Steward and his son were there to take care of navigation. A heavy squall came over along with a thick mist and these conditions caused the sinking of the boat, with all six on board missing in the English Channel.

3/ Alderney, ((Two Privates Drown) October 1888

Private Baldwin and Private Brunning from the East Surrey Regiment were both drowned while fishing from the rocks at Alderney. It is thought that one fell in and the other tried to save him, but they both perished.

4/ Alderney Drowning, July 1889

5/ Corbiere Point, Jersey, (Vessel Sinks) December 1884

A vessel foundered off Corbiere Point in Jersey is believed to be the “Echo” which left St Malo for Guernsey with a cargo of Christmas produce, along with around a dozen passengers. It is feared that all the crew and passengers were drowned in the English Channel.

6/ Plienmont Cliff Fall, Guernsey, May 1892

A lieutenant in the Royal Guernsey Militia, a Mr Gerald de Jersey aged eighteen, was with some friends at looking for gulls eggs at Plienmont, which is on the westernmost part of Guernsey. He accidentally fell off a 100-foot cliff, down onto the jagged rocks below, killing him instantly.

7/ Sark, July 1898

Miss W.Hyper, an old lady on a visit to Sark, was discovered at the bottom of some cliffs. It is believed to be a tragic accident.

8/ Parame (near St Malo in France) August 1889 (I know it is in France but the priests were from Jersey )

9/ Jersey, (Landslip Kills Three) December 1886

Three brothers, aged fifteen, thirteen and eleven respectively, were crushed to death by a huge landslip in a Jersey quarry. They lived with their father, a postman named Baker, in a cottage at the base of a cliff. The rock must have been loosened by the recent deluges that have occurred in the area, with tons of debris fell on the cottage itself, caving in the back of the house and burying the lads entirely. The father and his daughter were in the front of the house and got out through a gap in the roof. The boys’ bodies were dug out the following morning.

10/ Guernsey, August 1884 (Six Drowned)

A melancholy boating fatality, by which it is feared six persons have lost their lives has occurred in Guernsey. About ten days ago, Mr W.H.Irving, solicitor, St Clair Road, Kensington Park in London, arrived on the island accompanied by his wife, three children and a nursery governess intending to spend about six weeks in Guernsey and Sark. On Friday evening they arranged to go out to the southward for a few hours. The weather was splendid at starting and the boat was in charge of a man called Steward, the other occupants being Mr Irving, his daughter aged about thirteen and two boys aged about seven and ten respectively. Steward’s son assisted in managing the boat. About one o’clock on Saturday morning a heavy squall came on and lasted an hour, along with a fog adding to the danger. Nothing has since been ascertained with regard to the fate of the boat and its occupants, although a search has been made from day to day. Mrs Irving is the only member of the family surviving.

11/ Alderney, May 1902 (450 Feared Drowned)

The Admiralty gave information that three French gunboats were lost during manoeuvres off the coast of Alderney. They are supposed to have got caught in an eddy off Alderney and they sank with no survivors reported as yet. The death toll is estimated at 450 men, with each gunboat having a complement of 150 men on board. (What was the death toll?)

12/ Theatre Royal Fire, Jersey, March 1899

13/ Theatre Royal Fire, Jersey, March 1899

14/ Jersey Murder, June 1866

A murder committed on the island of Jersey was the second in a few weeks (See No 1). A French farm worker named Constant went to the farmhouse of a chap by the name of Renouf and asked his missus for some cider. Mrs Renouf gave him the cider, more out of fear than charity and as she handed it over, he got some dust and gravel and threw it in her eyes then bashed her over the head. She tried to make a run for it, but Constant was hot on her heels. He caught up with her and pinned her down and pulled her hair and kept smashing her head on the flagstone floor. The murderer legged it. She died later that night with a sad addition, that she was pregnant at the time.

15/ St Lawrence Suicide, Jersey, September 1894

In this village in South-Central Jersey, a French miller, Victor Cassin, tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in the throat, in a field near his house. Failing miserably he walked to his house, reloaded the gun then put it to his face blowing it and the top of his head clean off.

16/ Guernsey Officer Suicide, January 1892

Lt.Colonel De Vie Tupper, a retired officer of the 8th Foot Regiment, committed suicide at his home of Les Colls, in Guernsey.He was a soldier in the Crimean campaign, fought at Sebastopol, also was at the Indian Mutiny, and then when he retired he took things easy by being the Supervisor of the State of Guernsey. There had been family problems, so he decided to shoot himself in the study of Les Colls.

17/ St Aubyn Railway Death, Jersey, September 1885

18/ Jersey, July 1885

Thomas Stockton, Private in the 2nd Worcestershire Regiment was drowned at Jersey yesterday whilst bathing with his comrades contrary to orders. Some of the men who went to his assistance also had narrow escapes.

19/ Trinity Parish Murder? Jersey, September 1894

Francis Mourant, a farmer in Trinity Parish, who was annoyed at his wife going out to collect sand eels with her mother, pulled a gun on her and shot her in the face. It blew away her nose, eyes and jaw. Not surprisingly she lies in a dangerous condition. Her jealous husband tried to hot-foot it out of town but was captured and arrested. (Did she make it or was he charged with murder?)

20/ St Sampson’s, Guernsey, June 1904

Eighteen-year-old John Spracking got caught in the machinery at the stone-crushing works in St Sampson’s on Guernsey and was mangled to pieces. He died instantly but in great agony.

21/ St Aubins, Jersey, April 1898

A member of the Medical Staff Corps named Arthur Schofield, who was stationed at Elizabeth Castle, St Aubins, was found in the bay. Schofield is thought to have broken out of barracks one night and drowned while trying to get to the Castle over a causeway covered by the rising tide. It is a notorious local “death trap” and several deaths have happened here over the years.

22/ Rouge Huis, Guernsey? (Longevity on Guernsey) 1899

23/ Noirmont, Jersey, (Suicide Found After Two Months) April 1904

The corpse of a young man in a dreadful state of decomposition was discovered at Noirmont on Jersey. It is believed to be the body of Englishman who came to the island on January the 29th, which means the body has laid there for over two months. He left his portmanteau at the hotel he was staying at, then vanished. The suicide weapon, a revolver, lay close by.

24/ Alderney Manslaughter, December 1897

On Christmas Day on Alderney, a Corporal Crofts of the 2nd Battalion Wiltshire Regiment, who was in charge of the barrack room, refused Private Vincent any more beer. Enraged, Vincent jumped on top of Crofts while he was in bed that night and eventually, Crofts died of his injuries. A verdict of “Manslaughter” was returned against Private Vincent.

25/ St Helier’s Murder/Suicide, Jersey, July 1901

A butcher named Albert, who had a shop in St Helier’s market-place, came home after making deliveries at around 9-30 in the evening. Inexplicably he came in and stabbed his wife behind the ear. She then ran through the market-place screaming “Murder” and fell down dead. Albert calmly with the same knife, slit his throat from ear to ear, dying within a couple of minutes. There were throngs of people in the market-place at the time out for an evening stroll and dozens of witnesses. The verdict was “The man in a fit of passion, murdered his wife, then afterwards committed suicide”.

26/ Jersey Murder, December 1885

27/ Sark, (Steamer Founders) April 1906

The passenger steamer Courier from Guernsey foundered off Sark after just leaving on its way to Guernsey. It had a crew of nine and approximately twenty passengers. The vast majority managed to swim and scramble to the rocks and beaches, where they were rescued by Guernsey steamers. Four people on board are missing: an engineer, two firemen and one male passenger.

Later report-a man named Thorburn from Edinburgh was drowned and the following are missing:-Engineer Holland, of Southampton; two firemen from Guernsey; Miss Frances Waller and Miss Smith, both from London; Miss Long; a boy named Marshall Rushton Ozanne, of Guernsey, and another Guernsey boy, named Edwards. Three passengers and three of the crew were drowned. The cause of the accident was the Courier striking a submerged rock. (What was the death toll?)

28/ St Owen’s Murders, Jersey, December 1894

I thought Jersey and the Channel Islands had virtually no crime but then I read the Victorian papers and watched Bergerac for a while and I’ve been proved to be wrong. Another murder took place in St Owen’s, Jersey, when John Francis, a local blacksmith was found with his head caved in, near to the village. No arrests were made. (Did they ever get the murderer?) Within a fortnight of this brutal attack yet another was committed, this time it was a woman’s body discovered near a windmill, again with her head bashed in. This was sexual in motive, as she had had her clothes ripped from her body. (Was this one ever found?)

29/ St Helier’sHotel Suicide, Jersey, December 1904

A French couple had eloped and made it to a French hotel at St Helier’s. He was a young gentleman named George Velet and he had deserted from the French Navy and eloped with his bride-to-be, who was the sister of a French lieutenant. Married life would not have suited this pair as they argued well into the night, with Velet having enough, he blew his head off with a revolver killing himself instantly. (What Hotel was it? Is it still there?)

30/ Guernsey, (Carriage Fatality) May 1885

31/ Newtown Braye Double Murder, Alderney, November 1856

A 60-year-old French publican, Jean Langlois and a French labourer named Louis Thiesse were murdered by two young Irishmen, Timothy Kelly aged seventeen and twenty-one-year-old Nugent Loughman. Thiesse was at Langlois’s house in Newtown Braye when the two Irishmen knocked on the door late at night. They asked for a drink, but being so late they were refused and words were exchanged. Thiesse and Langlois ventured out to go and talk to them and get them off their property, but as soon as they were outside the Irishmen attacked them. Thiesse was stabbed in the heart and died immediately and Langlois was stabbed in the abdomen which he died from a few minutes later. A witness ran to get help but the Irishmen went after him, but he managed to escape and to get assistance for the dying men. The two Irishmen calmly went to their lodgings and bedded down for the night but were arrested early the next morning. (Death Penalty? What pub was it?)

32/ Guernsey Drownings, September 1893

While trying to get to Herm Island, a few miles from Guernsey, three men got into a punt in order to get to a sailing boat moored just offshore. A sudden squall arrived and the sea became choppy and the punt capsized throwing the three lads, named Prianix, Tewkesbury and Hodges into the water. They drowned in the waters but all three bodies were recovered later on.

33/ Jersey, (Mad Ship’s Captain) May 1885

34/ Jersey Public Execution, August 1875

The death punishment was carried out at Jersey on Joseph Phillippe Lebrun aged fifty-two, for the murder of his married sister Nancy Laurens on the 15th of December 1874. He shot her and then tried to kill her husband, Phillippe Laurens. Laurens had left Lebrun alone at his house and gone to St Helier’s and when he came back that evening, he was shot by Lebrun in the face as he opened the door. When police came they found Nancy already dead on the sofa with a gunshot wound to the face, which had killed her instantly. They went straight to Lebrun’s lodgings and arrested him on suspicion of a double murder but he denied knowing anything about it. He kept on denying it until he was publicly hanged by Lincolnshire’s very own, William Marwood.

35/ Gorey Double Murder/Suicide, Jersey, November 1898

A terrible crime took place in the little village of Gorey on the east coast of Jersey, a double murder in fact. The perpetrator was a Royal Artillery pensioner aged fifty-one, named Timothy Towner, who was no stranger to the courts in Jersey, as he was a frequent offender as far as wife-beating goes. This time he had completely lost the plot and slit her throat and that of their 1-year-old baby. He then tried to get into the other bedroom, where the other five children slept but the eldest daughter, hearing the commotion, had smartly bolted the door. Finding it locked he gave up and cut his own throat. The fatal error of his Jersey-born wife was to give the old bastard another chance at the relationship, as she had left before and then he promised to mend his ways. They had eight children together and she was a 36-year-old hard-working housewife, while he was a drunken layabout and he suspected his missus of seeing another man. It was the eleven-year-old daughter that found the bodies and instead of rushing out for help, she quietly and calmly dressed the other children, then made the bed and led them to their uncle’s house who lived nearby.

36/ Jersey, (Clergy Altercation) December 1885

37/ Sark/Guernsey, (Lost at Sea) October 1868

A group of men returning to Guernsey from Sark climbed into the boat which had an experienced boatman, Mansell Renouf at the helm and set off. The men were: Mr Agnew Giffard, his brother, Dr Gatehouse from Sark and Mr Pilcher, a gentleman from London. They left at five p.m. and had been sailing a couple of hours when a squall hit them with a torrential downpour as well, but since then they have not been seen. The following morning a mast and sail were picked up off Sark and was identified as that of the missing vessel, so it is presumed that they were all lost at sea.

38/ Jersey/Canada, (Ends up in Canada!) April 1886

This has got to be one of the weirdest maritime disappearances in Jersey’s history. It involves a young girl by the name of Louisa Journeaux, who went for a sail with a Frenchman one evening and ended up in Canada! She was out in the boat and one of the oars fell in, so the Frenchman dived in to retrieve the oar. The boat drifted away, further and further and he swam to shore to get help. When he explained what had happened nobody believed him and authorities thought he had murdered her. He was let off for lack of evidence. He fled the island and legged it to Paris as he thought he would be lynched if he stayed there. The parents had given up their daughter for dead until nearly a month later they got a telegram from the Colonial Secretary in St John’s in Newfoundland, Canada. It simply said:-“Daughter Louisa picked up near England and landed at St George’s Bay; Quite well”.

It turns out that she was picked up by a steamer on its way to Canada and due to bad weather and fog it was too risky to double-back and drop her off in the Channel Islands, so they took her on a month’s journey to Canada and dropped her off there.