Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands, an island group in the English Channel near France. Although not geographically part of the archipelago of the British Isles, politically and culturally the islands are generally accepted as such. The Channel Islands are the last remnants of the medieval Duchy of Normandy that held sway in both France and England. The islands remained loyal to the English crown after the return of Normandy to France in 1204 and have enjoyed self-government since.
Vice Admiral Sir George Carteret, 1st Baronet was a royalist statesman in Jersey and England, who served in the Clarendon Ministry as Treasurer of the Navy. He was also one of the original lords proprietor of the former British colony of Carolina and New Jersey. Carteret, New Jersey, as well as Carteret County, North Carolina, both in the United States, are named after him. He acquired the manor of Haynes, Bedfordshire, in about 1667.
St Helier is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St Helier has a population of 35,822 – over one-third of the total population of Jersey – and is the capital of the island. The town of St Helier is the largest settlement and only town of Jersey. The town consists of the built-up areas of St Helier, including First Tower, and parts of the parishes of St Saviour and St Clement, with further suburbs in surrounding parishes. The greater part of St Helier is rural.
A tidal island is a piece of land that is connected to the mainland by a natural or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide. Because of the mystique surrounding tidal islands, many of them have been sites of religious worship, such as Mont-Saint-Michel with its Benedictine Abbey. Tidal islands are also commonly the sites of fortresses because of their natural fortifications.
Saint Helier was a 6th-century ascetic hermit. He is the patron saint of Jersey in the Channel Islands, and in particular of the town and parish of Saint Helier, the island's capital. He is also invoked as a healing saint for diseases of the skin and eyes.
St. Brelade is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey in the Channel Islands. It is around 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of St Helier. Its population was 10,568 as of 2011.
St Martin is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey in the Channel Islands. It is 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) north-east of St Helier. It has a population of 3,763. The parish covers 10.3 km2 (4.0 sq mi).
Gorey is a village in the parishes of St Martin and Grouville on the east coast of Jersey. The harbour is one of the three main harbours of the island, and is located in St Martin. The main centre of the village is located at Gorey Pier near Mont Orgeuil Castle, a 13th century fortification, in St Martin, while there is a small community with a few shops. The church in the village is known as Gouray Church.
St. Aubin is a town and port in St. Brelade in Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands. It is located on the western end of St. Aubin's Bay, on the south coast of the island, opening out into the Gulf of Saint-Malo.
Castle Cornet is a large island castle in Guernsey, and former tidal island, also known as Cornet Rock or Castle Rock. Its importance was as a defence not only of the island, but of the roadstead. In 1859 it became part of one of the breakwaters of the Guernsey's main harbour, St Peter Port's harbour.
Mont Orgueil is a castle in Jersey that overlooks the harbour of Gorey. It is also called Gorey Castle by English-speakers, and lé Vièr Châté by Jèrriais-speakers.The castle is first called 'Mont Orgeuil' in an ordinance issued by Pierre de Brézé, Lord of the Isles during the occupation by the French during the War of the Roses, in 1462.
The Battle of Jersey took place on 6 January 1781 when French forces during the American Revolutionary War unsuccessfully invaded the British-ruled island of Jersey to remove the threat it posed to French and American shipping. Jersey provided a base for British privateers, and France was engaged in the war as an ally of the newly created United States.
The Parish Church of St Helier is the parish church of the parish of Saint Helier, Jersey. It is a Church of England church, one of the twelve 'Ancient Parish Churches' of Jersey, and serves as the Island's civic church and Pro-Cathedral.
Major Moses Corbet (1728–1814) was a British Army officer who served as Lieutenant Governor of Jersey from 4 April 1771 to 6 January 1781.
Major Francis Peirson was a British Army officer who was serving on Jersey, in the Channel Islands off the coast of France. He was killed in the Battle of Jersey, one of the last battles to take place in the British Islands.
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.
David Bandinel was the first Dean of Jersey following the Reformation.
The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781 is a 1783 large oil painting by John Singleton Copley. It depicts the death of Major Francis Peirson at the Battle of Jersey on 6 January 1781.
Fort Regent is a 19th-century fortification and leisure centre on Mont de la Ville, in St. Helier, Jersey. The fort is in close proximity to the fortified South Hill Engineers Barracks at La Collette and overlooks the 16th-century Elizabeth Castle and harbour to the west.
Between 1642 and 1651 the Channel Islands were involved in an eleven-year-long, wide-scale armed conflict known as the English Civil War, between the Parliamentarians and Royalists over, principally, the manner of England's government and the amount of power the monarch should be able to wield.
