The English Butcher and the Brewer, April 1801
'Let me come at him, I will do for him, Damn him, a Butcher, I will do for him.'
The Library has in its collection a set of original documents concerning a quarrel and challenge to a duel that took place in 1801. Pamphlets and affidavits in French and English, they throw a cold light on the 'poisonous' social divisions that existed between the island's upper and middle classes for centuries.
'There is no advancing beyond the circle in which you have been accustomed to move in early life, whatever pretensions, fortune or the advantage of education may have given you.'
John Lewis Peyton (1824-1896) was an author and historian from Virginia, a descendant of a 17th-century governor of Jersey. He came to London as representative of the liberal elements of the Southern Confederacy in 1861 and there befriended Osmond Priaulx, the founder of the Priaulx Library. They were both members of the Reform Club and Peyton visited Guernsey several times, eventually settling here until 1876. Amongst his works he published Rambling Reminiscences (1888), a description of a tour around Britain, which ends with an in-depth examination of Guernsey and its history. He has a great deal in particular to say about social divisions in the island.
The higher class is known as Sixtys, who have for ages held the first position and enjoyed the best of everything in the island. They are called by the peasantry the people of the first fashion and are, in fact, the old manor families. Their society comprises nearly all that is brilliant in art and intellect in the island. .. Some of the Sixtys trace back their origin more than a thousand years, and are accused of inventing genealogies to establish their pretensions. They enjoy no peculiar privileges or precedency, but their education gives them a claim to the first places and public opinion facilitates their attaining them .. during the Middle Ages, these Seigneurs exercised a complete mastery over their villeins, making them perform all kinds of menial offices in time of peace and follow their persons in time of war. .. As this was the character, position and former state and condition of the Sixtys, it is hardly surprising that they still feel a little pride of position. The Sixtys affect French manners, as well as the French language (a society called the Society de Guernesiais has been formed with the special object of preserving the French-Guernsey language) and resemble their archetypes in affability, easy elegance and alertness. .. Although very exclusive, within recent years many have crept into their social circle, who ought not to be there—these for the most part have been disreputable or what are styled 'shady' English.
The second rank are known as the Fortys and are .. sturdy men of affairs, bankers, merchants, manufacturers, care little for learning or the arts, and nothing whatever for the gaieties and frivolities of the fashionable world. .. Whatever trade and commerce Guernsey can boast of, is in their hands; if they do not originate they carry out all public improvements, rear blooded stock, apply science to agriculture—they are the men of today—the Sixtys of yesterday. The latter will not admit them to social intercourse, however agreeable they may be in manners, in social talents and elevated in character.
William Walmesley, in his Journal of 1821, comments off-handedly:
The society in Port St Peter is divided into three classes, composed of the Gentry, Tradesmen and shopkeepers. There is no advancing beyond the circle in which you have been accustomed to move in early life, whatever pretensions, fortune or the advantage of education may have given you.
On 6th April, 1801, a violent quarrel took place between Thomas Bishop and Frederick Mansell. The latter was in his mid-twenties (1775-1847), as probably was the other, and both well-off. In her scrapbook Edith Carey notes Mansell was 'a very handsome man.' The Priaulx Library has in its collection of documents letters and affidavits which chronicle what happened on that night and how the argument might have led to a duel, had the one party not been socially advantaged. In fact, this reflects the clannish split between the most powerful families and the rest of the population that was described above; it is evident from the testimonies of the two young men that there was little love lost between them. It may be that much of the antagonism on Bishop’s side was due to the frustrated awareness of Mansell’s social, but not necessarily moral, superiority, and that Frederick Mansell’s behaviour towards Thomas Bishop was due to his arrogance manifesting itself while he was drunk. Frederick Mansell himself, however, may have been sensitive on the subject of class; even he may not have been quite good enough.
On the 7th April Thomas Bishop 'posted' Frederick Mansell, that is, he stuck up copies of the handwritten placard illustrated above in those places in St Peter Port where persons of Mr Mansell’s social standing were likely to see them:
I hereby post Captain Frederick Mansell of the Black Regiment of Militia of this Island for a Poltroon and a Cowardly Assassin for Reason which I pledge myself to give in the Publick Papers——T Bishop
Guernsey 7th April 1801
Although 'posting' (or 'placarding') was the fashionable method of challenging another man to a duel, particularly when that man seemed unlikely to accept a challenge otherwise, it was generally regarded as ungentlemanly. Poltroon and Cowardly Assassin were formulaic and occur in many similar postings in Britain and America (where posting seems to have been a popular pastime). Thomas Bishop had first sent Frederick Mansell a letter on that day, which Mansell had shown around; in consequence of this, Bishop posted him around Town, and sent another letter. We have five copies of the placard, still showing the glue marks from where they were posted up. The text of the letters, which we do not have, he later published in the following privately printed pamphlet, in which he gives a literal blow-by-blow account of their quarrel:
TO THE PUBLIC
Having pledged myself to give, to the Public at large, my reasons for having posted Mr. Frederick Mansell, of this Island, as a Poltroon, and Cowardly Assassin; and finding some difficulty would occur in getting them inserted in the Public News-papers, I have taken this method of fulfilling that engagement:
On Monday 6th instant, being at the Rohais, (in the large Public Room, adjoining the house occupied by MR WARD,) about 9 o’clock in the evening, Mr. Frederick Mansell, Mr. John Priaulx, and Mr Peter Maingy, jun. entered the said Room, in their Militia Regimentals and Sashes.—Mr Mansell immediately began clapping his hands so loud, as to entirely drown the noise of a fiddle at that time playing in the Room.1—I was then dancing, but in order to avoid a quarrel, would not expostulate with Mr. Mansell.—He then posted himself between the Lady I was dancing with and me; and addressed himself to her in some insulting language, which I did not perfectly hear.—The confusion and fright into which she was thrown by his address, convinced me however of its impropriety; and, I calmly desired him to desist in the following terms: 'Mr. Mansell, you see how you distress this Lady, you have no acquaintance whatever with her,—I beg you will leave her, there are others in the Room who will perhaps be more pleased with your company.'This I repeated at least six or seven times; but finding it of no avail: I said, 'Mansell, this Lady is now under my protection, while she is so, she has a right to expect it: and, by God, I will protect her, whatever may be the consequence.' Mr. Mansell then burst out into invectives against me, among which the following caught my ear.—'You Bishop,'—'You English Butcher,'—'I will mark you—I will mark you,—I will mark you.' I replied, 'as to Butcher, Mansell, you and I, are there nearly on a level: You are just as much a Brewer, as I am Butcher; and if you mark me, you will find me much at your service.' Mr. Mansell then called me Scoundrel, and attempted to strike me, but was withheld. I was likewise prevented from approaching him, by the bye-standers. He attempted repeatedly to get at me, in order 'to mark me', 'do for me', and 'have at me,' as he expressed himself; but the People in the Room prevented his approaching me.—
Mr Priaulx and Mr Mansell then fetched their broad swords from the house where they had left them, and immediately drew and cut about them in all directions.—I was forced out of the Room. In regaining my liberty, and re-entering it, Mansell, looked furiously towards me, and called out, 'Let me come at him,—I will do for him,—Damn him,—a Butcher,—I will do for him.' I folded my arms, walked up to him, and said, 'Here I am, Mansell,—What will you do.' I was then again forced out of the Room, and on again freeing myself, I flew to the assistance of my friends, and was soon after informed that Mr. S. Goodwin had received a wound in the arm. I now found that these Gallant Soldiers had nearly cleared the Room, and saw myself beset in a Corner, by Priaulx and Mansell:—their swords flew about within an inch of my head several times. I now thought it high time to preserve myself; and as I saw my friends had nearly all been obliged to retire. I opened the Sash, sprang out into the Green, and joined my friends, who were now assisting Mr Goodwin.—When I saw the Gash I was so exasperated, as almost to be bereft of reason, and had I succeeded in an attempt to gain Mr. Maingy’s sword, I should probably have effectually revenged the injury.I now determined to call on Mr. Mansell for satisfaction, and in consequence wrote him the first of the following Letters; but as from my knowledge of some former affairs of honor, in which Mr. Mansell was implicated, I entertained some doubts of his sober courage.—I prepared the second Letter, which I sent him, on hearing he had exposed the first to Public view. I then posted him at the Public places in the terms before mentioned; and now leave it to the World to judge to whom the appellation of Gentleman best belongs.>Mr Mansell has thought proper to arrest me in £500 Bail, for my appearance, to answer, having written to, and posted him.—This obliges me to remark, that Mr. Mansell has confirmed my former opinion of him.—Tho’ he dares not meet me with equal weapons, he will seize every opportunity of attacking where he has an Evident Advantage.
T BISHOP
[The first letter:]
(COPY)
GUERNSEY, 7th April, 1801Sir,
The insults you offered me last evening, need not I suppose be repeated, to convince you, that they were too gross for any man of spirit to bear quietly. I now request, Sir, you will not shelter yourself under any mean evasion; but convince me by an honourable and equal meeting, that you Courage does not depend on the Wine you may have drank, or the Sword you may happen to wear, when you meet with unarmed men.—I shall attend you to-morrow morning at seven o’clock, in the Brickfield, beyond Fort George.
I am &c.,
Capt. Mansell (Signed) T. BISHOP.
Mansell shows this around, presumably to mock it; so, still on the seventh, Bishop sends him the following letter and then 'posts' him:
GUERNSEY, 7th April, 1801
SIR,
The dastardly injury received last night by Mr. Goodwin in my defence.—The unprovoked insults offered to a Lady, then under my protection; and the mean insinuations you thought proper to use against my Character, lay me under a triple obligation of calling on you for satisfaction. The latter, among which I reckon the Epithet of Butcher applied to my name; could not when I heard you utter them, but force a smile.—To yourself, I have no doubt, but the equality between us is evident: but as in the event of your sheltering yourself under any false pretext:—this Letter must, and shall become public; it may not be improper to state the Points on which I conceive that equality to rest.
The word Gentleman, as I take it, Sir, implies a superiority to the general mass of the World, in Family, Fortune, Education, and Behaviour. Tho' I conceive no just respect to be due to Family, yet you cannot claim in this point a superiority:—if we trace back our lineage but for thirty years—mine was, I scruple not to say it, far more respectable.
In point of fortune, I allow you to have now the advantage, for which reason it might perhaps be unjust in me to decide what weight ought to be ascribed to this qualification of a Gentleman. As to Education, I think I may safely, as well as in relation to that received in my youth, as to subsequent improvement,—claim the superiority, and to this point, and to this only, will I allow any weight.—Mine has taught me, that retaliation is Justice, it has effaced fear from my bosom, and has determined me in defiance of the dastardly prejudices of the World to assert my rights.
Behaviour now remains alone to be discussed, and on this head your conduct and mine in this affair will give the World an opportunity of Judging.
I have now only to remark, that in future, I shall take care to hold myself prepared to meet the Cowardly assassin as well as the Gentleman.
'I am, Sir,
Yours, &c.Mr Frederick Mansell' (Signed) 'T. BISHOP'P.S. Since the above has been sent to the Press,--the following circumstances have come to my knowledge.—At the moment I jumped out of the Window (as above related) Mansell made a cut at me and had not his sword been intercepted by the Window-frame, it must have alighted on my back, and, would probably as completely have done for me, as Mr. Mansell could have wished, as it penetrated the wood to a great depth. I also find Messrs. Mansell and Priaulx went to a house, about fifty paces distant, to fetch their swords, and Mr. Mansell declar’d that, could he have been revenged on me he should have been satisfied, I scorn to retaliate Mr. Mansells’s abuse,—’tis a meanness far beneath me.
Fredrick Mansell had immediately obtained an order from the Bailiff for Bishop to be charged with libel with menaces in the letters and posting; he seems to have been given bail of £500, but it is not at all clear that any action was in fact taken at that point, rather that he was supposed to answer the charges later in court. Thomas Bishop had apparently on the same day done exactly the same, obtaining an order for Frederick Mansell’s arrest and bail of £300, for which Peter Mourant Jnr stood on the 9th. Thomas Bishop accused Mansell of having grièvement Injurié & Menacé (libelled and threatened) him, and Mansell was expected to answer the charges in Court; Bishop asked for damages in addition. It is impossible to say who approached the Courts first. It seems that the publication of Bishop’s pamphlet on 15 April finally forced the Court to execute the warrant from the 8th on the 16th. On the 20th April Pierre Simon stood bail for him.
The Library has the documents that were issued by the Bailiff on the 16th and Frederick Mansell’s own deposition, in which he relates his version of events on the night of 6 April:
Upon the Review at Vazon on Monday 6th Instant, we Dined a number of friends at the Rohais Coffee House, and as we were returning home about 9 O’Clock in the evening we heard music opposite at Mr Ward’s, upon which I proposed to Mr John Priaulx to step in for a few moments. We both went in together, but not until we had made particular enquiry, and had fully ascertain’d it to be a public Inn.
Mr. Thomas Le Marchant and Mr Peter Maingy, who were also of the party, very soon followed us in to the Room. On entering it, I imediately put aside my Sword with my Light Infantry’s Cap on a small table which stood behind the Door, after which I went up to a Girl who was Dancing with a Mr. Bishop & I addressed her as well as another Girl who stood next to her and with whom I was to have danced the following Dance. Mr. Bishop from motives best known to himself told me to desist speaking to the Lady who was his Partner, but I paid very little attention to what he then said, he kept on repeating those words several times upon which I answered him to this effect 'Sir, whilst these ladies are satisfied with my conduct I presume you have no business to interfere.' I thought in giving this explanation, I had condescend’d a great deal and that it would have appeased this Man, but no, he again attacked me, and I heard him distinctly say 'Mansell by God you’ll not speak to this Lady or I’ll make you sit down.' This language was to me insupportable, particularly coming from a Man like this Mr Bishop, whose Character and occupation are well known in this Island, consequently had no other alternative left to avenge myself, but by threatening to horsewhip him, which I certainly would have done, if I had not been withheld by those who were present, I called him repeatedly a damn’d Scoundrel, with the addition of 'You English Butcher I will mark you.' I attempted several times to collar him, and made use of the Epithet of Butcher very often. At that time all was confusion in the Room, and Mr. John Priaulx as well as myself were assailed by about Twenty or Thirty of Mr. Bishop’s party, who knock’d us down several times, and we found ourselves entirely overpowered by numbers. At this point I received a blow from some one behind me, which brought me to the Ground, and when Mr. John Priaulx perceived that I had been attacked in so unfair manner, he deem’d it prudent in his own defence to draw his Sword, and declared that he would make use of it, if anyone attempted to strike him. The moment I recover’d from the blow I had received, I flew to the place where I had deposited my Sword, which I then drew and brandished it about, but I solemnly aver that Mr Bishop was not then in the Room, in the scuffle Mr Goodwin received a slight cut in the arm and afterwards Mr Priaulx and myself returned to Town.
The above Narration contains facts which I can prove before any Court of Justice from the evidence of some very respectable Persons who were present at the time the affair occurr’d.
Frederick Mansell April 16th 1801
Bishop may have been especially aggrieved that night because Mansell had put in an appearance at a public dance, whereas Bishop was very probably excuded from the balls held at the Assembly Rooms. Walmsley has it in his Journal that:
The Assemblies held here are of course particularly select, and a stranger can only gain admission to them by being known and introduced by some respectable person. Admission to them is a certain criterion of your frequenting the best society. Some of the richest merchants in the place find themselves excluded.
No more material on this subject exists at the Library (although we have many original documents concerning the Assembly Rooms). Enquiries at the Greffe as to whether the affair ever came to Court drew a blank,* and it is possible it was all settled out of Court.
Duels did take place in Guernsey, some with fatal results, and they seem to have occurred most often (or rather are most often recorded) in this Napoleonic period. The island was on high alert and the garrison from the mainland expanded; soldiers from the army seem to have had little time for members of the Militia, to whom they regarded themselves as superior, and the men of both sides seem to have been spoiling for a fight. William De Vic Tupper, (son of E. Tupper, Esq.), a serial but light-hearted dueller, was mortally wounded in 1798, in a duel in Guernsey, with an officer in the army [apparently named Thompson: Tupper, F B, Family Records, p. 183], who called him a scoundrel for not having taken off his hat during the National Anthem while at the Theatre; Tupper said he was too busy chatting. Major Byng is the best-known Guernsey dueller; there is a stone in Cambridge Park commemorating his death in 1795. The most (in)famous duel was that between Robert Porret Le Marchant, future Bailiff and 'weak man,' and Thomas Saumarez; it was orchestrated by Le Marchant's father, the despotic Bailiff William Le Marchant, and was brilliantly described and analysed by Cecil de Saumarez in the 1965 Report and Transactions of the Société Guernesiaise.
The son of Thomas Mansell and Martha Price, Mansell was a Captain in the West, or Black, Regiment of the Guernsey Militia. The Mansell family, of which there were several distinct branches all originally from England and of minor nobility, were prominent in the island. Officers in the Militia were always where possible appointed from within the 'best' families, as was freely acknowledged in its de facto constitution. In 1801 the Militia were constantly exercising and on guard around the coast, day and night; a prominent position in the Militia was always made much of by the post-holders concerned, and at this period particularly a Militia officer would probably have been very much aware of his own importance. In July 1801, two months after this altercation, Frederick Mansell was promoted to Major.2 In 1804 he married Anne Collings Lukis (1780-1854) and in 1806 bought the Vauxbelets estate from the Rev. Thomas Pottinger, the largest in Guernsey in terms of area. He eventually became a Jurat. Bishop had answered his 'Butcher' jibe with one of his own—'as to Butcher, Mansell, you and I, are there nearly on a level: You are just as much a Brewer, as I am Butcher.' Although the Mansells provided the garrison of several thousands with beer from their Town brewery, in 1791 Thomas Mansell had attempted to rent this out, and moved successfully into milling. It is interesting to note, however, that despite his famous good looks and money Frederick Mansell himself was not considered good enough, by his 'aristocratic' acquaintance Caroline Le Marchant and her friends, to marry Amelia Gosselin, to whom he was for a short time engaged:
As for my part I never was so surprised. I did not think she would have had him. As to the man himself I don’t think he is bad, but it’s the connections,
wrote Caroline.
On the subject of the class divide, Peyton goes on to say:
According to ancient custom they were thus ranked: 1st, the Seigneurs, or the nobility; 2nd, the Freemen, or franc tenants; 3rd the Freedmen; 4th the Serfs, and as it was the custom, if not the law, that each person should marry in his own rank, their different orders were long preserved uncontaminated. Within the past century there has been a good deal of marrying between the Sixtys and the Fortys, the wealth of the Fortys constituting a very acceptable inducement to the less wealthy of the Sixtys. But the Fortys thus admitted in to the higher class feel their dependence and are often humiliated.
Thomas Bishop married Ann Grut Simon, daughter of Jean Simon, in 1804. In the church records he is described as son of Richard, of St Saviour’s, Southwark, Surrey. Southwark was the second most important borough of London for butchery and provision of meat after Westminster and was home to the Guild of Butchers, and was regarded as somewhat disreputable. Stephen Foote has made a special study of Guernsey butchers, however, and Thomas Bishop is not amongst them; so far no evidence has yet been found that he himself took part in any trade or that he was related to the Bishop family of Jersey, who had settled in Guernsey at about this time and became very well-known and respected for their string of drapery shops. He does, however, seem to have had strong links to the Grut family, who were Huguenots of some wealth and merchant traders of eminence. The Gazette of 1 July 1797 features the following announcement:
Messieurs Grut & Bishop respectfully inform their friends that their Academy at the Carrefour, will open on Monday next, 3rd July.
Thomas Bishop may after all have been a schoolteacher. He later married Elizabeth Grut, daughter of Nicolas, as his second wife in 1817, his first wife’s mother having been Joyce Grut. Church records show the Grut and Simon families had strong social connections and were apparently in business together.3 Jurat Frederick Mansell’s nephew, Alfred, the son of his brother John, married Elizabeth Grut’s cousin Louisa, daughter of the schoolmaster, the Reverend Thomas Grut.
.. the Sixtys regard trade as derogatory, or infra dig, and .. no-one engaged in it, is admitted to their society, nor are such persons allowed with their consent to fill offices of dignity or profit. An election for Judge or Jurat occurred while were in the island .. we attended the States of election on the occasion.
Abraham Bishop4 [no relation], a prosperous and wealthy merchant, was nominated for the post. His election was opposed by one of the Sixtys, upon the grounds of Mr Bishop’s connection with trade and his consequent unfitness for the position. This ancient policy on part of the old families, has excluded from the States, in times passed and still does so, many men of character and talents for legislative work. And men have been elected merely because they were descendants of the old Seigneurs, who were hopelessly eccentric, or congenitally stupid. ...The deputy who stood forward to oppose Mr Bishop’s election went on sharply to criticise his presumption in allowing his name to be presented, and this while he admitted Mr B. to be a man of capacity, of fortune and of deep stake in the community. Though this was not denied, the deputy said Mr Bishop’s business pursuits, his want of social standing, and his lack of special legal training, (something by the way which none of the Jurats had except the Bailiff) altogether disqualified him for the office. The member who had adventurously nominated Mr B. feebly essayed to justify his course, as taken in accordance with the liberal tendencies of his age, and in the hope of securing more progressive ideas and efficiency in the States, but his remarks were so badly received that he soon resumed his seat amid the ill suppressed sneers of that haughty aristocracy, which hardly regarded Mr. Bishop as better than a huckster, and, of course, the election went against the Merchant Prince, as Mr Bishop was sometimes styled.
The office of Jurat instead went to a ... Dr Mansell.
* The search was kindly undertaken by Keith Robilliard of the Greffe.
1 Gazette de l'Ile de Guernesey, 22 Sept. 1810: Jeudi prochain etant le jour de la Foire de la St Michel, il y aura une dance publique aux Rohais; Mr. French & Fils, & assistant, y joueront du violon, &c.
2 By 1830 he was Colonel of the Regiment. J. Percy Groves tells us in his 1890 book The Royal Guernsey Militia (p. 94) that Mansell wished to resign his command once he had been made a Jurat, and that 'the following promotions took place in the West Regiment on Col. Frederick Mansell's appointment to the Invalid Corps:—Lieut.-Col. Peter Mansell, Colonel; Major John Mansell, Lieut.-Col.; Captain Hillary Allaire, major; and Lieutenant St. John Mansell, Captain.' For more about the Mansell family and their brewery, see Elizabeth Ham by herself, 1783-1829, London: Faber 1945, in the Library. The lead article of the 27 December 1794 edition of the Gazette de l'Isle de Guernesey relates how the St Peter Port 'brewing' (brasserie) of Mr Mansell (in Fountain Street) was completely destroyed by fire. An interesting account in itself, it tells us that the Mansells provided beer for the garrison, which had greatly expanded in numbers in the late 18th century. In October 1791, Thomas Mansell had put up for rent his maisons, brasserie & ustensiles, moulin, edifices & belle, une partie bordant dans la rue de la fontaine & l'autre partie sur le douit, proche le nouveau marché: le tout joignant ensemble; sont à vendre ou à bailler à rente. He also bought Le Lièvre's cement mill near Fort George [Jacob's Annals p. 465]. Mansell died in 1847, aged 73.
Frederick Mansell is buried in St Andrew's churchyard, with his wife, son, daughters, daughter-in-law, and grandchild. Near his family vault is another tombstone, which reads in English and French:
In memory of DANIEL MCDONALD, A Soldier's Orphan. Born deaf and dumb, and who, after an honest and faithful service of thirty-three years in the MANSELL family, died January 30th 1828, In or about the forty-sixth year of his age. This tablet is erected by his last Protector, FREDERICK MANSELL ESQre, VAUXBELETS.
A complete transcription of the memorials in St Andrew's churchyard is available at the Library.
3 [Gazette 4 Jan 1806, Pierre Grut comme procureur de M Pierre Simon, de Cork, fait savoir, que la maison du dit Simon, située au bas du Truchot de côté de la mer etc.].
[Gazette 6 Apr 1796: Joyce Grut, veuve de Jean Simon fait savoir, que son jardin situes proche beauregard, est a louer, pour la St Michel prochaine.]
4 Abraham Bishop was a draper, son of Charles Bishop and Mary de Jersey. Charles and Abraham's father-in-law Henry de Jersey traded as Bishop, de Jersey & Co. from 1804, after they had dissolved a partnership with Philip Tyson Le Gros. They were linen drapers at Carrefour House, High Street, now Lloyd's Bank, from where they also ran the Bank of Guernsey, issuing notes and tokens until 1811, when the business was liquidated. Their letter book is in the Island Archives. Abraham established his business in 1820. His son Julius continued the business at Victoria House, 15-19 High Street and Victoria Street, Alderney, until his retirement in 1919, when the business passed into the hands of Messrs B. B. Creasey and Son.
The Monthly Illustrated Journal, July 1880:
The Island has sustained a great loss by the demise of Mr A. Bishop ... at his residence, Le Platon, in his 77th year. The deceased had been engaged in business for about sixty years in this island, branches of the establishment being carried on in Alderney and also for some years in Jersey. He had taken a prominent part in public affairs from an early age, being at the time of his death Chairman of the Guernsey Commercial Banking Company, of the Chamber of Commerce, of the Weymouth and Channel Islands Steam Packet Company; member of one of the Cantonal Douzaines, and Elder of St James' Church, besides being on more than one States Committee. He had also been elected member of the Town Douzaine on two separate occasions .. served as Constable and President of the Poor Law Board, and has been a most useful member of the Harbour Committee. he had also been proposed as magistrate, on which occasion he ran a very good second to the late Dr Mansell, on whom the election finally fell. He was at one time a prominent Member of the Wesleyan Connexion ... He had been a most popular Officer in the Militia, having commanded the Town Regiment for many years ...