To celebrate the start of the new decade we are going to be posting both the upcoming Jersey and Guernsey Society events.

The Jersey Society’s first meeting of the new decade is taking place on the 12th March, this will be both the Annual General Meeting (AGM), and a lecture given by former BBC journalist and climate change expert Jonathan Renouf.

Jonathan Renouf

Renouf will be talking about Jersey’s climate emergency: opportunity or irrelevance?

The States of Jersey has declared a climate emergency, and plans are in place to make Jersey carbon neutral by 2030 – twenty years earlier than the UK. It will mean huge changes, involve a lot of money, and touch on almost every aspect of island life. But are we just wasting our time? What difference can Jersey make to a global problem? Is tackling the climate emergency a once in a generation opportunity, or a complete irrelevance? Jonathan Renouf is a Jerseyman who spent almost 30 years working for the BBC, initially on Newsnight, and then in a variety of roles in the BBC Science Unit. He’s been nominated for three BAFTAs (one of which was for a climate change documentary) and won numerous other awards. He was Executive Producer of the Brian Cox series “Wonders of the Universe”, was deputy editor of “Horizon”, and Executive Producer of the Sky at Night.

Over the last 20 years he’s been involved in almost all the major BBC TV documentaries about climate change, including the most recent David Attenborough film “Climate Change: The Facts”. He’s filmed in the hottest and coldest places on earth, climbed a mountain in the Andes to find the wreckage of a plane that vanished 60 years ago, stood on the edge of two active lava lakes, and thrown up over the side of a boat filming at Easter Island. In August, after 7 months of travelling around the world with his wife and two young children, Jonathan and his family moved back to Jersey. He was a member of the Jersey Electoral Commission, and writes a column in the JEP.

As usual, there will be a three course meal preceding the talk, and bar facilities open throughout.

More details are available on the booking form here.

Following this (two days later!) the Guernsey Society are holding their event on Saturday 14th March entitled ‘We will teach!’ led by Anne Johns and Jenny Head. We will teach! tells the story of some of the many Channel Island women who trained to teach in Salisbury – the first being Eliza Smith from Guernsey who trained in 1843. Anne and Jenny will cover the changing system of education and the impact of this on these strong women.

Meet at Fountains Abbey, 109 Praed Street, London W1 1RL (nearest station Paddington) at 12.15 for a pub lunch.

We are looking forward to our annual boules match against the Guernsey Society on Saturday the 22 June , however we are always looking for more players and supporters to join us on the day!

The friendly match take place at Cleaver Square, London, SW11 4EA.  Please do meet us at the Prince of Wales pub from 1pm onwards where drinks and food are available to be purchased. The match will take place in the square outside the pub.

It’s always a great day!

The Jersey Society team, June 2018

The Jersey and Guernsey society teams, June 2018

Thursday 13 November 2014 Vincent Rooms, Vincent Square, London SWIP 2PD at 12.30pm

This is a new venture for the Society – an informal lunch at the Vincent Rooms which it is hoped will particularly appeal to those members who find it difficult to come into central London in the evenings. At the end of the meal, the cost will be shared equally between those present.

Click here to download the attendance slip.

Saturday 14 June 2014 Cleaver Square, London SEI I 4EA from 12.00 noon

The Boules Muratti will be held in the idyllic setting of Cleaver Square – one of London’s finest Georgian Squares. An added attraction of the Square is that it has a pub, The Prince of Wales, where traditional pub food is available until 3.00pm.

Boules is suitable for people of all ages and abilities. If you have a set of Boules, please bring it along.

The nearest underground station to Cleaver Square is Kennington (Northern Line). Vauxhall (Victoria Line) and Elephant & Castle (Bakerloo Line) are about 15 mins. walk away. Buses passing near to Cleaver Square are 3, 59, 133, 155, 159, 196, 333, 360 & 415.

Have you ever wondered what life in Jersey – and more particularly in St Helier – was like a hundred years ago, let alone in the mid-nineteenth century? According to our distinguished guest speaker, it was a very different place from today. There were thousands of rough-and-ready seamen, many of whom roamed the teeming and chaotic streets drinking, chasing loose women and gambling. It was the honorary police’s job -including the respected and feared Centenier George Le Cronier – to keep order. Within weeks of each other two murders occurred and then Le Cronier himself fell victim. This is the context of the talk.

ANTHONY DANIELS, who generally uses the pen name Theodore Dalrymple, is an accomplished English writer and retired prison doctor and psychiatrist. He worked in a number of Sub-Saharan African countries as well as in the East End of London.

Mr Daniels is a prolific author, essayist and blogger. A keen observer of human nature, he writes perceptively from a wealth of experience, having lived or visited dangerous environments in Africa, North Korea, Albania, Afghanistan and Indonesia. He has travelled extensively, both as a doctor and journalist. When visiting Jersey with time on his hands he decided to research the subject of his talk, and as a result produced the book, “The Policeman and The Brothel: A Victorian Murder”.

Click here for further details including directions, attendance slip and menu

Although he has lived in St Clement for a number of years David Le Maistre is, at heart, a St Ouennais. David was born in 1937 and met Jim Le Couteur at Victoria College. As schoolboys they spent many hours together on the rocks in St Clement’s Bay and later with family members low water fishing in St Ouen’s Bay. Jim has drawn the illustrations to be used in the talk.

After working in a lawyer’s office for a few years, David moved into banking and later into the finance industry. An Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, he retired in 1995 to spend some quality time with his wife, Ann, who has been confined to a wheelchair since 1971.

An active supporter of the Societe Jersiaise, he has at various times served on the Executive committee of the Societe and been chairman of both the History and Bibliography sections. David takes an active interest in the history and culture of his native island.

This is the second time that David has visited the JSL and some members may recall his 2001 presentation Bv Gone Jersey: A selection of old postcards.

Click to download attendance slip, AGM agenda and further details