Being an island, Jersey has historically always had strong associations with the sea. In this month’s presentation to the Jersey Family History Society, long term member Frank Le Blancq will talk about Jersey’s age of sail. It will be in two parts.
First, Mr Le Blancq will take a look at some of the maritime connections in his own family, which includes a number of ship captains. For instance, in the direct family line his 2x great-grandfather and a great uncle were both master mariners. They ventured far and wide – Canada, the Mediterranean, the Baltic and the Far East - and there are about a dozen other captain’s on the extended family tree. As a youngster Mr Le Blancq heard that ‘there were pirates in the family’. Could there be any truth to support this snippet of oral family history?
The second part will concentrate on the 19th century when, in its heyday Jersey had a thriving shipbuilding industry. It also had a large merchant marine totalling over 400 registered ships, on which as many as 4,000 men were employed. What kind of ships were they? Did they really sail the seven seas and what cargoes were they carrying? The rather romantic view of old style sailing vessels, sometimes portrayed in films, turns out to be far from the truth. Life at sea on a wooden sailing ship was hard and often brutal. Apart from the near constant battle against the wind and waves, there was the risk of fire and fever, piracy and the dangers of hazardous cargo.
