Channel Islands in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms

Between 1642 and 1651 the Channel Islands were involved in a eleven year long wide-scale armed conflict known as the English Civil War, between the Parliamentarians (nicknamed pejoratively as the Roundheads) and Royalists ([nicknamed the Cavaliers) over, principally, the manner of England's government and the amount of power the monarch should be able to wield.

For the most part, Jersey remained loyal to the Crown (even sheltering the future Charles II of England on two separate occasions in 1646 and 1649), whereas Guernsey, with the exception of Castle Cornet, was under Parliamentarian control. By 1651, Parliament gained control of both the islands and held them during the Interregnum even imprisoning Leveller dissident John Lilburne in Mount Orgueil Castle on 16 March 1654, due to Jersey having no habeas corpus laws.^[1] After the restoration of monarchy in 1660, the Parliamentarian general John Lambert was imprisoned on Guernsey.

History

From 1642 to 1651, England was torn apart by a series of internal conflicts known as the English Civil War between the Charles I of England (and later Charles II of England) and those who supported Parliament. The nature of the engagement was primarily based on whether the monarchy wielded absolute power over its subjects or was a constitutional monarchy and had to rule alongside a legislative body (e.g. English Parliament). As the war became more protracted, hostilities eventually spread to other parts of the British Isles (notably Scotland and Ireland) yet the Channel Islands were gradually embroiled in the conflict as well. While there was some support for Parliament amongst the island's inhabitants, Jersey under the de Carterets (see Sir George Carteret and Sir Philippe de Carteret II) were able to secure the island for the King throughout much of the civil war period. Guernsey, on the other hand, sided with the Parliamentarian cause, though Castle Cornet was held by Royalist sympathiser, governor Sir Peter Osborne, until 1651.

Jersey

Sir Philippe de Carteret II, presiding over a meeting of the States of Jersey in 1642, refused to be arrested in the name of Parliament, declaring that "This Island has nothing to do with Parliament but only to the King in Council". He moved his base of operations to Elizabeth Castle while his wife and a son managed to successfully seize the fortress of Mont Orgueil located at the east of the island.

With the capture of Jersey's only two fortresses, the island quickly fell to the royalist cause and, following the death of Sir Philippe in 1643, his nephew George Carteret, took over operations for the royalists. In order to fund the military presence in the island, de Carteret took to piracy/privateering (depending on your viewpoint).^[2] Along with his privateering exploits, George de Carteret also sought to imprisoning Parliamentarian supporters and confiscating their property in order to fund the royalist expenses.^[3]

The Prince of Wales, the future Charles II, was given sanctuary on the island of Jersey in 1646 and again in October 1649. Charles II was publicly proclaimed king after his father's death (following the first public proclamation in Edinburgh on 5 February 1649) in the Royal Square in St. Helier on 17 February 1649.^[4]

With Jersey being the last royalist stronghold in the British Isles (as well as the effects of de Carteret's raids on shipping), a Parliamentarian force of 2,200 men, under Colonel James Heane and naval commander Robert Blake, was commissioned in 1651 to retake the island.

The Parliamentarians landed to the west of the island at St Ouen's Bay and managed defeat the royalist force assembled to meet them. The royalist garrison at Mont Orgueil, on the verge of mutiny, were willing to face a protracted siege and surrendered promptly to the advancing Parliamentarian forces. Elizabeth Castle surrendered seven weeks later on 15 December 1651 when a parliamentarian bombardment of the castle destroyed of the medieval abbey church in the heart of the castle complex which had been used as the storehouse for ammunition and provisions. With no hope of repelling an enemy attack, George de Carteret surrendered to the Parliamentarian forces who granted permission for the Royalist defenders to withdraw to the continent.^[3]

In recognition for all the help given to him during his exile, Charles II gave George Carteret, Bailiff and governor, a large grant of land in the American colonies, which he promptly named New Jersey, now part of the United States of America.^[5][6]

Guernsey

Guernsey sided with the Parliamentarians.^[7] Guernsey's decision was mainly related to the higher proportion of Calvinists and other Reformed churches, as well as Charles I's refusal to take up the case of some Guernsey seamen who had been captured by the Barbary corsairs. The allegiance was not unanimous, however; there were a few Royalist uprisings in the south-west of the island and Castle Cornet was held by the royalist governor, Sir Peter Osborne. From Castle Cornet, Osbourne was able to bombard the town of St. Peter Port unopposed, making sections of the town inhabitable.

In 1651, Jersey, which had been under royalist control since 1643, was seized by parliamentarian forces under Colonel James Heane. The Parliamentarians then captured the Crown of England that had belonged to Charles I which had been resident in the Court House in Jersey and brought it back to Guernsey, delivering it to the Governor of Castle Cornet as proof of Jersey's surrendered.^[8]

The Castle surrendered on about 9 December 1651,^[9] with the garrison permitted to march out bearing arms and to leave the Island, effectively ending all royalist resistance to the protectorate in the British Isles.

After the restoration of monarchy in 1660 the Parliamentary general John Lambert was imprisoned in on Guernsey.^[10]

Notes

1. Firth 1893, p. 249.
2. McLoughlin 1997, pp. 57–62.
3. http://bcw-project.org.
4. Jansso 2015, p. 204.
5. Weeks 2001, p. 45.
6. Cochrane 1993, p. 18.
7. Wood 2009.
8. Roy 1893, p. .
9. Manganiello 2004, p. 234.
10. Chisholm 1911, p. 109.

References

•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Lambert, John (general)", Encyclopædia Britannica, 16 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 108–109
• Cochrane, Willard W. (1993), The Development of American Agriculture, University of Minnesota Press, p. 18, ISBN 0-8166-2283-3
• Jansso, Maija (2015), Art and Diplomacy: Seventeenth-Century English Decorated Royal Letters to Russia and the Far East, BRILL, p. 204, ISBN 9789004300453
• McLoughlin, Roy (1997), The Sea was their Fortune, Seaflower books, ISBN 0 948578 86 6
• Manganiello, Stephen C. (2004), "Guernsey", The Concise Encyclopedia of the Revolutions and Wars of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1639-1660, Scarecrow Press, p. 234, ISBN 978-0-8108-5100-9
• Roy, Pierre Le (1893), Note book of Pierre Le Roy, Guille Allez Library
• Tupper, Ferdinand Brock (1851), The Chronicles of Castle Cornet, Stephen Barbet
• Weeks, Daniel J. (2001), Not for Filthy Lucre's Sake, Lehigh University Press, p. 45, ISBN 0-934223-66-1
• Wood, Norman (26 February 2009), Royal Jersey Militia Regimental History
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• Template:Firth, Charles Harding (1893). "Lilburne, John". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography. 33. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 243–250.

Further reading

• Ellis, F H (1937), "The Great Rebellion - Parliamentary invasion", Annual Bulletin of La Société Jersiaise — Republished "This is the eighth part of a 54-page article". The Great Rebellion - Parliamentary invasion. 15 September 2014.
• Lemprière, Raoul (1970), Portrait of the Channel Islands, London: Hale, ISBN 0-7091-1541-5
• Moore, David W. (2005), The Other British Isles: A History of Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides, Isle of Man, Anglesey, Scilly, Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands, McFarland, p. 226, ISBN 9780786489244