The culture of Jersey is the culture of the Bailiwick of Jersey. Jersey has a mixed Franco-British culture; however, modern Jersey culture is dominated by British cultural influences and has also been influenced by immigrant communities such as the Bretons and the Portuguese (mainly from Madeira).
Jersey's culture is strongly influenced by its distinct political culture, such as having its own currency and postal service, and its important industries such as agriculture and finance.
Languages
Jersey is predominantly English-speaking, with English forming the main cultural and official language of Jersey people and government. However, French remains a co-official language due to its use as the language of civil affairs in the island. Due to immigration, many islanders' first language is now Portuguese.
Jèrriais, the island's Norman language, is spoken by a minority of the population, although it was the majority language in the 19th century. Among those who still speak the language one can identify the parish of origin of a speaker by differences in phonology and lexis. There has recently been a push, especially from the Government of Jersey, to keep Jèrriais as a living language. This includes Jèrriais lessons at all Government primary schools.
Most common place names in Jersey are in Jèrriais (such as La Ville-ès-Renauds), though some have been gallicised (e.g., Les Quennevais) and most pronunciations have been anglicised. The notable exception is all the parishes, which are usually in English (though French and Jèrriais forms exist). Road names are in French or Jèrriais, except in the town area and some other new developments around the island.
Literature
Literature in Jersey may be divided into:
Literature in Jèrriais, Francophone literature, and Jersey literature in English.
The literary tradition in Jersey is traced back to Wace, the 12th-century Jersey-born poet.
William Prynne wrote poetry while imprisoned in Jersey, but little indigenous literature survives from before the 18th century.
Printing only arrived in Jersey in the 1780s, but the island supported a multitude of regular publications in French (and Jèrriais) and English throughout the 19th century, in which poetry, most usually topical and satirical, flourished.
The first printed Jèrriais appears in the first newspapers at the end of the 18th century. The earliest identified dated example of printed poetry in Jèrriais is a fragment by Matchi L'Gé (Matthew Le Geyt, 1777–1849), dated 1795. The first printed anthology of Jèrriais poetry, Rimes Jersiaises, was published in 1865.
Influential writers include 'Laelius' (Sir Robert Pipon Marett 1820–1884, Bailiff of Jersey 1880–1884), 'A.A.L.G.' (Augustus Aspley Le Gros 1840–1877), and 'St.-Luorenchais' (Philippe Langlois 1817–1884).
Philippe Le Sueur Mourant (1848–1918) wrote under several pseudonyms. His greatest success was the character Bram Bilo, but he later developed the Pain family, newly moved to Saint Helier, who commented on its Anglicized society and fashionable entertainments.
'Elie' (Edwin J. Luce 1881–1918) was editor of the French-language newspaper La Nouvelle Chronique de Jersey and a poet who wrote topical poems for the newspaper. He died in the influenza pandemic of 1918. His brother, Philip W. Luce (1882–1966), also a journalist and poet, emigrated to Canada, but sent occasional writings back to Jersey.
'Caouain' (George W. de Carteret 1869–1940) maintained a weekly newspaper column purporting to be the work of an owl (cahouain) reporting on the latest election news and local gossip.
During the Occupation, the German censors allowed little original writing to be published. However, many older pieces of literature were republished in the newspapers as an act of cultural self-assertion and morale-boosting.
Edward Le Brocq (1877–1964) revived the weekly column in 1946 with a letter from Ph'lip et Merrienne, supposedly a traditional old couple who would comment on the latest news or recall times past. The column continued until the author's death in 1964.
The most influential writer of Jèrriais in the 20th century was a U.S. citizen, George Francis Le Feuvre (1891–1984), whose pen-name was 'George d'la Forge'. He emigrated to North America after the First World War but for almost forty years maintained a flow of articles in Jèrriais back to Jersey for publication in newspapers.
Frank Le Maistre (1910–2002), compiler of the Jèrriais–French dictionary, maintained a literary output starting in the 1930s with newspaper articles under the pseudonym Marie la Pie, poems, magazine articles, and research into toponymy and etymology. He himself considered his masterpiece to be his translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam into Jèrriais that he made during the German Occupation (1940–1945).
The French writer Victor Hugo lived in exile in Jersey from 1852 to 1855.
Elinor Glyn and John Lemprière were Jersey-born writers. Frederick Tennyson, Jack Higgins, and Gerald Durrell are among writers who have made Jersey their home.
Art
Some Neolithic carvings are the earliest works of artistic character to be found in Jersey. Only fragmentary wall-paintings remain from the rich mediaeval artistic heritage, after the wholesale iconoclasm of the Calvinist reformation of the 16th century - the most notable of these are the wall-paintings of the Fisherman's Chapel (la Chapelle ès Pêcheurs) in St. Brelade.
The 1751 statue of George II by John Cheere in the Royal Square was Jersey's first public sculpture since the Reformation. Subsequent works of public art to be seen include: Westaway monument (1875, Pierre-Alfred Robinet) Don monument (1885, Pierre-Alfred Robinet) Queen Victoria statue (1890, Georges Wallet) George V statue (1939, William Reid Dick) Liberation sculpture (1995, Philip Jackson) La Vaque dé Jèrri (2001, John McKenna) Jersey Girl (2010, Rowan Gillespie)
John Singleton Copley's painting of the Battle of Jersey (6 January 1781), The Death of Major Pierson, became a national icon. The States of Jersey failed in an attempt to purchase it (it is now in the Tate Britain), but the image is reproduced on the reverse of a Jersey £10 note.
John Le Capelain (1812–1848) was born and lived all his life in St. Helier, setting up his studio in the attic of his parents' house in Hill Street. He is best known for his watercolours, although he had earlier followed his father in lithography but abandoned it after 1843. He travelled widely, taking advantage of St. Helier's excellent maritime links, and went sketching in France, England and Scotland. He was commissioned to produce a series of watercolours which were presented to Queen Victoria by the States of Jersey to commemorate her visit of 1846. The series was subsequently lithographed and published in book form. The Queen commissioned Le Capelain to produce a series of watercolour views of the Isle of Wight and it was while working on this commission that Le Capelain contracted tuberculosis and died, barely a week after his 36th birthday. A collection of his works, presented by public subscription in his memory, is displayed in the Parish Hall of St. Helier.
Among artists attracted to Jersey in the 19th century was Sarah Louisa Kilpack (1839–1909), an English artist noted for seascapes and coastal scenes, often stormy, produced for exhibition in London.
John Everett Millais, a Jèrriais speaker from a Jersey family, was born in England, but is considered a Jersey artist.
The Glass Church in St Lawrence is decorated with Art Deco glass by René Lalique, commissioned by Florence, Lady Trent, the Jersey-born wife of Lord Trent, founder of Boots Chemists. No similar Lalique commission survives elsewhere in the world.
Edmund Blampied (1886–1966), illustrator and artist, is the most popular Jersey artist of the 20th century.
John St. Helier Lander (1869–1944), born in St. Helier, later became a fashionable portrait painter in London. His portrait of George V hangs at Victoria College, and the Masonic Temple in St. Helier holds a number of masonic portraits by him.Balleine, G.R. (1948). A Biographical Dictionary of Jersey, p 351-2. London: Staples Press
Philip John Ouless (1817–1885), a successful workmanlike painter of marine subjects, was the father of Walter William Ouless RA (1848–1933), who developed a career as a portrait painter in London, becoming an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1877 and RA in 1881.
Henry Bosdet (1857–1934), an artist in stained glass in a Pre-Raphaelite style, taught in the Royal Academy schools in London. Some of his work can be seen in his native Island.
Suzanne Malherbe and Claude Cahun, the "Surrealist Sisters" were among photographers attracted to Jersey.
Sir Francis Cook (1907–1978), English painter, moved to Jersey in 1948. In the 1960s he bought the former Methodist chapel at Augrès and converted it to a studio and gallery which was donated after his death to the Jersey Heritage Trust along with a collection of his works. The building, now named the Sir Francis Cook Gallery, serves as an exhibition space.
The Berni Gallery at the Jersey Arts Centre holds a programme of exhibitions by Jersey and visiting artists. The Barreau-Le Maistre Gallery in the Jersey Museum displays works from the permanent collection of the Jersey Heritage trust. Plans for a National Gallery to display the range of national holdings of visual art and provide suitable temporary exhibition space have been proposed from time to time. A National Gallery steering group chaired by Philip Bailhache, Bailiff of Jersey, is due to report by the end of 2007. A site for the National Gallery has been earmarked on the site of the former Weighbridge bus station in St Helier,Jersey Evening Post, 9 November 2007 funded by waterfront development.
Performing arts
The annual Jersey Eisteddfod provides a platform for competition in music, drama and speaking in English, French and Jèrriais.
The Opera House, opened by Lillie Langtry in 1900, and the Jersey Arts Centre are the main performance spaces, although many concerts and other cultural events take place in parish halls and other venues.
In 1995 the States of Jersey became the new owner of the Jersey Opera House at a cost of £1.3 million. In January 1997 the theatre closed for a major restoration project. A proposition was presented to the States of Jersey for a loan of £5.5 million to add to the £1.5 million that had been raised by the good will of the people and businesses of Jersey. This was successful and this major programme of work started in August 1998. After an extensive programme of rebuilding and renovation the new theatre opened its door on 9 July 2000 exactly 100 years to the day when the first Opera House had opened its doors to the public of Jersey.
Work on the Jersey Arts Centre started in 1981 when the Education Committee made available the redundant domestic science building in Saint Helier. The complex was opened by the Bailiff in January 1983 and various components of the building were subsequently completed: the Berni Gallery opened later in 1983, and the first performance took place in the shell of the auditorium in January 1985 although the performance space was not completed until August 1986. In 1992 the public acquired the former garrison church of St James and work started in 1998 to convert it into an arts venue. From 2000 the Jersey Arts Centre has undertaken artistic programming for St James.Jersey Evening Post 15 January 2008
Lillie Langtry, the Jersey Lily, is the island's most widely recognised cultural icon. Other actors from Jersey have included Seymour Hicks, Ivy St Helier, and actor Henry Cavill (Showtime's the Tudors and the DC Comics film version of the Justice League).
Music and dance