7th November 1900
The States agrees to pay the Bailiff
When the States met to discuss whether the Bailiff should receive a fixed salary, the debate was chaired, somewhat awkwardly by Sir Thomas Godfrey Carey, who was the Bailiff himself. He had the good grace to bow out, claiming that he was too old to have any great interest in the matter. He was, in fact, only 68.
Jersey had recently set the Bailiff’s salary at £1,200 for a very similar job. Although the Guernsey Bailiff’s actual pay wasn’t discussed in detail, the members agreed that the responsibilities were largely analogous and, with the post receiving £400 from the crown – an increase of £100 over the previous year – they had a duty to make up the balance themselves. The following day’s edition of The Star reported that “Jurat de Havilland said that the bailiff had spoken of his advanced age, but every one would agree as to his activity, his energy, and profound abilities. He hoped that Sir T Godfrey Carey would be spared for a long time to continue the work which he so ably performs”.
With such a ringing endorsement, it can hardly have been a surprise that the motion was carried, and the Bailiff’s salary was finally put on an official footing.
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Other events that occured in November
Guernsey was declared free of cholera
- Cholera struck Guernsey twice in the 19th century - in 1832 and 1849
- Read more…
Horticultural painter William Caparne was born
- Caparne had been painting from an early age, and spent the latter half of his life living in a tram car in Guernsey
- Read more…
Admiral Thomas Le Marchant Gosselin died
- Gosselin had an impressive career in the navy and saw a lot of the world before his death in 1857, aged 92.
- Read more…
A Guernsey recruit regretted signing up
- The deserter was quickly caught when he strayed too close to his home town
- Read more…