Edgar Aleck Dorey
Edgar Aleck Dorey
This page is based on an article by Francis Corbet in Volume 2 of A biographical dictionary of Jersey
Edgar Dorey was born on 21 October 1886 at Val Rose, Vallee des Vaux, the son of produce merchant Thomas and Gertrude Amelie, nee Giffard.
After attending Jersey High School, where he excelled at mathematics, he embarked on a career in banking, joining the Capital and Counties Bank in Guernsey in 1902 before being transferred to London.
He saw military service on the Somme, as a sergeant in the Royal Garrison Artillery and was invalided out in 1918 with trench fever. Returning to London he created his business William Arthur, blouse and dress manufacturers. He sold the business in 1930 and returned to Jersey, living at a house of his own design, Stella Maris, Samares.
Elected Jurat in 1935, when Jurats still sat in the States, he played a prominent part in the Colorado Beetle controversy, supporting the Committee of Agriculture, of which he was a member, in their policy of compulsory spraying of crops.
He initiated the scheme by which the States acquired a controlling interest in the Jersey Electricity Company, becoming chairman in 1938. He promoted the extension of mains electricity throughout the island.
At the outbreak of war in 1939 he was appointed president of the Finance Committee and when France fell, he was sent to London with powers to make arrangements for the evacuation of the island. Back in Jersey he became a member of the eight-man Superior Council, with responsibility for finance. After the Liberation he became president of the council and negotiated the financial rehabilitation of the Channel Islands with the British Government.
In 1946 he resigned as Jurat on his appointment as Police Court Magistrate. He retired in 1957 with a reputation for discernment and fairness.
His marriage to a cousin, Olive Kathleen Giffard, in 1919, was a long and happy one and they had two children, Thomas Alan and Jeanne Ivy. He died on 6 April 1976 and was buried in Grouville.
