No 1 Queen Street
Historic Jersey buildings
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Property name
1 Queen Street
Other names
Amyson's Corner
Location
Queen Street, St Helier
Type of property
Former town house and shop, rebuilt in 1981. The new building has been listed. This property makes the corner with Halkett Place, and also has a frontage on Hilgrove Street at the rear.
Valuations
- In 1888, Adolphus Amy, son of John, was liable for an annual rente of £37. This rente was sold by Charles Stirling to John Matthew Cantell for £710 sterling
- Described as 1 Queen Street, 18 Halkett Place and 1 Hilgrove Lane, the property sold for £1.6 million in 2022
Families and businesses associated with the property
In 1833 Alliance Fire Office agent John Hammond had his offices there, sharing the premises with silversmith and watch maker J Anderson.
The premises cannot be identified in the 1841 census, and by 1851 there were three households. Master paper hanger Victor Auguste Girardeau, born in St Helier in 1810, and his wife Mary Le Scelleur, shared the property with Zelie Felicie Robert, a haberdasher born in France in 1805, and silk merchant Marie Thelot (1801- ). Which of these had street level outlets we cannot tell.
An 1852 trade directory shows that Alphonse Jannin, a professor of languages, was working at No 1. The 1861 census shows no occupants for No 1, and ten years later the only occupant was Ann Le Hegarat, a tailoress born in St Martin in 1853. In 1862 solicitor John de Gruchy advertised his practice at No 1.
The first almanac directory listing we have found for the address was in 1874, when tobacconist G Gates was shown to be in business there. Six years later another almanac listing shows Mallet's Hotel at No 1, as well as S S Simon, jeweller. The property was occupied by confectioner Eliza Horsey, born in St Brelade in 1826, at the time of the 1881 census. There is no mention of the Mallet's Hotel and we have found no other mention of this hotel on the north side of Queen Street, although there were several on the opposite side of the road.
The 1886 British Press almanac shows tobacconist J J Shave at No 1, along with A Amy, hosier. This is the first mention of the family which would own the property, redevelop it, give their name to the corner, and remain there until 2015. In 1890 the French vice-Consulate was located at the premises. In 1891 it was 80-year-old Elizabeth Amy who was listed as the occupant. At the 1901 census there was again nobody living at the property.
Photographer A H Clarke briefly had a studio at No 1 in 1910
Such was the development of the retail outlets along the street that in this census there were only 23 residents on the whole of the north side. Very few of them were owner/occupiers - some were employees and their families living in staff accommodation.
A 1905 almanac shows A Amy at No 1, followed by J Amy in 1910 and 1920, S L Amy in 1930, and from 1940 onwards the men's outfitters business was known as A Amy and Son, the premises as Amyson's Corner.
The business closed in 2013 on the retirement of John Amy and the building was sold two years later. At the time it closed the business was reported to have been established for 135 years, which would place its opening as 1878, although we have not found almanac entries at this time.
Insurance brokers R A Rossborough had offices here in 1924.
Historic Environment Record entry
Listed building The entry makes no mention of the building's history.
The current structure is described as 'a landmark building with unusual post-war tower design and intricate detailing, contributing to the scale and interest of the streetscape'.
Built in 1981 to a design by Nigel Biggar and Partners. A prominent modern corner building with intricate details. Four storeys with unusual angular tower design with vertical emphasis.
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An early photograph showing the property decades before its first 20th century demolition and rebuild -
The building as it was through most of the 20th century, until it was demolished and rebuilt in 1881
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In the late 1970s, No 1, on the left, was soon to be demolished and rebuilt -
Looking across the bottom of Queen Street towards King Street, The eight-year-old five-storey brick building right of centre stands out from its neighbours
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1962 -
Demolition of the old building in 1979 -
Demolition of the old building in 1979 -
Rebuilding in 1981 -
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1981
Businesses
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1862 advert for solicitor John de Gruchy, who had offices at No 1 -
1935 advert in the Jersey Leader -
This 1850 advert in La Patrie shows that saddler C Truscott was one of the early traders at 1 Queen Street
