No 9 Royal Square

Historic Jersey buildings 9 Royal Square The date of this photograph is uncertain. It has been suggested that it was taken as early as 1852. That would explain why no records have been found in almanac directories of A La Civette, the business on the ground floor of the building on the left The south-west corner of the Royal Square in 1880. The numbering of properties is uncertain, but we believe that the four buildings in the terrace are, from left to right, Nos 6, 7 and 8, and the Grand Hotel du Calvados, which was listed in Church Street, its main entrance having been on the corner. The United Club building on the right of the image is now shown as No 10 Royal Square, which begs the question of where No 9 was located. It is possible that the hotel on the corner was listed in the Royal Square in some almanac directories. There are census and almanac records for No 9, and the fact that Jules Berson is shown trading at No 9 in 1851 and 1890 records might indicate that this was not the hotel building Index of all house profiles If you own this property, have ancestors who lived here, or can provide any further information and photographs, please contact us through editorial@jerripedia.org

Property name

9 Royal Square

Other names

States Building

Location

Royal Square, St Helier

Type of property

Possibly former hotel, gutted by fire and demolished in the 19th century and incorporated in 1931 into expanded States Buildings

Acquisitions

The States bought the derelict Grand Hotel du Calvados building in 1897

Families and businesses associated with the property

Almanac listings

• 1837 commercial directory - J Baptist, boot and shoe maker
• 1886 - L Voisin, tobacconist
• 1895 - J M Berson
• 1900 - A Amalric
• 1905-1925 - P M and P N Richardson

Census returns

• 1851 - John de Ste Croix, bootmaker; Jules Berson (43) tobacconist from France, Adrienne (39)

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  This 1840 advert for P Knight's boot and shoe business probably predates the building of the Grand Hotel du Calvados, but it may have been elsewhere in the square, also predating a renumbering of properties
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  An 1889 advert, long after renumbering of square properties, places A La Civette at No 9 ...
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  ... whereas this 1880 photograph places it to the left of the block (click on image to view) at what we believe to be No 6. The business name does not show in any almanac listings we have seen