Privateers in French prisons

Privateer prisoners

Although privateering could be a profitable business, it was not without its risks, and those who had the fortune to survive battles with other vessels could still find themselves in French prisons if events did not go their way. Those islanders who were in France on the many occasions in the 18th and 19th centuries when war was declared with Britain could also find themselves detained, sometimes for many years

Prisoners of war

On 15 November 1806, a year after the Battle of Trafalgar, there were 208 Jerseymen detained in French prisoner of war camps and the States decided that something needed to be done to raise money for their upkeep. A fund was started with a contribution from public funds of 3,000 Livres Tournois and the rectors were asked to solicit contributions from their congregations.

Over 15,000 livres francais was raised and the fund treasurer, ecrivain Jacques Hemery, arranged for this to be transferred to Perregaux and Co Bank in Paris, with 4,169 livres earmarked for Sarrelibre Prison, where the greatest number of islanders was held.

Other documents from this time indicate that there were 68 Jersey prisoners in Sarrelibre, 58 at Valenciennes and 47 at Arras. Other prisoners were held in Givet, Bitche and Verdun. It would not be until after the Battle of Paris in 1814 that peace allowed for the release of many of these prisoners and six further collections were made in Jersey between 1808 and 1813.

Despite this assistance and the advantages it gave Jersey prisoners compared with those from elsewhere in Britain, there were still several who escaped and attempted to make it back to the island via Holland and England. The stories of some of these prisoners have survived in newspaper reports and other early 19th century documents.

Jean Syvret

Privateer Jean Syvret’s stay in French prisons was one of the longest of any Jerseyman. He was captured in 1805 and was not to return to Jersey for ten years. His story is sufficiently well documented to merit a separate Jerripedia article

Francis Bisson

Francis Bisson’s time as a French prisoner was reported in The Star of Wednesday 16 April 1806.

He was taken prisoner off the French coast in 1803 and held at Fountainebleau. He was not locked up, but was not supposed to go further than three leagues from the city. He ignored this rule and made his way to Paris, where he was arrested. On his return he was put in solitary confinement and eventually taken to Epinal, a small town that held 1,200 English prisoners of war. Being bilingual he became an interpreter in a hospital in Phalsburg.

In April the following year he was taken to Verdun, where there were other Channel Islanders among the 800 prisoners. Most of these had been arrested when war was declared and although they had the freedom of the town and some were allowed to go further, they had to pay for the privilege.

Prisoners and local residents appeared to be quite friendly and horse races were held for them. The well favoured ones also had access to tennis courts and billiard tables.

Francis Bisson had to rely on his prisoner's ration of a pound and a half of brown bread and three sous a day to buy food. He escaped from Verdun, but was caught again and taken to Bitche, from where he again determined to escape.

After nearly a year and a half he deliberately missed a roll call and he was thrown into a pitch black underground cell. On his second day there the jailer brought him some water, but forgot to bring a light, and he managed to sneak out of the cell behind his back without being missed.

He climbed the ramparts, found a deserted sentry box and climbed and slipped down the other side, eventually falling 60 feet but managing to rest in a nearby forest.

He fell asleep and was woken by a French soldier who accepted his explanation that he was a French Gendarme returning to his regiment after a spell in hospital and showed him the shortest way to the Rhine.

A sympathetic boatman took him across and, once in Germany, he found the nearest British envoy and arranged his journey back to Jersey.

Pierre Perrot

Pierre Perrot, a man who was to become Constable of St Helier, a Jurat and founder of Les Chroniques de Jersey at the age of 25 had earlier spent six years as a French prisoner of war.

Born in St Helier on 23 January 1789, the son of Francois Perrot, Pierre Perrot went to sea at an early age and by the time he was 16 was prize master on the privateer Hope , with the responsibility of sailing any captured vessels back to Jersey.

But the Hope was wrecked soon after he joined her and the crew were captured by the French. Pierre was taken to Valenciennes.

Being bilingual, he was chosen as the commandant’s interpreter and used the freedom this gave him to escape in 1811. He reached the coast, put to see in a small boat and was rescued by an English Frigate.

Pierre became the founder of the in 1814 and served as Constable of St Helier and as a Jurat. His portrait hangs in the Town Hall.

Captain Dolbel

Captain Dolbel, whose forename was not given, had been a prisoner of the French for almost ten years when he escaped and returned to Jersey on 22 January 1814. His arrival, together with Alderney man Philippe Mourant and an unnamed Englishman was reported in the next issue of the Gazzette.

The three had escaped the month before from a depot at Longwy and made their way to Holland. They revealed that another 17 Jersey prisoners were at Longwy ‘in perfect health’.

Richard Roissier

Another prisoner who would have been released within weeks had he not escaped in 1814 was Richard Roissier, whose arrival in Jersey was reported by the Gazette on 12 March, 17 days before the French surrendered when Wellington entered Paris. Napoleon was exiled to Elba, prisoners were released and most were back in Jersey by the end of the following month. Within days almost 1,500 freed british prisoners were repatriated via St Malo and the ships carrying them stopped in Jersey and Guernsey on their way to Portsmouth to let islanders get off.

Philippe Bertau and John Hubert

A record of the debriefing of Philippe Bertau and John Hubert after their escape from Valenciennes and return to Jersey in 1809 still exists.

Bertau was a member of the crew of the merchant ship Cleopatra which was captured by the French in 1804, and Hubert was on the privateer Lively which was taken the following year. They escaped together in 1808 and made their way to the coast via Cambray, Anciennes, Caen, Villedieu-les-Poelles, Pont Tressau and Cancale. They took a boat from the beach at night and reached the Ecrehous the following day, resting and arriving at St Catherine in Jersey on 14 January 1809.

They were able to report on what they had seen during their journey across France:

’On their way from Valenciennes to Cancalle they saw no regular troops in any of the towns thro' which they passed, and they learned that there were scarce any regiments of the line now on the coast of the Channel. That the Coast duty was at present performed chiefly by Les Gens d'Armes and the Police and Custom House Officers whom they heard were very numerous. That the French people consider the conquest of Spain and Portugal as certain, and in their conversations they repeatedly mentioned that Bounaparte had the conquest of Turkey in view, that when this was accomplished, Austria would be his next object, and that he would never rest till he had conquered all Europe."

The escapers were able to pass as natives of Normandy and had the opportunity to speak to many people, discovering that the wealthy supported Napoleon but the 'lower classes' were becoming disillusioned by the constant recruiting of more men for the army.

They also heard that there had been a plan to invade the Channel Islands in 1806, which came to nothing.

The final part of their declaration stated that they estimated 1,800 English prisoners were held at Valenciennes and listed each man's daily allowance: ¾ pound of bread, ¼ pound of meat and 1½ sous, plus 2 sous paid by the English Commissary.

• A privateer’s life in a French prison, a story of life in Sarrelibre published nearly a century and a half later
• An article on fund-raising for Guernsey prisoners at Sarrelibre
• A second article