Special picture gallery

This is a gallery of some of the best pictures in Jerripedia. There is no particular order and there are no particular subjects. Just superb historical pictures of the island of Jersey for you to enjoy. You will find a further selection of special pictures which have been featured as Picture of the week in the year-by-year archive of that selection.

Do you have pictures which you could contribute to Jerripedia? If you have family photographs taken in the island, historical postcards or other images which you would like to share with Jerripedia users, please let us know. You cannot upload images yourself, but please contact editorial@jerripedia.org - please use Jerripedia as the subject of your email, to let us know what you have and we will make arrangements to add the images to the site.

Mystery casino

Normally Jerripedia attempts to provide answers rather than pose questions, but this picture is an exception. This little booklet was acquired in an on-line auction back in 2011 and sent to Jerripedia with the question 'Did Jersey really have a casino in the 1880s?' The questioner quite rightly observed that during the 20th century Jersey's politicians were implacably opposed to the creation of a public gambling venue, and the likelihood is that a proposal to create one today would prove highly controversial and probably fail. Yet here is a souvenir booklet in French for a casino in its second year of operation in 1884, 'by permission of the Bailiff, Sir Robert Pipon Marett'. The answer to this apparent anomaly lies in the original meaning of the word casino and in the text of the booklet. In the 19th century the word casino was commonly used to describe a building erected for public entertainment, sometimes, but not necessarily, including gambling. The attractions of Jersey's Royal Victorian Hall casino were advertised as sea bathing at 'the best beach in Europe', viewed from a seaside terrace; hot and cold baths; hydrotherapy; restaurant; and a children's play area. The establishment also had a concert hall, offering daily concerts with dancing, a full orchestral concert once a week and a 'concert spirituel' every Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock. But where was the Royal Victorian Hall, and what happened to it? The booklet says that it is immediately opposite Georgetown railway station, which was on the coast to the east of the junction of Green Road and Greve d'Azette, roughly where Maison Victor Hugo apartments now stand and close to Marina Terrace, where the celebrated French writer Victor Hugo lived some 30 years earlier. As to how long the casino was in business, that is a complete mystery (can any Jerripedia user provide the answer?). It cannot have been that long, because Georgetown Station was closed in 1891, which would hardly have happened if Royal Victorian Hall was providing large numbers of passengers every day.

Charabanc

The horse-drawn charabanc was the principal means of transport around the island in the 19th and early 20th century and no self-respecting tourist would miss the opportunity to take a trip around the coast or into the countryside. Pictures abound of these excursions, which were also popular with island residents, who would go on group outings with friends, because there was often a photographer on hand as the charabanc loaded in St Helier or stopped at a favourite beauty spot, and pictures would be on sale the following morning, or sometimes when the day's tour finished back in St Helier. These photographs were often printed as postcards and posted to friends back at home, and they are frequently to be found on sale today. This is one of extremely good quality, the exact vintage of which is uncertain. As ever, at the turn of the 19th century, everybody on board was very smartly dressed. Indeed, it is remarkable that two gentlemen on this journey were not wearing hats, which were considered not only fashionable, but virtually compulsory for men and women alike. And few concessions were made to summer weather, with the men always wearing suits, although the ladies could opt for a slightly lighter, albeit all-enveloping dress when it was warmer. This picture seems to have been taken at the other end of the year, with everyone well wrapped up for their open-air journey. As charabanc outings grew more and more popular the vehicles grew longer and wider, and needed a team of horses to pull them.

<gallery widths="500px" heights="400px" perrow="2" align=center style= "color: darkgreen;font-family:garamond;font-size:12pt;font-weight: normal;text-align:center;font-style: italic;letter-spacing: 1px; cellspacing= 30px;padding: 20px 20px 30px 20px;"> File:DonkeyRidesWPark.jpg|Donkey rides on the beach at West Park File:RiveQuarry.jpg|The Rive family quarry provided stone for the construction of Victoria Avenue File:LaHougueFmStP.jpg|Workers at La Hougue Farm, St Peter (date unknown) File:Aberfeldy1932.jpg|Aberfeldy Hotel guests and staff in 1932 File:AberfeldySports1932.jpg|Aberfeldy Hotel sports day in 1932 File:Orphanage1926.jpg|Orphans with their carers in 1926 File:BeachGames1929.jpg|Beach games in 1929 File:BeachGames1930.jpg|Beach games in 1930 File:BeaumontMarshSkating1891.jpg|Skating on Beaumont Marsh in 1891 File:BisleyKolapore1927.jpg|Jersey's Kolapore Trophy shooters at Bisley in 1927 File:BouleyBayPastel.jpg|An early picture of Bouley Bay File:BretonWorkers1900.jpg|Breton workers in 1900 File:BretonWorkers1906.jpg|Breton workers in 1906 File:CarHarbour1910s.jpg|A car arrives at the Harbour in 1910 and attracts quite a crowd File:ChurchOuting1910.jpg|A 1910 church outing File:DutotFarmyard1910.jpg|The Dutot farmyard in 1910 File:DownsCoachStopfordHotel.jpg|Downs Coach outside the Stopford Hotel File:Farmcarts1948.jpg|Farm carts in 1948 File:Farmyard1910Allix.jpg|A 1910 farmyard scene photographed by Allix File:FarrelFmGrantez1910.jpg|Ozouf farming family in Grouville in 1910-1912 File:GreasyPole1905.jpg|On the greasy pole at Havre des Pas in 1905 File:GreenRoomClub1912.jpg|Green Room Club performance in 1912 File:HdesOSpudLorries1940.jpg|Potato lorries at Havre des Pas in 1940 - why were they facing away from the Harbour? File:HeraldMission.jpg|A Herald Mission church outing File:JerseyHighSchoolStSRd.jpg|Jersey High School for girls in St Saviour's Road File:LearningToSwim.jpg|Learning to swim at Havre des Pas pool File:GrouvilleMaypole.jpg|Dancing round the Maypole in Grouville File:GirlGuideCamp1932.jpg|Girl Guide camp 1932 File:WhippetTankDunes1930s.jpg|A Whippet tank being put through its paces on the sand dunes of St Ouen's Bay in the 1930s File:BoulevardAvenue.jpg|Boulevard Avenue, First Tower File:Beachguards.jpg|Beachguards on duty File:GtExhibitionCIStand.jpg|The Channel Island stand at the Great Exhibition File:KingSt1903.jpg|King Street in 1903 File:LeBasShoot1910.jpg|A Le Bas family shooting party in 1910 File:LaurensBasketWorks1905.jpg|George D Laurens basket works in 1905 File:LeChateletdeParville1900.jpg|The interior of Le Chatelet de Parville, Victoria Street, 1900 File:MilitiaCookhouse1900.jpg|Militia camp cookhouse in 1900 File:MilitiaParade1900.jpg|Militia parade on the beach at Bel Royal in 1900 File:Muratti1928.jpg|Muratti supporters in 1928 File:Muratti1931a.jpg|Leaving for the Muratti in Guernsey in 1931 File:MurattiSupporters1928.jpg|Muratti supporters in 1928 File:Paddling1910.jpg|Paddling at the water's edge in 1910 File:Pooley's1890.jpg|The dining 'saloon' at Pooley's Pavilion Hotel, Greve de Lecq in 1890 File:PotatoLifters1930.jpg|Potato lifting in 1930 File:PoWCamp1915HansMuller.jpg|A drawing of the WW1 prisoner of war camp by Hans Muller, 1915 File:PotatoPacking1900.jpg|Potato packing at the Harbour in 1900 File:RadishPickersLaMoye1906.jpg|Radish pickers at La Moye in 1906 File:Refreshments1890.jpg|A group of farm workers pauses for refreshments in 1890 File:RenoufsPotatoes1950.jpg|The Renouf family lifting potatoes in 1950 File:Scarifier.jpg|A scarifier drawn by two fine horses File:TeaEstablishment1874.jpg|The Tea Establishment, 1874 File:Tams2.jpg|Tams ballroom File:Watersplash15.jpg|Watersplash ballroom File:WeighbridgeHotels1900.jpg|Weighbridge Hotels, 1900 File:BretonWorkers1937.jpg|Breton farm workers in 1937 File:1945GunsOverCliff.jpg|German guns are tipped over a cliff in 1945 File:AlbertPierBarbedWire.jpg|Barbed wire is removed from the Albert Pier after the Liberation File:BagotRoadGarage1960s.jpg|Bagot Road Garage in the 1960s - they don't make vans like that any more! File:CableCars1970.jpg|Fort Regent cable cars in 1970 File:CommBldgsRail1945.jpg|A railway line along Commercial Buildings in 1945 File:DiggingAtStOuen.jpg|Digging defensive positions in St Ouen's Bay during the Occupation File:EJGallichanInterior1961.jpg|The interior of E J Gallichan, jeweller, in 1961 File:ElizCastleOldPrint.jpg|An old print of Elizabeth Castle File:EsplanadeStormDamage.jpg|Storm damage on the Esplanade File:FarrelFmGrantezStO1910.jpg|Farrel Farm at Grantez, St Ouen in 1910 File:FieldMarshalInspection.jpg|A German's Field Marshal's inspection File:FootHMVSign.jpg|The famous HMV sign in Dumaresq Street File:KingsBirthdayParade1909.jpg|The King's Birthday Parade at Fort Regent in 1909 File:Laffolley'sScStJohn1883.jpg|Laffolley's School at St John in 1883 File:L'EtacqTuckPC.jpg|l'Etacq weekend bungalows File:LobsterFarming1905.jpg|Lobster farming 1905 style File:LuftwaffeFlakBattery.jpg|A Luftwaffe flak battery File:OccupationCarsSpringfield.jpg|Cars impounded at Springfield during the Occupation File:Plaza1939.jpg|The Plaze ballroom in 1939 File:SkimmedMilkQueue.jpg|An Occupation queue for skimmed milk File:StOuen'sBayAAGun.jpg|An anti-aircraft gun in St Ouen's Bay File:TanksStAubin.jpg|Tanks pass through St Aubin File:TankStAubin.jpg|A German tank passes along a Jersey road File:Threshing19c.jpg|Threshing in the 19th century File:ThreshingScene.jpg|Another threshing scene File:ToastRackBelRoyal.jpg|These open buses which used to run along Jersey's seafront were known as 'toastracks' File:TownHallOccPram.jpg|A mother with her pram rushes past Germans outside the Town Hall during the Occupation File:ValPlaisantCarCrash.jpg|An early car crash in Val Plaisant File:Watersplash1957.jpg|The Watersplash in 1957 - a different era from today's surfers' venue File:MinquiersVisit1895.jpg|An official visit to the Minquiers (above) in 1895 by the Lieut-Governor, Bailiff and Members of the States. Before the International Court ruling in the mid-20th century that the Minquiers were British and not French territory, it was deemed important that regular official visits should take place to assert Jersey's claim to the islets ... and (right) a similar visit two years earlier to Les Ecrehous File:EcrehousVisit1893.jpg|