The Brighton Road tragedy
The Brighton Road tragedy: A murder in 1895
Donna Le Marrec, who works for the National Trust Jersey, uncovered surprising and tragic stories in her family tree at Jersey Archive. This article was originally published in the Jersey Heritage website
Donna is a member of the Frigot family, which originated in France. Her great-great grandfather was Auguste Charles Frigot, born in Ourville, Manche around 1841. Auguste moved to Jersey to work in farming and married a local girl from St John, Marie Moitier, in February 1864.
Murder
Disaster struck the family in January 1895 when Marie was murdered in what became known as the ‘Brighton Road Tragedy’. Court records at Jersey Archive provide details. Marie helped clean for Francois Renault, a retired farmer and former neighbour of the Frigot family. On Friday 11 January 1895 Marie went to Francois’ residence, Tranquil House, Brighton Road, St Helier, to clean as usual. He ordered her to rake the gravel path but it was frozen, and she was unable to do so. Annoyed at her refusal, Francois shot her in the head. Then, in shock at what he had done, he shot himself in the face.
Both Marie and Francois survived. Marie woke up the next day on Francois’ sofa, to find him still there, with a bandaged face. But rather than calling the police, he offered Marie £50 to say nothing and hired her a cab back to her house. Two days later the doctor was called to Marie’s house – and it was only then that the police were notified about the incident. They went to Francois’ house and he was taken to hospital. He had a large lacerated wound on his windpipe, the middle portion of his jaw was completely shattered and portions of bone had been driven into the floor of his mouth and tongue. He died on 15 January.
Marie also never recovered from her wounds and died in great pain on 22 January, at home, never having been hospitalised. When asked why he did it, Francois responded: “I know I have done wrong; I much regret it, but she contradicted me, and I shot her.”
Mystery was added to the case when Francois’ will revealed that £300 (a substantial amount of money in 1895) had been bequeathed to Adelina Frigot, Marie’s daughter.
Further tragedy
Sadly, things did not improve for Donna’s family. Emile Pierre, the son of Auguste and Marie and Donna’s great grandfather, was married twice. His first wife, Victorine Louise Perrin, died young, leaving Emile to care for three young children. He then married Mary Ann Bechelet. On 20 April 1928 Mary Ann went low water fishing, and was seen collecting limpets from a rock known as Le Vermeur, at La Pulente. It appears that she was cut off by a fast moving tide, and was later found floating in the sea, dead. At the inquest the verdict was that she died of accidental drowning. She was the mother of seven children.
Bannier family
Heartbreak was not limited to the Frigot family. Donna’s grandmother was Eleonore Marie Bannier, who married Reginald Emile Frigot, Donna’s grandfather and son of Emile Pierre. The Bannier family also originated in France. Eleonore’s father was Francis Toussaint Marie. He was born in St Helier after his father had moved to the Island, also to pursue a career in farming.
In 1928 it was reported in the Evening Post that Francois Toussaint Marie had died in ‘mysterious circumstances’ at the Hospital. Francois lived at Sion View, St John, with his wife Eleonore, nee Therin, and their children. It was reported that Francois had been unwell for about 15 months but the doctor had been unable to diagnose the problem.
Eleonore, prompted by a friend, sent a sample of the drinking water from the family well to be tested. It was reported that there were elevated volumes of lead in the water and that Francois was suffering from lead poisoning. Francois then contracted gastric influenza and was taken into hospital. He was unable to recover and died. Asked if her husband drank a lot of water, Eleonore replied that he had drunk a great deal during the hot weather as they had no cider left.
It is common to find some tragedy when researching your family history but Donna’s family were exceptionally unlucky. While Donna was aware of both the ‘drowning’ and ‘poisoning’ incidences, she was completely unaware of the 'Brighton Road tragedy' and was both surprised and shocked to learn of the fate of her great great grandmother, Marie Frigot.
