The story of John Bechervaise
The story of John Bechervaise
St Aubin in 1840
An account of the unlikely friendship between a boy of the poorhouse and the son of a master mariner, first published in the Jersey Evening Post in 2014, written by Mike Sunier
Glimpses of how the poor lived in Jersey and harbour life in St Aubin in the early 19th century are revealed in a memoir by a Jersey sailor.
The storyteller is John Bechervaise, who narrates the early life of an orphan boy living in a poorhouse, accused of a crime he did not commit, but still manages to transform his life.
He was born in St Aubin in 1789 and wrote and published details of his life at sea in two books. In the second of the two, with the rather expansive title A Farewell to my old shipmates and messmates: with some example and a few hints of advice (1847) he discusses his early life in St Aubin and writes about his friend, Henri Devignolles.
Quayside meeting
John and Henry met on the quay at St Aubin and from their first meeting the boys became firm friends. They were at the pier to embark on their first voyage as apprentices aboard a sailing vessel heading for Canada.
How they reached that point in their teenage lives reflected two very different upbringings in 18th century Jersey.
Henri, from a poor family, recalled his mother sending him to school 'with a little basket containing a few slices of bread and butter for my dinner, and now and then, a farthing to buy gingerbread'.
According to John's account, Henri never knew his father and his mother died when he was about four, at which time he was taken to the poorhouse and left under the care of the matron, Mrs Luce. [1]
The poorhouse referred to was most likely the hospital for the poor founded in 1757 by St Aubin residents Thomas Denton, a philanthropic shipping merchant, and his wife Jeanne, built near the site of the old mill on what today is Mont Les Vaux. [2]
Philippe Winter Nicolle
Another of the successful businessmen in the town[3] was Jurat, merchant and shipowner Philippe Winter Nicolle [4], the owner of Winter, Nicolle and Co. He visited the poorhouse regularly and would give each boy a halfpenny every time. He was particularly impressed by how Henri adapted to life as an orphan and, when he reached the age of seven, decided to give him a chance in life. He gave him a job in the kitchen and accommodation in his house.
Boarding schools
John Bechervaise's start in life was in marked contrast, though it was still a struggle. As the son of a master mariner, there were sufficient funds to send him to a boarding school in the centre of the island to learn French, rather than the patois he spoke at home.
From Jersey he went to school in the Isle of Wight before following his father's trade and beginning a career at sea. His school life was not easy, as a Jersey boy in the Isle of Wight, where other boys laughed at his accent and his poor grasp of English.
Henri, working at the home of Philippe Nicolle, had other problems. Among the servants in the house was a French refugee, Nicholas Giard, who from time to time drove a cart to and from the piers to collect cargoes when the ships were in port.
Giard involved the innocent boy in a scheme to steal wine from the cellars of his master's home and he sent Henri with a covered basked filled with wine bottles to another house in the town, where a woman would take the basket and give him a few coins.
On one occasion the theft was not only wine, but money belonging to the proprietor, hidden among the bottles. When the crime was discovered, Henri was accused and, too frightened to deny it, he was sent back to the poorhouse by a dismayed Mr Nicolle.
Fortunately the matron heard Henri speak in his sleep of the money being with the parcel he was ordered to take by Giard. Mrs Luce informed Mr Nicolle of what she had heard and Giard's deception was uncovered.
Apprenticeship
Mr Nicolle wanted to make it up to Henri and, when he was old enough, he offered him the opportunity to be an apprentice on one of his ships.
So it was by chance that John was waiting on the quay to board his first sailing ship as an aprentice on the same day that Henri was given his chance to do the same.
They sailed to Newfoundland together for the next seven years and their friendship lasted throughout their seafaring days.
John readily admitted in how own account that Henri was the more diligent and, before the end of the seven years at sea, he had been appointed a chief mate, entitled to more money.
Henri and John parted when the former became ship's mate of the Venus and John was recruited to another vessel. Ten years later their paths crossed again, as John explained:
- "When walking from the piers one morning towards St Helier, I observed a very genteel looking man stop and look at me with fixed attention, and after a moment's gaze, exclaim: 'Is this possible? Or do I dream? Is this my old fellow apprentice?"
Henri invited John to dine with him, and he learned that his friend was now a master mariner, who commanded his own vessel; a true 'rags to riches' story from the island's maritime era, as narrated by a diehard Jersey sailor.
Notes and references
- ↑ Henri's life story may have been somewhat embellished in the account because it is highly unlikely that in early 19th century Jersey a poor mother could have been able to send a four-year-old child to school - editor
- ↑ St Aubin's or St Brelade's Hospital was built following a gift to the poor of the Parish of St Brelade by Thomas Denton. Born in 1701, he was a merchant and shipowner, who married Jeanne Le Bailly in 1732. The couple's children all died young which may have been his motivation for establishing the hospital
- ↑ He did not live there, as stated in the original article
- ↑ Philippe Winter Nicolle (not Nicholle, as described in the original newspaper article) was born in St Helier in 1801, the son of Philippe Nicolle (son of another Philippe) and Esther Winter. Theirs was a large family. Esther Elizabeth (1798-) and the first Philippe Winter (1799- ) died in infancy. The second Philippe Winter was followed by another Esther Elizabeth in 1802, Jean in 1804, Julie in 1806, Jane in 1807, Anne Charlotte in 1808, Josue Mauger in 1810, and Harriet in 1813. In 1841 Philippe, who never married, was living in Pier Road, St Helier with his widowed mother and sisters Jane and Anne. Ten years later the census shows him still at Pier Road with Jane and Anne, and four servants. A St Helier Centenier, he had been elected a Jurat of the Royal Court in 1837, following his father, who served from 1810 to 1835. In 1861 Philippe Winter was living at Beau Desert, St Saviour, with sister Elizabeth and three nieces. The following year he sought permission to resign his position as Jurat but was only allowed to do so in 1864. He died in 1887
