That Was Jersey |
Local history for everyone |
CHANNEL ISLANDS |
The Victorian era is characterised by invention, discovery and ambitious engineering projects. People living in Victorian times were resourceful and inventive. Industry was well developed and there was significant input to the infrastructure (including roads, transport systems, drainage and water supplies) of towns and cities. Throughout the Victorian Empire (which included many countries around the world) railways were established, roads and civic buildings constructed, schools and libraries built, and water and sewage services provided to many homes.
Many projects and buildings of this time carry date stones or inscriptions showing who was involved in the work. There were also monuments built to commemorate some people who had provided more complex facilities. Some of these will be found in the page on Sculptures.
Much of this activity was found in Jersey, and this page links to examples of engineering projects in the Island’s history.
The St Helier harbours were developed, providing facilities for more and larger ships, for passengers and for freight and the Postal Services. Breakwaters were built to protect harbours from the wind and waves of the open sea.
Other topics which illustrate this include
Harbours for general background on the harbours and airport.
St Helier harbour for the development of the harbours in St Helier.
This includes all the public services necessary for a town to function well. During Queen Victoria's reign there was huge progress. Muddy lanes were paved to become roads with a firm surface. Candles gave way to gas lamps, followed in due course by electric light. Open sewers in streets were covered over, thereby reducing cholera and other such diseases. Water which had been drawn from wells, or pumped at public water pumps, was eventually piped to each house. Streets were lit to make movement around the town safer.
The first waterworks company in Jersey was set up in 1863 to provide water piped to homes in the Island. Other public services related to this were the covering of open streams across town and the supply of sewage pipes to take away foul water and to provide essential drainage.
For more information
Water supplies
Homes were lit by candles or oil lamps until the arrival of gas. However gas or oil lamps were lamps still in use in homes and streets for many years. The first gas lighting of a public space was at the harbour in 1831, and some private buildings also switched to gas light, like the Theatre Royal and some shops. By December 1833 there was a line of gas street lights from Snowhill, along Queen Street, to Charing Cross.
In 1850 the original gas supplier became bankrupt, and local owners took on the gas works in St Helier. The Royal Court, the Public Library, and the markets were all lit by gas. Gradually gas became available in the other southern parishes, and was in use in homes as well as in public buildings, businesses and on the streets. Gas was used in street lighting until 1970, when the last gas light was extinguished.
The first use of electricity in town was a private generator for de Gruchy's department store, in 1883. However, the Jersey Electricity Company was not set up until 1924, and it began generating electricity in 1925. The first electric street lights appeared in 1956.
With increased shipping, and more passengers travelling by sea, there was concern to improve the safety of sea travel. Improved harbours (see above) provided a safe haven for the start and finish of any voyage, but there were numerous hazards in between.
One of the major improvements came with the organised provision of lights on offshore rocks or along coasts. These enabled seamen to recognise where they were from the unique combination of flashes of light or of colour of one or more lighthouses. Trinity House was established in the UK to co-ordinate lighthouses, buoys and other markers.
Corbière lighthouse was the first concrete lighthouse in the British Isles. It has saved many travellers from the rocks on the south west corner of the Island.
The first waterworks company in Jersey was set up in 1863 to provide water piped to homes in the Island. Other public services related to this were the covering of open streams across town and the supply of sewage pipes to take away foul water and to provide essential drainage.
For more information
Water supplies