| Notes |
- General Don's Muster of 1815
BODET Pierre 42 Soldat Batteries St Brelade
St Aubin Market
We first hear of a Market in 1584 in the " Acte des Etats " of September 19 of that year, when we read that the Parish of St. Brelade had not yet contributed any money towards the liquidation of the debt on the building. £4 Stg. was still required for that purpose and both the Royal Court and the States decreed that that parish should raise £1-6-8 while the balance was to be obtained from the other parishes. However, on May 27, 1585, the Parish had not met its obligations; they were ordered to pay the four nobles (£1-6-8) to le Vicomte. At the Meeting of the States, the rents to be paid by the stall-holders were fixed, a silver crown by the butchers and 20 sols by the bakers. No clue is given as to how many stalls then existed. It would seem that this Market remained in existence till 1770 when it had appa¬rently outlived its purpose, but we do know that in 1682 the Market day at St. Aubin was fixed for Mondays. The States on October 9, 1770, approved a plan to erect new Market premises as well as Public Weights. But, on June I, 1771 the plans were altered so as to have the following dimensions, 28 feet long, 20 feet wide and 12 feet in height. On July 18, 1772, the States received the report of the Committee appointed to erect the Markets from which it appears that the building was finished. The building materials which were not used in the work of erection were sold; the fmal cost was estimated to amount to 2II2 livres, 13 sols 2 deniers approximately £160 in sterling in that year. Some question had arisen whether the six pillars forming the colonnade should be made of Portland Stone or of Mont Mado Stone, or even in oak. However, the Committee decide on Portland Stone at a cost of £33 sterling.
A date stone with the year 1771 incised in it could be seen on the walls of the building but after the third structure was erected, it was embedded in the pavement where it still remains. The names of some of the builders, tilers and plasterers have been preserved, the Masters being Nic Le Quesne, Jean Romeril and Matthew Horton. In the meantime, St. Aubin's had become a very important mercantile port so it was very necessary to have more commodious Markets than those erected in 1772. Consequently, on August 10, 1824, the States decided to erect a new Market there and to hold one or two Lotteries to pay for the same. This was a device used by the States over a hundred years ago to raise money by pandering to the sporting proclivities of the Jersey public. The Markets Committee were authorized to organise these two Lotteries as they had had considerable experience in this direction in running some between the years 1792 to 1808. Eight Commissioners were named, they were most meticulous in following the procedure which had been formerly adopted regarding the numbering of the tickets J etc. These Commissioners informed the public that the contract for the erecting of the Markets had been given to Messrs. Pierre Bosdet and Nic Le Quesne who were prepared to do the job for £775 Stg. It was hoped that the work would be finished by January I, 1826, and the" Gazette" informed its readers: "It is therefore unneces¬sary for us to expatiate any further upon the advantages of a public building of this character." 2500 tickets each of 24 livres (£1-0-0) were issued and the first prize was 6000 livres (£250). But before the Lottery could take place, the wheels in the Lottery apparatus had got broken, and so it was necessary to have them repaired ! In order to make the Lottery a success, the Commissioners hit upon a happy idea of arranging a spectacular procession:- " The draw, fixed for Monday, March 28, 1825, will begin at 9.0 a.m., all the tickets (2500) should be drawn that day, consequently all the Members of the States Committee should be in the Court House at 8.30 a.m. to open the wheels." " At 7.0 a.m. the wheels will be placed on a superbly decorated carriage with four boys dressed in magnificent robes garlanded with coronets, etc. The procession will start from the.Constable's home (Thomas Duhamel) and proceed to the Royal Square going through the principal streets of the Town preceded by a band playing " Le Gros Prix de six mille francs". The carriage will arrive in the Square at 8 a.m. and the wheels will be transferred to the Royal Court, placed in the vestibule, the band in the meanwhile playing" God Save the King" ! So much for the advertisement in order to get people to part with their money, now for the building operations. On May 25, 1825, errors in the plan drawn up by the architect, William Thompson, were discovered so the ' Acte ' of the Markets Committee tells. Bosdet threw up the job in disgust. He had built a southern wall of 84 feet but the architect wanted 94 feet! The States were summoned to deal with the situation and recommended that the work of building the Markets should continue. Reading the ' Actes ' of the Markets Committee, there is reason to believe that Bosdet was placated handsomely, for on June 15, the Committee told him to lengthen the southern wall by ten feet, and so everything was beautifully smoothed over. On March 18, 1826, it was reported to the States that the building was not com¬pleted and that more money was required so two more Lotteries were ordered to be organised in 1826; even then four more lotteries were required to obtain money for the payment of these Markets! The structure was completed on the early part of July 1826 and on July 18 the States ordered it to be opened to the Public. The names of the first six stall-holders were Messrs. Monk, Frank Laffoley, Richard Hayne, William Fleury, Philippe Bisson and Jean Le Cornu who each paid 25 livres rent yearly (approximately one guinea). It was not till July 17, 1828, that the final settlements to Mr. Pierre Bosdet were made. In an ' Acte ' of the Markets Committee of that date, it appeared that he had received £46-15-9 Stg too much for the erection of the Market! The States Treasurer was authorized to receive that amount from Mr. Bosdet. Incidentally, after the contretemps of May 25, 1825, when he had threatened to proceed with the building, the States gave him £900 to carry on as his contract price had been £775. Then on this day, the Markets Committee deemed it advisable to make it public that the plan for the structure as previously drawn up by Mr. Thompson was not in the least erroneous !
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1773 - 
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