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Cod and the coast |
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One of the impressive Cod Houses' in Jersey
© Geraint Jennings |
Each crate or barrel would have a label nailed to it with the name and address of the recipient, and to make doubly sure the carpenter would even cut the respective initials into the head of the barrel. With these provisions in stock, there would be feasts of fish during the winter.
The end of an era
But on 11th January, 1886, the Jersey Banking Company collapsed as a result of fraud and embezzlement. One day later the firm of Charles Robin and Co in St Helier closed its doors, as it had borrowed heavily to cover losses during a bad fishing season. Over on the Coast, fishermen rioted on hearing the news and looted the food stores. Canadian troops had to be called in to restore order.
As a result of the financial crisis in Jersey, head offices relocated to Canada where assets were beyond the reach of Jersey creditors, and as the cod industry went into decline, companies merged and diversified. Manpower from Jersey was no longer required. It was the end of a working era, but the Jersey cultural influence lived on the Coast, and communities in which the older folk continued to speak Jèrriais were still in existence in the 1960s.
Nowadays in Jersey, the Jersey-controlled cod industry has disappeared, but the island’s economy still depends on worldwide communication and trade. Many of the grand town-houses have been divided into flats to accommodate a modern generation of office-workers for the finance and service industries, but the elegant curving banisters still hold a clue as to how the building was financed years ago.
Words: Geraint Jennings
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