1700 –

Illustrated in 1790 This showed the first example of development of a Harbour in St Helier. Built in 1700, the French and English Harbour (the 2 buildings highlighted in red) are older than any harbour on the Island. These served as the only port for Jersey’s larger ships until construction began of the North pier in 1790 to 1821.

Here shows a map of the harbour in 1834, The North pier is now present opposite the French Harbour. Later expanded upon in 1887 to 97 this became the New North Quay as seen today.

To improve the Harbours capacity, development of a new pier from 1847 to 1853 began. Named after the Prince Consort, Albert, this was announced on his second royal visit in 1859. Later on, Victoria pier, named after the current monarch at the time, was constructed from around 1841 to 1846.

Photos of the Piers reconstruction in the 1930’s:

Within the 20th century developments where made to provide new usages of the harbour, The tanker berth was built to allow for tankers to offload fuel and oil supplies close by to the fuel farm. Victoria Pier became a Yacht Basin, with a deep-water harbour for leisure craft and areas for the islands fishing fleet.

With the La Collette land reclamation scheme in the 1970s, areas of the harbour expanded such as the area behind the French Harbour.

In the 1980s, the Elizabeth Harbour and its terminal building for passenger transport and separated freight area was planned and finally completed in 1989.

After the Harbours final installation, Marinas began to appear where ports no longer had a use for freight shipping. St Helier Marina, opened in 1981 included nearly 400 berths. in 1998 the Elizabeth Marina was opened which held 600 berths, mainly for local boat owners. As mentioned before areas such as the old harbour and French and English harbours became a spot for other boats, unlike the Elizabeth marina, these where located within the harbour which when the tide would go out would not leave the boats afloat. Again with the La Collette land reclamations, a Yacht Basin was installed, this like the other 2 was mainly made for local residences.

As Jersey’s population increases, many inhabitants, cramped on this small island hold the desire for travel. As a result, in recent years, plans have been put forward to redevelop the aging Elizabeth Terminal.

As shown in the image above, this shows the plans in mind to facilitate creating a safeguard of the Islands supply chain, increase in capacity of handling future freight requirements, and overall, improving travel capability for Jersey.

– 2024

Task 1

What was the involvement of Jersey mariners in the Canadian cod-fisheries and the Transatlantic carrying trade?

By the beginning of the 16th century, Basque fishermen were travelling to the Canada to fish and by 1580, around 10,000 European fishermen were making the transatlantic voyage to the area each year to fish for cod. Channel Island fishermen were among these fishermen and by the 1750s they had set up lucrative trade routes between Canada, Europe and America, establishing bases on the Gaspé Coast where they could salt and prepare the cod. 

Which ports did Jersey ships sail to and trade with?

They sailed to Newfoundland and Gaspe coast and traded goods with Canada, Europe, America, British colonies in the West Indies, later Brazil, Cape Cod Castle on the Gold Coast of Ghana

What type of goods did Jersey merchants exchange for codfish?

They traded cod for plantation goods, such as sugar, molasses, rum, cotton, coffee and tobacco. They had also traded the cod for slaves.

To what extend, has the island of Jersey benefitted from its constitutional relationship with Britain and the legacies of colonialism based on a slave plantation economy during the first Industrial Revolution (1760-1840)?

Jersey had severely benefited from slave plantation economy, they were able to trade their Cod to America in exchange for valuable goods such as tobacco and sugar which they were able to sell on to different countries in Europe and Britain which made them a lot of profit that allowed them to expand ship production.

Task 2

Provide a short history of the development of St Helier harbour (1830s – 2020s) and produce a mood-board of images.

• The harbour was first constructed in the early 19th century. 
• The harbour was then upgraded in 1790.
• In 1814, roads were constructed as Commercial Buildings and Le Quai des Marchands to connect the harbours to the town.
• In 1832, construction was finished on the Esplanade and its sea wall.
• In 1837 there was an order to construct two new piers, the Victoria and Albert Piers.

Old plans for renewing the harbour

Start of renewing the harbour – around 1930s

Before and after photos of the harbour

Key Links Used:

What was the involvement of Jersey mariners in the Canadian cod-fisheries and the Transatlantic carrying trade? –

Since Canada’s discovery from around 1497, Europeans from early years, had their Fishermen drawn to the continents’ local seas full of fish. By the early 16th-century 10,000 European Fishermen made the Transatlantic voyage to fish in the area for cod.

Amongst these Fishermen where sailors from the Channel Islands, who by the 1750s, had set up lucrative trade routes between Europe, Canada and America. Although Jersey folk did not necessarily fish themselves some did. The majority that where involved in the Canadian Cod industry, where merchants, trading all across the globe from areas such as in central America, North Africa and Europe. Through this process, Jersey was able to gain a lot of wealth through the trade deals made with Cod for other commodities such as coffee, sugar, wines and spirits. Imported into Jersey and then re-exported free of tax this made it quite a popular location for the international markets. With wood such a Mahogany imported this benefited Jersey’s shipbuilding industry which in turn fuelled the Cod trade with more ships to obtain these items.

Which ports did Jersey ships sail to and trade with?

Voyaging from coasts such as Gaspé, here was where they salted and prepare the cod for trade and travel. All year round Fishermen could travel and fish, seas held plentiful amount of fish, nearer the coast proved harder for other fisherman but Channel Islanders experience with coastal fishing made use of their skills. Other ports included that on the Newfoundland, South America and others. Main ports which ships travelled to during their trades consisted of Bristol, London, Liverpool. Trading through both English and French ports in the Newfoundland, Jersey peoples native tongue and adoption of English benefitted them massively due to how similar they sounded. Using it also to discuss trade deals this allowed them to judge if they felt they where being scammed or not.

Charles Robin

1743 – 1824

Charles Robin, a Jersey Merchant , is one of many Channel Islanders who sailed to the Gaspé Coast as well as the grounds of Cape Breton Island.

Within his life he became the Island’s leading merchant and biggest exporter on the Gaspé Coast. Forming the family firm Robin, pipon and Co in 1765, they established links with Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and the British colony of Newfoundland. In the exchanging of control from French to British in the Newfoundland’s, Robin was sent to Seaflowerto to establish potential trading on the coast south of the St Lawrence river, which when under French control used to been the territory of St Malo merchants. Here, Robin discovered some of the best fishing grounds in the Atlantic were across the banks of the St Lawrence River by the mouth of the Gaspé Coast.

On the gravelly beaches of the banks, this proved perfect for the drying process of the Cod collected by fishermen. In the following year robin returned and established a dock within a lagoon which ships could safely anchor within. From this point onwards, Robins lucrative industry began thriving. Trading with America, Britain and many other countries this generated a lot of wealth for Robin. However due to fluctuations in the need for Cod life at the Gaspe was exactly perfect. Wars would occasionally cause trading difficulties, with the British-American war of 1812 – 1814 for example, this forced him to close for a couple of years. Annoyances such as ship seizures by privateers, lost valuable cargos and attacks from French ships caused Robin to suffer some difficulties. However being a resourceful man, during Britain’s war against France, he made his men disguise them selves as French soldiers. Speaking Jersey’s dialect of French he could deter any questionings by French warships. Due to fears of losing his men for pressures of joining into naval service, he avoided British ports, sailing to Portugal and Jersey, he recruited more workers from the Les Quennevais area. Bringing in carpenters and shipwrights this allowed him to construct his own vessels and develop his industry further and have ships docked in both Jersey and at the Gaspe. Settling back home in Jersey, Robin left the Gaspe for last time in 1802, however still ran operations. Even after his death his firm continued on in his legacy.

What type of goods did Jersey merchants exchange for cod-fish?

Throughout the Transatlantic carrying trade, Jersey Merchants received, by French and English fishermen, dried and salted cod. Providing economic benefit to Jersey, these allowed for much larger exchanges to ports in the Americas. Through these trades, Jersey folk received commodities, exotic in comparison to the food on the island. Islanders could now enjoy items such as rum from the Caribbean, molasses in the West Indies, coffee from countries in Africa, wine from brazil and mahogany from Honduras.

To what extend, has the island of Jersey benefitted from its constitutional relationship with Britain and the legacies of colonialism based on a slave plantation economy during the first Industrial Revolution (1760-1840)?

Although beneficial to Jersey’s economy at the time, these commodities received through trades in the cod industry were provided of the backs of slaves within the Americas. Goods such as mahogany were obtained through trade as a result of the Slave Trade. Harvested in Honduras through the work of forced slave workers, this wood was crafted into items such as furniture for Jersey’s richer islanders to purchase from trading merchants involved in the slave trade. Furthermore, with the importing of Mahogany into Jersey, this wood was provided to be used within Jersey’s ship building industry. With ship construction across numerous building yards In Jersey, these ships were made and sold to more traders and merchants involved in the trades. Slave traders from Britain, using purchased ships built in Jersey, would use these throughout the slave trade.

Ships from Jersey such as the ‘Neptune of Jersey’ delivered 165 enslaved people to the West Indies In May of 1762. The ship ‘Hope’ built in Jersey, 1747, departed from Bristol in 1759, to pick up 230 enslaved people, here they then disembarked 199 enslaved people in Jamaica. These are only 2 examples of numerous accounts taken of Jersey’s involvement with the slave worker.

St Helier harbour hasn’t changed massively between the years, although there are some clear changes, the area has stayed homogeneous. Saint Helier Harbour is named after Helier (or Helerius), a 6th-century ascetic hermit from Belgium.

This picture, by a Mrs Slater, one of the earliest female photographers whose work in Jersey survives, was taken in 1860, or soon after, and shows the La Folie area of the original harbour, with the French Harbour in the foreground and the long, thin, North Quay lined with sailing vessels in the background.

This painting by John Shepherd dates to the 1870s or early 80s and shows clearly how close the top of the Old Harbour came to the original weighbridge, which was in front of the Royal Yacht Hotel

This picture was taken in about 1886-7 and shows the work under way on some initial widening of the North Quay behind the weighbridge. A new cargo shed has been constructed.

A rare photograph showing the Old Harbour infill from the other side, with the row of Commercial Buildings properties showing very few similarities to what survives in the 21st century

An aerial view of the harbour at high tide in 1934

1950, and nothing has changed

links:

What was the involvement of Jersey mariners in the Canadian cod-fisheries and the Transatlantic carrying trade?

When the first Europeans reached Canada is unclear, but it is thought to be Italian explorer John Cabot’s descriptions of ‘new found landes’ and a sea swarming with fish in 1497 that drew fishermen to the north of the continent, and around 1600 English fishing captains still reported cod shoals 

By the beginning of the 16th-century Basque fishermen were travelling to the region to fish and, by 1580, around 10,000 European fishermen were making the transatlantic voyage to the area each year to fish for cod.

Channel Island fishermen were among these and by the 1750s they had set up lucrative trade routes between Canada, Europe and America, establishing bases on the Gaspé Coast where they could salt and prepare the cod. 

Which ports did Jersey ships sail to and trade with?

A concerted effort to build harbours did not take off until the late 17th century, when work began on building a pier on the islet on which St Aubin’s fort stands. During the 18th century St Aubin’s harbour proper was constructed and work began on developing St Helier as a port, although the capital had to wait until the 19th century before it really began to develop as a port.

It was during the early 19th century that stone piers were built at La Rocque, Bouley Bay, Rozel and Gorey, to accommodate the oyster boats. The harbour at Gorey also took passenger traffic from Normandy. The primary purpose of these harbours was the movement of cargoes and not people.

What type of goods did Jersey merchants exchange for cod-fish?

Jersey cod-merchants also exported cod-fish to British colonies in the West Indies and later Brazil too in exchange for plantation goods, such as sugar, molasses, rum, cotton, coffee and tobacco which it brought to markets in America, Europe and the UK (inc. Jersey). Within that context Jersey benefitted from the profits made in the British Empire build on a capitalist model of a slave-based economy.

To what extend, has the island of Jersey benefitted from its constitutional relationship with Britain and the legacies of colonialism based on a slave plantation economy during the first Industrial Revolution (1760-1840)?

 By the 1770s there may have been up to 70 Jersey ships and 2,000 Jerseymen engaged in the cod trade. By the 1840s it is estimated that the industry directly employed 4,000 people. Also, many others were engaged in manufacturing goods to be exported to the Canadian settlements. https://www.policy.je/papers/jerseys-history

In the print screen below I have edited it so that the layout of the photographs is even. I moved around the images so that everything is put together and so the writing is placed together and not that it would un-interest the reader if it were outside the images. I like the photographs I have chosen and I believe that the black and white adds to the element of of the “Mellow” title and overall atmosphere of it.

In this print screen I have included the development of the first picture story. I included the rearrangement and movements I made of the photographs as well as the rearrangements I made to the text. I liked the arrangement of the text at the top at first but then realised that the text appears more better in between the two landscape photographs.

In this print screen I have included different variations of my photographs that I took whilst in St Malo. The development of my picture stories can be shown as the title has changed, I played around with the words and made it bolder, the text writing had some adjustments and I decided to include a drop shadow. I have included as well a border around my images so that they differ a bit from the blankness of the background.

I like how it turned out as the picture story looks full of naturey colours and it doesn’t look too in the viewer’s face.

I believe that the picture story looks good with the drop shadow as it adds to it and doesn’t make it as blank and simplistic as it could appear in general. I decided to keep the white background as I feel it would look tol heavy wih am image behind to other imges.

Jersey mariners and Canadian cod fishers made a fortune by trading their goods and employing people in their country. By 1763, Jersey was trading more Newfoundland cod than any other British port. Another reason why the Jersey Merchants were so successful was because they were able to speak French and English. They conducted a language called Jerriais, Jersey French this enabled them to communicate in a sense of code.

Jersey Merchants exchanged various goods for codfish. During the 17th and 18th centuries Jersey traded items such as salt because they needed it for the fish. They also traded textiles, alcohol and other local goods.

Jersey cod-merchants also exported cod-fish to British colonies in the West Indies and later Brazil too in exchange for plantation goods, such as sugar, molasses, rum, cotton, coffee and tobacco which it brought to markets in America, Europe and the UK. Within that context Jersey benefitted from the profits made in the British Empire build on a capitalist model of a slave-based economy. Jersey ships frequently sailed to ports in France particularly Normandy. they also traded with parts of the British Isles, such as England and Ireland.

Jerseys ship building businesses became serious in the 18th century with the aim to build larger ships than the fishing boats. this enabled Jersey merchants to trade to different countries. Between 1760 and 1815 Britain was at war which affected the trading between Jersey and other countries. During World War 1 and World War 2, iron ships, steam ships and oil powered ships were built. Wooden ships which were built on island were becoming more popular and opening ports in places such as South America, Hong Kong and Australia.

A zine is a self-published, often handmade magazine that features a collection of photographs, typically focused on a specific theme or concept. Zines can vary widely in style, format, and distribution, allowing photographers to express their artistic vision outside traditional publishing routes. They often include accompanying text, such as essays or poetry, and are created in small runs, making them accessible and personal. The DIY nature of zines fosters creativity and experimentation, encouraging photographers to engage directly with their audience.

Zine: A tool that photographers can use to tell a visual story, to inform an audience about a specific topic or issue, to showcase and advertise a new idea or simply create a preview of an ongoing project. Zines were originally called fanzines, alluding to the fans who made them.

Once you have considered the points made between the differences in narrative and story and thought about what story you want to tell about St Helier Harbour and the images that that you have made in response, consider the following:

A story can be linear or complex, with sub-plots, twists and turns, etc. A story usually answers the question “What’s going on?” or “What are the main events?” On the other hand, a narrative encompasses the entire narrative work, including the story itself, as well as the way it is told, structured and formatted.

STORY: What is your story?
Describe in:

• 3 words
• A sentence
• A paragraph

Harbour throughout time

My pictures will tells a story of St Helier harbour throughout time going from the older harbour to the newer one.

The story my images will try to convey is the idea of how St Helier harbour and Jersey in general has grown and expanded. From back in the day where Jersey only consisted of one small harbour to now days where we have a newer, bigger, modern harbour. My pictures will also show how Jersey has expanded in landmass as my images show where once was sea is now land/ buildings.

NARRATIVE: How will you tell your story?

• Images > New St Helier Harbour photographs
• Archives > Old photographs of St Helier Harbour from SJ photo-archive or JEP Photographic Archive
• Texts > Write a short introduction or statement about your picture story, image captions
• Typography > creative uses of words, letters, font-types, sizes

I will convey this idea of time by using images I took of the older harbour and the modern harbour. Additionally, I will add filters over my images to enhance the idea of aging. For example, some of my images will be black and white like they would’ve been back in the day. On the other hand, some of my images will be in full colour (with some of the colours in the images enhanced to emphasise the point of how colour in photography has changed and grown). Finally, some of my images will be mainly black and white and then have one object in colour. I decided to do this in order to represent the time where colour slowly got introduced into photography.

I will also use these image from the JEP photographic archive which shows the old harbour and maps of it.

Add a selection of your final 10-16 images as a moodboard/ gallery to the blog post too, including any archive material too:

These are the images I am going to use in my zine. I decided to create my zine around the idea of time. For example, the first 6 images in my zine are black and white. This is representative of the olden days where images had no colour. Next, I decided to add some colour splash images to convey the idea of colour slowing being introduced to the photography world. Finally, the last set of images in my zine are coloured. This represents the present day. The use of different colouring throughout my zine almost acts as a timeline going from when images were only black and white to now when they are full of colour.