Sir Philippe de Carteret
Arguably the most famous of the many members of the de Carteret family to bear the name - ten Philippes and Philips merit an article in George Balleine's Biographical Dictionary of Jersey - Sir Philippe was Seigneur of Sark and St Ouen, the eldest son of another Sir Philippe, and Rachel Paulet, daughter of Bailiff George Paulet The grandson of the coloniser of Sark, Helier de Carteret Philippe was born in the island on 18 February 1584.
He was to become Bailiff and Lieut-Governor of Jersey at the time of the English Civil War, and died of illness in Elizabeth Castle after taking refuge there from island militiamen who marched on St Helier when the States were sitting. Although it is usually stated that Jersey supported the Royalist cause during the civil war, while Guernsey's sympathies lay with Parliament, this is not strictly true. Certainly Sir Philippe and his nephew Sir George Carteret who was also Bailiff and Lieut-Governor during the war, supported the Crown, but Sir Philippe's autocratic rule made him so unpopular in Jersey that the sympathies of the island as a whole and many of its prominent citizens were with Cromwell, if for no other reason than to oppose Sir Philippe's rule.
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Decarteret, A Family History
Non-FictionThe History of the famous Decarteret Family, with stories about certain individuals and interesting facts about others.
