All Things Jersey

Victor Hugo and the Rocher des Proscrits

Hugo wrote of Jersey: “On y parle français, et l’on y vit très bien à bon marché” — “French is spoken there, and one lives very well there cheaply.”

The Rocher des Proscrits is at Le Dicq / Grève d’Azette, near Hugo’s Jersey home, Marine Terrace. It was later marked with a plaque: “Rocher des Proscrits / Victor Hugo / en exil / 1852–1855.” Hugo was photographed there, looking out toward France.

Why Hugo came to Jersey

Hugo opposed Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte after the coup d’état of 2 December 1851. To avoid arrest, he fled France, first to Brussels, then to Jersey, arriving on 5 August 1852.

In Jersey he lived among French republican exiles, wrote against Napoleon III, and used photography as part of his political image-making from Marine Terrace.

Why he left Jersey

He was expelled in 1855 after supporting exiles connected with a newspaper that had criticised Queen Victoria’s visit to Napoleon III. He then moved to Guernsey, where he lived for about 15 years and wrote major parts of Les Misérables.

Huguenots, briefly

The Huguenots were French Protestants, mainly Calvinists. They were persecuted during the French Wars of Religion, especially after the 1572 St Bartholomew’s Day massacre. The Edict of Nantes in 1598 gave them limited protection, but Louis XIV revoked it in 1685, forcing many into exile. Jersey and the Channel Islands became natural refuges because they were close to France, French-speaking, Protestant-leaning, and under the English Crown.

Solar Power for renters look 👀 Balcony solar is coming to the UK. Let’s hope it’s not too much longer before it gets the go ahead here.

California Senate passes plug-in solar bill The Plug and Play Solar Act, which passed on a 35-1 vote, would allow portable solar generation devices with up to 1,200 W of output to connect to a building through a standard outlet. The bill now moves to the state Assembly, which has until August 31 to pass it during the current session.