The Salmon Family in Guernsey

SALMON FAMILY PART II by Brian Torode

SENATEUR DESIRE JEAN BAPTISTE SALMON, my GRANDFATHER

Son of Jean Louis Denis Salmon and Agathe Marie Celeste Ozouet Father of at least two children of Rachel Bisson of Jersey - John Francis Salmon and Lydia Rachel Quirot Husband of Emelie Bisson of Jersey Father of Alice Beatrice Torode, nee Salmon. Also Father of John, Walter, Albert John, Henry Francis, Nicholas Mauger, William John, Albert William, Emily, George, Francis, Frederick, Alfred, Arthur and possibly Father of Walter John the illegitimate son of Emelie Bisson

John Senateur Salmon

Previous to making contact with the French researchers, Martial Ozouet and Mme Moinet, and previous to having access to the La Manche Archives, information about my grandfather Senateur Salmon was partially based on hearsay, family tradition and minimal written evidence. According to his death certificate, Desire Jean Batiste Salmon was the son of Jean Louis Desire Salmon and his wife Agathe Marie Celeste Ozouet and he was born in the region of France called La Manche corresponding to today’s Normandy. Senateur Desire Jean Baptiste Salmon died 5th August 1911 at 7.05pm, and his age was recorded as about sixty-five years. His place of death is given as Lunatic Asylum, St Peter Port, Guernsey. This would mean that he was born in about 1845 or 1846. His trade is given as Mason, and his normal place of residence is given as Pedvin Street, St Peter Port. The cause of death is given as general debility (vide inquest of 8.8.11). His death was registered on August 7th 1911.

In the 1881 Census he was described as thirty-one-years-old which would mean that he was born in about 1850. The 1891 census gives his age then as forty-two-years-old and his place of birth as St Martin’s Parish, Jersey.

1 From these details I concluded that he was born some time between 1845 and 1850 and that he had connections with both La Manche and also the Parish of St Martin in Jersey. At the time of the 1911 census it was said that he was actually born at St Brieuc. (See below references to Birth and marriage certificates)

Thanks to the La Manche research we now know that Senateur Desire Jean Baptiste Salmon was born at Lithaire, La Manche, on 22nd July 1846 and was presented to be registered on the next day. His father was Jean Louis Denis Salmon who had married Agathe Marie Celeste Ozouet on 28th November 1845 and banns were published on 20th and 27th July that year. His mother came from Lithaire and his maternal grandparents were Leonor Pierre Michel Ozouet (1791-1841) and Aimee Celeste Henriette Le Forestier (1805-1879). His mother Agathe worked as a knitter and was described at her marriage as being supported by her widowed mother who was aged forty-five and born at Mobecq.

L’Acte de Naissance a Lithaire de Salmon, Senateur Desire Jean Baptiste le 23 juillet 1846.

L’an mil huit cent quarante six le 23 juillet a huit heures du matin, devant moi Louis Bonaventure Martin, maire, officier de l’etat civil de la commune de Lithaire, canton de Gorges du department de la Manche est comparu Jean Louis Denis Salmon age de 28 ans, journalier ne a Gorges, domicile a Lithaire, lequel nous a presente un enfant du sexe masculine, ne hier a 10 heures du matin en sa maison pres de la Piegnerie, et de lui declarant, et d’Agathe Marie Celeste Ozouet agee de dix neuf ans travaillant dans le ménage, ne et domicile a Lithaire, son epouse, et auquel il a declare vouloir donner les prenoms SenateurDesire Jean Baptiste, les actes de declaration et presentation faite en presence de Jean Cousin age de 41 ans, institeur a Lithaire, et de Louis Fremont age de 35 ans, marechal a Lithaire, et le pere et les temoins ont sousigne dans le livre, le presente acte de naissance, après qu’il leur en a ete fait lecture.

Signed, j salmon, Cousin, L Fremont Martin.

Translated as: The year 1846, the 23rd July, at 8 in the morning, before me, Louis Bonaventure Martin, Mayor Official of l’Etat civil, de la Commune de Lithaire, Canton de Gorges, of the said Department of la Manche, there came Jean Louis Denis Salmon aged 28 , journalier, born at Gorges, living at Lithaire, who presented us with a child of masculine sex, born yesterday at ten hours of the morning, in his house near la Piegnerie, who declared that it was his own child and that of Agathe Marie Celeste Ozouet aged 19, his wife, working from home, born and living at Lithaire, to whom he stated that they wanted to give the forenames of Senateur Desire Jean Baptiste, the said declaration and presentation made in the presence of Jean Cousin aged 41 years, teacher at Lithaire, and of Louis Fremont, aged 35 years farrier at Lithaire and the father and witnesses signed in the book, with me, the Birth Certificate, after having had it read to them.

At the time of the birth of Senateur Salmon his father, Jean Louis Denis, was described as a twenty-eight-year-old journalier, (day worker, journeyman) born at Gorges.

2 Senateur Desire Jean Baptiste Salmon was baptised at Lithaire in 1846 – the old church-and the Registers record the occasion:

No:2003. Senateur Desire Jean Baptiste, fils legitime de Jean Salmon et de Marie Ozouet domicilie a Lithaire, ne le vingt deux juillet 1846, a ete solemnellement baptise le meme jour, le parrain, Jean Cathrine, la marraine Eugenie Ozouet. (signed) Jean Cathrine. (?) Cou… Vicaire de Lithaire

2003. Senateur Desire Jean Baptiste, legitimate son of John Salmon and Marie Ozouet inhabitants of Lithaire, born 22nd July 1846, has been solemnly baptised the same day the godfather being John Cathrine and the godmother Eugenie Ozouet. (signed) Jean Cathrine. (?) Cou… Vicar of Lithaire

In his youth Senateur had both of his parents alive as well as an uncle, Aimable Paul Salmon, and his paternal grandparents were still living in Lithaire. His maternal grandfather, Leonor Pierre Michel Ozouet, a domestic carpenter of Lithaire, had died before Senateur was born, on 30th August 1841.His mother had had two sisters, Eugenie Pelagie Esther (1830-) (who married in 1869 and again in 1873 at Saint-Lo-d’Ourville and Josephine Jeanne Aimee (1832- 1921 died in Jersey) . Senateur’s maternal grandmother, Aimee Celeste Henriette Le Forestier, wife of Leonore Pierre Michel Ozouet, was a widow and boarder in Trinity, Jersey at the time of the 1861 Census return and she was to die at St John’s Jersey on 3rd August 1879.

The death certificate reveals that on 3rd August 1879 at Vingtaine du Nord in St John’s Parish, Celeste Le Forestier, widow of Eliodore (Leonore) Ozouet, aged seventy-five-years and one month, a day labourer, died of old age. The informant was Emmanuel Beaugeard of Vingtaine du Nord, present at the death. The death was registered on 4th August 1879 by Philip Le Boutillier, Registrar.

Senateur’s mother, the widow of Jean Louis Denis Salmon, Agathe Marie Celeste Ozouet, formed a relationship with Louis Prospere L’Eveilly (Le Bouvier) and they had a child, Philipp Jean born 14 September 1861 and a daughter Louise Josephine Le L’Eveilly (Le Bouvier), who was born on 8th December 1863 at Vingtaine du Douet in the Parish of St John, Jersey.

The birth certificate of these children give the father as Louis Prospere L’Eveilly and the mother as Agate Marie Celeste Ozouet. The father was working as a day labourer. The informant was Louis L’Eveilly, father of the child, who lived at Vingtaine du Douet and the birth was registered on 15th December 1863 by Joseph Hamon, Registrar.

The baptism records for the children are as follows: St John’s Parish: Philippe Jean son of Louis Prospper Leveilley and Agathe Marie Celeste baptised 22nd September 1861 Philippe Jean died 23 days later.

St John’s Parish: Louisa Jospehine Leveilley baptised 8th December 1863. Daughter of Louis Prosper and Agathe.

Of dubious interest is the fact that when John Francis Salmon, son of John Senateur (Salatin) Salmon and Rachel Bisson, was baptised in 1873 at Holy Trinity Church, St Helier, Jersey, the god-parents were ‘Louis Leveille et sa femme’

L’Eveille is not a Jersey name and it wold seem that in view of the evidence so far obtained, Louis Prosper used it as an alias for reasons unknown but supposed, above.

From the beginning of the 19th century, to the middle of the twentieth, French workers – mainly agricultural- emigrated from Brittany and Normandy, to Jersey in search of work, intending to return to their homeland at the end of the season. However, some decided to settle in Jersey and between 1851 and 1891 the number of people recorded in the Census who had been born in France rose by over 3000- in 1851 amounting to 3.5% of the population, in 1861 amounting to 5%, and in 1871 amounting to 7.2% of the total population. The employment offered to these migrant workers consisted largely of potato picking and construction work – in the early years, on the new harbour. By working for just a few months in Jersey, French workers could earn far more than they would have done in a whole year in Brittany.

Most of the workers travelled to Jersey from the port of St Brieuc. The 1920s Alien Registration Records in Jersey show that 55 persons gave their place of birth as St Brieuc and the 25 Communes within 45 km of St Brieuc provided 737 further immigrants. Although this does not relate directly to the time of Desire Jean Baptiste Salmon, it does give some indication of the numbers from La Manche who found work in and remained in Jersey. The actual figure for those born in La Manche – the birthplace of Desire Jean, amounted to 181.

In a similar study, 37% of the French people married in St Martin’s Parish Church between 1850 and 1940 were from La Manche- 11 marriages in all. (information from Mark Boleat ‘French Workers and the Jersey Population.’ He quotes extensively from Michel Monteil: L’emigration francaise vers Jersey 1850-1950. L’Universite de Provence 2005)

The Communes in La Manche, from which the Normandy immigrants came, were in a 15 km strip between Carteret and Lessay, Carteret probably being the port of embarkation. There are a few exceptions- Granville and Muneville sur Mer 60 km to the south and Bricquebec which is north east of Carteret, some distance away from the other listed Communes. The birthplaces listed of French people from la Manche registered as aliens, include Hay du Puits, St Lo d’Ourville, Barneville, Denneville, Bricquebec, and Creances- many of which appear in the story of the Salmon and related families.

Pursuing the tantalizing reference in the Guernsey 1891 Census Return to John Salmon being linked with St Martin’s Parish, Jersey, it is interesting to note that in the 1841 Census there lived in the Parish of St Martin a Pierre Salmon, born in France, a twenty-five-year-old farmer, which suggests he had been born in 1816. He was living with an Ester Le Feuvre, ten years his senior, and Ester Gallichan, aged sixty-five-years. Both of these ladies were born in Jersey. In the 1851 census, a Pierre Salmon is living at Grove Cottage St Helier. Details are as follows:

4 Ann Renouf, widow, aged 53 house holder, born St Martin Clement Renouf, son, 22, Clerk, born Grouville. Peter Salmon, visitor 41, married, annuitant (living off own means/pension), born France.

There is no mention of Peter in the 1861 Census. He may or may not be connected to our Senateur Desire John Baptiste Salmon - further research still needs to be done.

However, to add further complication, the earliest reference we seem to have of this name, Desire Jean Ba(p)tiste Salmon, is at his death. Before then he is known simply as John or as John Senateur Salmon. This latter name was used on the occasion when we find our first definite reference to him. On 13th October 1873 he registered the birth of his son John Francis, before John de Gruchy, the Jersey Registrar. The mother of this child was given as maiden name Rachel Bisson and the child had been born on 3rd October 1873 in Trinity Parish, Jersey. John Senateur Salmon was described as a Day Labourer of Vingtaine des Augres. Based on the information given above, he would have been about 23 at the time. He would appear from the copy certificate to have signed his name. As no previous mention of him occurs in any previous Census Return, this would suggest that he arrived in the Island of Jersey between 1871 and 1873.

The son, John Francis was born in Trinity on 3rd Octoiber 1873 and baptised at Holy Trinity Church, Jersey, on 14th December 1873. On this occasion the father is referred to as John Salatin Salmon. This is probably not significant but an error on the part of William du Heaume, the Rector. The godparents of the child were Louis Leveille and his wife, presumably the mother and future stepfather of Senateur Salmon, and the details are as follows:

‘John Francis Salmon - date of birth 3 Octobre 1873; date of Baptism 14 Decembre.1873; Father’s name: John Salatin Salmon; Mother’s name: Rachel Bisson; Father’s occupation: domestique; Godparents: Louis Leveille et sa femme.’ No address is given.

This would suggest that Senateur was definitely in Jersey in 1873.

John Francis died in St Helier aged 1 year, 1 year 6 months, on 15th april 1875 at 12, Dumaresq Street, of pneumonia.

Just over two years later, on 6th January 1876 another child, Lydia Rachel (Bisson), was born at 12 Dumaresq Street in St Helier Parish, Jersey. She was described as the daughter of John Senateur Salmon and Rachel Bisson. John Senateur Salmon was described as a Carter. The birth was registered on 13th January 1876 and the informant was Carterette Pinel of Seaton Place, who had been present at the birth. Carterette was the wife of, Elie Pinel, brother of Rachel’s mother Anne Pinel and therefore Rachel’s aunt.

There is no recorded marriage between John Salmon and Rachel Bisson at Trinity. Rachel was, however, the mother of further illegitimate children namely:

5 Amelia Jane (Bisson) who was born on 17th September 1877 - no father’s name is given. The mark- x – of Mary Ann Bisson, present at birth at 14 Journeaux Street, is given. Amelia’s birth was not registered until nearly three weeks after the birth.

John (Bisson) who was born on 31st July 1879: again no father is named and the mark – x – is made, of Carterette Haps, present at birth, of 56 King Street. John’s birth was not registered until 20th August –again three weeks after birth.

John’s baptism details are:

Birth July 31st 1879, John illegitimate son of Rachel Bisson, baptised August 24th 1879. Godparents Peter Haps and Emelie Bisson, sponsors. I U Pilbeam, Curate officiated. No other details are given. The Sponsor, Emelie Bisson, was the sister of the said Rachel.

This baptism was in fact a double baptism, and gives rise to further mysterious associations:

Birth 13th January 1879, John, illegitimate son of EMELIE Bisson, baptised 24th August 1879. Godparents Peter Haps and Mary Ann Bisson.

And Rachel Bisson was also mother to Mabel Mary Ann (Bisson), in 1890. Interestingly, a John Salmon was a godfather of Mabel Mary when she was baptised on 2nd August 1892 – was this John Senateur Salmon or perhaps Rachel and John’s son, John Francis who would have been aged 17 at the time? This is however unlikely as he probably died before 1881 as he is not included in that year’s Census. The other sponsors were Mary Ann Bisson, and Amelia Bisson. Robt Jones, Curate, officiated. Amelia would have been only 13 years of age at this date and the half sister of the child, Mabel Mary Ann.

6 SENATEUR DESIRE JEAN BAPTISTE SALMON, my Grandfather and EMELIE BISSON, my Grandmother

John Senateur Salmon

St Martin’s Parish shares a border with Trinity Parish and it was in Trinity Parish that there was a family of Bisson at this time. Rachel Bisson was born on 2nd March 1851 and was the third daughter of John Bisson, a blacksmith, and his wife Anne Pinel. This Rachel Bisson would seem to be the mother of the children of John Senateur Salmon referred to above.

Rachel Bisson had a younger sister, Emelie Bisson, ten years her junior, who was baptised at Trinity on 29th September 1861.

Emilie born 30th Juillet 1861, baptise le 29 Septembre 1861. Pere, Jean Bisson, mere, Anne Pinel. Father’s occupation Forgeron (Blacksmith) Godparents Jean Bisson, father, and Emilie Esnouf.

The Registration of Birth certificate on 9th November 1861 records the above details with additionally, the name of the informant, John Bisson, pere de l’enfant, of Vingtaine de la Ville a l’Eveque (Trinity Parish)

There is an entry in the St Helier’s Parish Register of the birth of Walter John Bisson on 17th August 1877 to Emelie Bisson at 14 Journeaux Street, St Helier. This child died aged one week on 25th August and is described as illegitimate. Rachel Bisson, Emelie’s sister, also gave birth to her illegitimate children, Amelia and John at this same address, 14 Journeaux Street, in 1877 and 1879 respectively a situation that suggests the following hypothesis:

Senateur John Salmon may have had a relationship with both sisters and he transferred his affections from the older one, Rachel, to the younger one Emelie. At the time of the birth of the illegitimate child, Walter John, to Emelie Bisson, she would have been only sixteen-years

7 of age. At this time John Senateur Salmon was aged thirty-one-years and he could have been the father of young Walter John Bisson as well as Rachel’s children as they were all living at the same address.

Emelie Salmon nee Bisson standing centre is probably the mother of the infant who could be her son John Salmon. If this photo was set in Jersey in February 1879 then the seated woman could be Aimee Celeste Ozouet (nee Le Forestier) 1805-1879 and her daughters Agatha Marie Salmon (1818-1900). Could the woman on the right be Rachel Bisson?

Whether this is true or false, we do know that by 1879 John Senateur Salmon and Emelie Bisson were living as man and wife. As with the elder sister, Rachel, there seems to be no record of a marriage in either Jersey or Guernsey. The first ‘legitimate’ child of John and Emelie, was named John Salmon. He was born in St Helier on 13th January 1879 when his mother would have been only eighteen and his father thirty-three. John Salmon junior was the first of their fourteen children - if one discounts the illegitimate Walter John mentioned above, but the only one born in Jersey. The second child, another Walter, was born in Guernsey in 1880. At that time there was a shortage of work in Jersey and many French settlers moved to Guernsey to find work in the quarries or in ship-building. In later life John Salmon (senior) was described as a mason and evidence suggests that he had originally gone to Jersey to work in the quarries.

Standing against this evidence for a romantic liaison with both sisters is the fact that members of each family acted as godparents for their respective children and Rachel Bisson seems to have kept in contact with the Salmon family in Guernsey. As mentioned above, John Salmon was probably the named sponsor to Mabel Mary Ann, the youngest illegitimate daughter of Rachel Bisson, when she was baptised in 1892. Lydia Rachel Bisson was godmother to William John Salmon when he was baptised in St Peter Port in 1885. Whatever the relationship was between John Salmon and the two Bisson sisters, things seem to have remained amicable.

8 CENSUS RETURNS - GUERNSEY.

In the 1881 census we find Desire is simply referred to as John Salmon, born St Martin, Jersey, probably his misunderstanding of the question – Where are you from? and having just left Jersey, he gave St Martin as the answer. It was also the Parish in Jersey where his father had died in 1857. He and Emelie were living at 43 Cornet Street, St Peter Port, Guernsey. The couple were described as married, John was a thirty-one-year-old mason (actually 35) and his wife, Emelie, aged twenty-one, was born in Trinity, Jersey. Their children were John, aged two years, born in St Helier (see below) whilst Walter, aged just six months, was born in St Peter Port, suggesting their arrival in Guernsey after January 1879 but before September 1880.

However, the Strangers’ Register for Guernsey gives the following details for:

Salmon, Jean Baptiste

Occupation: Mason Birthplace: Lithaire, Canton du Haye du Puits, arrondissement de Coutances, Dept de la Manche Last Residence: Jersey Arrived: 17 July 1878 Wife: Emily Bisson, born Trinity (Baptism certificate information) Children: John William born Jersey (b St Helier 17th Jan 1879) Walter John born Guernsey (b Gsy 16 Sept 1880) William John born Guernsey (b Gsy 16th October 1885) Albert William born Guernsey (b Gsy 15th February 1888) Emily Ada born Guernsey (b Gsy 20th May 1890) George Henry born Guernsey (b Gsy 5th July 1892)

This would suggest that they were definitely settled in Guernsey by September 1880 at the latest but not as early as 1878 as stated in this Strangers Register,

UNLESS:

Emily Bisson would have been preganant with John William by May 1878 and it is possible that Jean Baptiste moved over to Guernsey on his own, in search of work, during that year, without taking Emily with him. Whether he returned for a while to Jersey for the actual birth is pure conjecture but Emily had cerainly joined him in Guernsey by September 1880 when Walter John was born there.

OR:

The States of Guernsey Strangers’ Register was introduced in April 1892 to record details of non–natives, not in possession of real property and occupying apartments at a weekly rental of less than 3/6 or houses with an annual rental of less than £7. Registration was

9 compulsory with a non registration fine of £2. The Registration Order was revised in 1895 and made compulsory on ’tout laboureur, ouvrier ou domestique etranger presentement dans l’isle ou arrivant dans l’isle pour y gagner sa vie.’ This would have included Jean Baptist and when asked when he arrived in the Island, 1878 was probably an ‘about’ answer to this 1892/1895 registration. The next surviving child born after George Henry was Alfred John in 1898.

Persons registering were obliged to give details of occupation, birthplace and from March 1893, place of last residence and date of arrival in Guernsey as well as full name of any dependents including wife’s name. Strangers were then issued with a certificate without which they could not get employment or parish relief. Between 1892 and 1914 certificates were issud to individuals who had arrived in the island as early as 1833. Of those issued with certificates between 1892 and 1914, there were 117 masons and 10% of the total number of male certificate holders. There was also a greater number of children born in Jersey to French migrants to Guernsey between 1892 and 1914 than there were adult migrants.

Arrival dates in the Strangers Register reveal seasonal trends. Every year, arrivals were at a low ebb in the Spring, particularly in May when potato digging was in full swing in Jersey. They then rose sharply in July and remained high through August and September – Guernsey’s tomato picking season.

Other persons living in the same house, 43, Cornet Street, at this time (Census 1881) were:

Maturin Ange, Head, married, aged 48, a day labourer, born France. Marie, wife, married aged 41, hawker, born France.

In another part of the house were:

Peter Goring, Head, unmarried, aged 49, general labourer, born Alderney. Elizabeth Cluet, visitor, unmarried, aged 40, Labourer’s housekeeper, born Weymouth.

Also:

Victor de Get, aged 56, labourer, born France. William Gould, married, aged 34, china hawker, born St Peter Port, Guernsey. Rachel Gould, married, aged 39, born St Andrew’s Guernsey. Thomas A Mauger, stepson, aged 15, Light Porter and Assistant, born Guernsey. Nicolas A Mauger, stepson, aged 12, light Porter and Assistant, born Guernsey. John A Mauger, stepson, aged 4, deaf and dumb from birth, born Guernsey.

In February and March 1885 John and Emelie’s twins, Henri and Francois died at an address in Burnt Lane but by October 1885 the family had moved to 10, Hauteville, St Peter Port, a house which was situated on land behind the shop at the junction of Pedvin Street with Hauteville facing down Pedvin Street towards Trnity Square.

The 1891 census shows the family living at 10 Hauteville and occupying three rooms there. This was in Canton four, Holy Trinity Parish, St Peter Port. Again, simply referred to as John,

10 the head of the household is now a forty-two-year-old stone mason (actually 46) who gave his place of birth as St Martin’s Parish, Jersey. This again may well be explained by the fact that he was asked, “Where are you from?” His wife, Emelie was aged thirty-two years old and the children were:

John, aged thirteen, a port messenger, born in St Peter’s, Jersey. Walter, aged twelve, also a port messenger. William aged five, a scholar. Bertie, aged three. Emeline aged ten months.

The latter four were all born in St Peter Port, Guernsey.

The house was obviously let as rooms and living in rooms at the same address were also:

George Bond (?) married, aged 51, born England, newsagent. Elizabeth, married, aged 32, born Guernsey. Anne, daughter, aged 5, scholar born Guernsey Edwin J Duperques, married, aged 37, messenger, born Guernsey Ellen, married, aged 30, born Alderney. And three children, all born Guernsey.

Of the thirteen Salmon children who were born in Guernsey between 1880 and 1903 the majority were baptised at either Holy Trinity or its mother church, St Peter Port Parish Church.

The 1901 Census is irritating in that John Salmon’s birth place is just given as France: The current address is still 10 Hauteville, where they continued to live in three rooms, although the children now numbered seven but the eldest son John had married and left home:

John S Salmon, Head, mar, aged 54, mason, born France. Emily, wife, mar, aged 40, born Trinity, Jersey. Walter, son, aged 20, plasterer, born St Peter Port, Guernsey. William J, son, aged 15, port errant, born St Peter Port, Guernsey. Albert J, son, aged 13, port errant, born St Peter Port, Guernsey. Emily A, dtr, aged 12, born St PP, Guernsey. George H, son, aged 8, born St PP, Guernsey. Alfred J, son, aged 3, born St PP, Guernsey. Arthur J, son, aged 1, born St P P, Guernsey.

Since the 1891 Census John Salmon junior had left home, George and Alfred and Arthur were new additions to the family. The Albert J. referred to is on fact Albert William, an explanation for which is given below.

Little is known about the family on account of their acute poverty. Cornet Street was an extremely poor area in which lived many immigrant workers, particularly of French extraction. In nearly every reference to John (father) he was described as a mason but in the

11 marriage certificate of his youngest son, Arthur James, issued in 1920 he was described as a deceased plasterer.

Walter Salmon (junior) related an unlikely story that the father of his Aunt Emily’s first child, Percy Salmon, was a soldier in the Middlesex Regiment who was stationed at Fort George. Her father, Desire Jean Salmon, was furious and he refused to allow the couple to marry. A violent argument is said to have broken out and as a result Emily’s father was placed in the Asylum. Percy was born in February 1910 so these events, if credible, would have taken place during the previous year.

The Census of 1911, taken before the death of Desire Jean Batiste/Jean Desire Batiste Salmon in the August of that year, lists the following:

Address: 26, Pedvin Street, St Peter Port, all living in 3 rooms.

Emily Salmon, Head, aged 53, married 35 years. Born Jersey, Trinity Parish. 13 children born alive, 10 still living, 3 dead. Father born Jersey, Trinity Parish. Albert John, son, 23, single, tin worker, born St Peter Port Emily Ada, daughter, 21, single, born St Peter Port George Henry, son, 18, single, shop porter, born St Peter Port Alfred James, son, 14, errand boy, born St Peter Port Arthur James, son, 11, scholar, born St Peter Port Alice Beatrice, daughter, 7, at school, born St Peter Port Percy Alan, son, 1, born St Peter Port.

In each instance, the father is stated to have been born in France.

Percy was in fact the son of Emily Ada, not Emily senior; Albert John is in fact Albert William - explained later. The enumerator’s certificate is signed by Emily Salmon in her own hand.

So Walter and William had left home by this date and Alice and her nephew Percy were new additions to the household.

This Census also should tell us that John and Emily had had 14 children, of whom 9 were still alive - the twin Henri Francis and Nicholas Mauger were born in 1884 and died in 1885; Albert John, born 1882 had died in 1887 and Frederick Charles born 1896 had lived for only five weeks and Francis Henry born 1894 lived for only 6 months.

The 1911 Census for St Peter Port Hospital and Asylum, Rue des Freres, St Peter Port, lists No 32:

Desire Salmon, married, no age given, general labourer, born France, St Brieuc. Father’s birthplace unknown, French Nationality. Infirm under 1 year.

Most of what we do know about Desire John is to be found in the circumstances concerning his death. His death certificate records the following:

12 ‘No 221: Desire Jean Batiste Salmon Died 7.05pm August 5th 1911 aged 65 at the Lunatic Asylum, St Peter Port. Mason of Pedvin Street. Born La Manche, France. Cause of Death – General Debility. See Inquest 8th August 1911.’Parents Jean Louis Desire Salmon and Agathe Marie Celeste Ozouet.

The Register of Deaths at the Greffe records:

Number 1853: Salmon, Jean Desire Baptiste, died August 5th 1911 at 7.05 am, Mason. Buried August 9th 1911 aged 66. Town Asylum. Parents Jean Louis Desiree Salmon and Marie Ozouet. Minister R U Pilbeau, Curate.

The Guernsey Star of Thursday August 10th 1911, recorded that an inquest had been held the previous Monday: ‘to enquire into the death of Jean Desire Salmon who died Saturday last at 7.15am (sic) in the Town Asylum. The court returned a verdict of natural causes.’

The Inquest, written in French, gives the following information (translation)

The 8th August, 1911, before William Carey, Esquire, Bailiff, also present Jean Nant Brouard, and Lionel Slade Carey Esquires, Jurors.

The Law being informed that Desire Jean Batiste (sic) Salmon, had died on Saturday 5th August, 1911, at 7.05pm in the mental hospital belonging to the town and parish of St Peter Port and the Crown Officers having called a doctor, Dr Corbin, and other witnesses for the purpose of establishing the cause of death, the Court having heard these witnesses on oath, and the conclusions of His Majesty’s Procureur, give permission to whom it concerns, to bury the body of the said Salmon since it was clear that death was due to natural causes.

Desire was buried in a communal grave at Candie Cemetery on 9th August 1911, grave reference B69Y (that means Land B, Square 69Y), Registration Number 12036, this being the eleven thousandth seven hundredth and forty-ninth interment in the parish. His was the third body in the grave and four more were added after him in the same year. The names of all those interred in this plot are as follows:

Francois Charles Litre, 53 years, reference 12025 Hervelin Goulvestre, daughter of Lucie Goulvestre, aged one month Jean Salmon, aged sixty-six, died 5th August 1911 Gwendoline Slitson, aged five months, died 17th August 1911 Stanley Albert Broadley, aged one and a half months, died 20th August 1911 Winifred Mary Hill, aged two years, daughter of William George Hill, 30th August 1911 Dorothy Magdaline Robert, aged two months, daughter of Arthur John Robert, died 6th September 1911

In July, August and September 1911 the weather was unusually hot and dry and there were three epidemics affecting children. Sixty-four children under five years died of Enteritis, forty- seven died of Measles and twenty-one of whooping cough.

13 As a result of an enquiry by his grandson, Brian Torode, the Medical Officer of Health for Guernsey helped to expand on the circumstances surrounding Desire’s death. The letter dated 18th May 1983 gives the following information:

‘In 1911 the Registration of Deaths in Guernsey was a new concept and information as to cause of death often unreliable. To live to the age of sixty-five or so at the turn of the century was no mean feat in itself. There is no suggestion as to why he was admitted to the Asile des Alienes for which Mental Hospital in not really a good translation. So little treatment was available for the relief of mental illness in those days that mental hospital is too modern a phrase.

The most likely explanation is that your grandfather developed the confused mental state so common among the ageing even nowadays – or perhaps he may have suffered a stroke and become as much mentally as physically disabled.

There were five deaths in the Town Asylum that year and three persons under the age of sixty-six died of senile decay, one of whom may have been Mr Salmon. If so this would explain the natural causes diagnosis accepted at the inquest. Senile decay is not mental illness and would be included as natural causes. Yours sincerely (signed) Geoffrey White, Medical Officer of Health, Guernsey.’

The details of Desire Salmon are recorded on the memorial stone of his widow, Emelie, at the Foulon Cemetery, where it states that he died on 5th August 1911 aged sixty-seven years. His death certificate, however, gives his age as sixty-five and the Burial Register ages him at 66. Sixty-five is the actual age.

His grandson, Walter Salmon, was not keen on discussing family history but he did say that he had heard that his grandfather had a long white beard, had fought in the Crimean War and died with his boots and military uniform on! This certainly does not tie in with the evidence obtained to date and is no doubt pure creative thinking.

So we need to look again in more detail at the children and probable children of Desire Jean Baptiste Salmon (aka John Senateur or John Salatin Salmon)

14 RACHEL BISSON, Great Aunt of Brian Torode, and Mother of John Francis and Lydia Rachel:

Rachel Bisson was born on 2nd March 1851 and was the third daughter of John Bisson, a blacksmith, and his wife Anne Pinel. She was baptised on 16th March 1851 at Trinity Church, Jersey.

On 3rd October 1873 John Francis was born in Trinity Parish, Jersey. He was described as the son of John Senateur Salmon and Rachel Bisson. The child was registered on 13th October 1873 and the informant was the father, John Senateur Salmon, a day labourer of Vingtaine des Augres. Rachel would have been 22 at this time.

In the baptismal register of Holy Trinity Parish, Jersey, is the baptism of this John Francis. The details are as follows:

‘John Francis Salmon - date of birth 3.10.1873; Date of Baptism 14.12.1873; Father’s name: John Salatin Salmon; Mother’s name: Rachel Bisson; Father’s occupation: domestique; godparents: Louis Leveille et sa femme.’

The godparents were presumably the mother of Senateur Salmon and the man who was to become his step-father.

On 6th January 1876 Lydia Rachel, daughter of Rachel Bisson, was born at 12 Dumaresq Street, St Helier. The witness and informant was Carterette Pinel of Seaton Place, St Helier. The father was again described as Jean Senateur Salmon, a Carter. Carterette was Rachel’s aunt, the wife of Elie Pinel, Rachel’s mother’s brother.

These two children of John Senateur Salmon were followed by two illegitimate children born to Rachel Bisson. On 17th October 1877 Amelia Jane was born at 14 Journeaux Street, St Helier, and Mary Anne Bisson was present at the birth. John Bisson was born on 21st July 1879 at 14 Journeaux Street, St Helier. It is recorded that Carterette Haps of 56 King Street was present at the birth. In the Baptismal Register for St Helier’s Parish Church we find the baptism entry, No. 3315, for John, the illegitimate son of Rachel Bisson who was born on 31st (sic) July 1879. The baptism, by the Curate, I. U. Pilbeam, took place on 24th August 1879 and the godparents and sponsors were Peter Haps and Emelie Bisson. Fathers’names are not given for either of these two children.

Presumably, John Francis Salmon (Bisson), Lydia Rachel Salmon (Bisson), Amelia Jane Bisson and John Bisson were the children of the same mother. Was the father of the illegitimate children, Amelia and/or John Bisson, also John Senateur Salmon?

This same Desire Jean Salmon/John Senateur Salmon eventually became emotionally involved with Rachel Bisson’s sister, Emelie, who was ten years her junior. They lived as man and wife and in late 1879 or 1880 moved to Guernsey with a young child.

Meanwhile Rachel Bisson had a further illegitimate child, Mabel Mary Ann Bisson, who was born on 22nd November 1890 at St Helier. This child was baptised on 2nd August 1892 and

15 the sponsors were Mary-Anne Bisson, Amelia Bisson- aged only 13, and John Salmon, aged 11.

In the 1911 Census, Rachel is living with her sister Mary Ann Bisson, at Prince Edward Place, 11, Cannon Street, St Helier. Mary Ann is Head of house aged 62, an ironer and an employer. Her birth place is given as Trinity. It also states that her father was born at St John’s. Rachel her sister is aged 60, single and her occupation is given as ironer, working from home. Her father was born in St John’s parish but Rachel herself was born in Trinity. Living in the same house with her is her daughter Mable (sic) Mary Ann aged 21, single and working from home as a tailoress. Mabel is described as niece of the Head of house, (Rachel’s sister Mary Ann,) and her father’s place of birth is given as ‘unknown’. Of interest is the fact that there is also a Violet May Bisson living here, aged 12, born St Helier and still at school. She also is a niece of Mary Ann and again, her father’s birthplace is given as unknown. Is she another daughter of Rachel?

An Edmond Jenkins lives with the female household as a boarder. He is aged 8, at school and was born in Wales.

The household lived in 5 rooms and Mary Ann Bisson signed the Census return in her own hand.

Rachel Bisson remained unmarried and died on 1st February 1927, aged seventy-four-years, at St Saviour’s Hospital, St Helier. Her address was given as 11 Canon Street, St Helier. The burial took place at Sion Cemetery in Jersey.

I (Brian) do remember my mother talking about aunty Rachel of Canon Street.

The children of John Senateur Salmon and Rachel Bisson were:

JOHN FRANCIS SALMON (BISSON), half Uncle (see above, details under Rachel – repeated here as relative to John Francis)

John Francis was baptised at Holy Trinity Church, Jersey, on 14th December 1873. On this occasion the father is referred to as John Salatin Salmon but this is probably not significant but simply an error on the part of William ou (sic) Heaume, the Rector. The details are as follows:

‘John Francis Salmon - date of birth 3.10.1873; date of Baptism 14.12.1873; Father’s name: John Salatin Salmon; Mother’s name: Rachel Bisson; Father’s occupation: domestique; Godparents: Louis Leveille et sa femme.’No address given. Louis Leveille et sa faemme refers to John Salmons mother Agathe Celeste Ozouet and her ‘partner’ Louis Prosper le Bouvier.

16 LYDIA RACHEL QUIROT, (nee Salmon/Bisson), half Aunt

Alice Beatrice Salmon with Lydia Rachel Quirot, her half sister, and Nora Salmon, niece

On 6th January 1876 Lydia Rachel, daughter of Rachel Bisson, was born at 12 Dumaresq Street, St Helier. The father was described as Jean Senateur Salmon, a Carter. The witness and informant was Carterette Pinel of Seaton Place, St Helier, who was wife of Elie Pinel, Rachel’s uncle.

Lydia Rachel Bisson was godmother of William John Salmon when he was baptised at St Peter Port in 1885 (she was only 9 at the time) and also George Henry Salmon when he was baptised in St Barnabas Church, St Peter Port in 1892.

Lydia Rachel married Philip QUIROT who was born in 1876 and they had five children. Lydia aka Linda died at 12 Dumaresque Street, St Helier, in 1943.

Their children were half cousins of Brian Torode:

DORIS JOYCE QUIROT, half first cousin

Doris Joyce (Lilian?) Quirot was born in 1905 and died in 1915.

PHILIP EDWARD QUIROT, half first cousin

Philip Edward Quirot was born in 1902 and died in 1946.

Philip Edward Quirot

CYRIL RAYMOND QUIROT, half first cousin

Cyril Raymond Quirot was born on 3rd December 1909. He married Sylvia Alice Gouyette on 27 March 1932 in All Saints, Jersey. They had one child during their marriage. He died in December 1995 at the age of 87.

Cecil Raymond Quirot

CLARENCE JOHN QUIROT, half first cousin

Clarence John Quirot was born on 30th January 1910

PHYLLIS DOREEN QUIROT, half first cousin

Phyllis Doreen Quirot was born on 26th March 1912.

19 EMELIE SALMON, nee Bisson, Grandmother of Brian Torode, wife of SENATEUR DESIRE JEAN BA(P)TISTE SALMON, and sister of Rachel Bisson

Emelie Salmon, nee Bisson, with Arthur, Alice Beatrice and Nora with her son James Arthur.

Daughter of John Bisson and Anne (nee Pinel) Wife of Desire Jean Baptise Salmon alias Jean Senateur Salmon Mother of Alice Beatrice Torode, Brian’s mother.

Mother of John, Walter, Albert John, Henry Francis, Nicholas Mauger, William John, Albert William, Emily, George, Francis, Frederick, Alfred, Arthur and Alice.

Also Mother of Walter John Bisson pre marriage to Desire Jean Baptiste Salmon.

Emelie Bisson was the eighth child of the nine children of John and Anne Bisson. John Bisson and his wife Anne Pinel had married at Trinity Church in Jersey in 1844.

Emelie was born at Trinity on the 30th July 1861 and her birth certificate gives the following information:

‘Number 661. 30th July 1861, Emelie, girl, father John Bisson, mother Anne Pinel. Father’s occupation blacksmith. Informant John Bisson father of the child, Vingtaine de la Ville a L’Eveque. Date registered 9th August 1861. Signed Francis de la Lande, Deputy Registrar.’

Emelie was baptised by the Reverend William de Heaume, Rector of Trinity Parish, 29th September 1861, and her godfather was John Bisson her father. Her godmother was Emelie Esnouf.

Her mother, Anne Pinel, died when Emelie was only nine-years-old.

20 the first child of John Senateur Salmon and Emelie Bisson even though there is no marriage for them at Trinity.

Since 1873 John Senateur Salmon had had a relationship with Rachel Bisson and they had two children, John Francis, who was born in 1873, and Lydia Rachel, who was born in 1876. This Rachel Bisson was an older sister of Emelie, ten years her senior, who was born on 2nd March 1851. Interestingly, Rachel had two further illegitimate children, Amelia Jane and John, who were born at this same address as Walter John Bisson, 14 Journeaux Street, in 1877 and 1879 respectively.

There is certainly evidence to suggest that Desire Jean had had a romantic relationship with both sisters and that he transferred his affections from the older to the younger one. At the time of the birth of this Walter John Bisson, Emelie Bisson would only have been sixteen- years-old. At this time Desire Jean Salmon was aged about twenty-six-years and so he could most certainly have been the father of young Walter John Bisson.

Whether this is true or false we do know that by 1879 Desire Jean Salmon and Emelie Bisson were living as man and wife. As with the elder sister, Rachel, there seems to be no record of a marriage in either Jersey or Guernsey although in the 1911 Census Emelie states that she had been married 35 years - ie since 1876. Their first ‘legitimate’ child, John Salmon, was born in St Helier on 13th January 1879 when his mother was only eighteen and his father about twenty-eight or twenty-nine-years-old. John was the first of the fourteen children of Desire Jean and Emelie Salmon but the only one born in Jersey. The second child Walter was born in Guernsey in 1880. At that time there was a shortage of work in Jersey and many French settlers moved to Guernsey to find work in the quarries or in ship-building. As Desire was later described as a mason he probably did just that.

Between 1841 and 1901 French nationals numbered 40% of the English contingent living on Guernsey. As the 1870s progressed numbers rose rapidly, especially in the 1880s and 1890s. By 1901 the French community was four times its 1840 size - nearly 2000 strong.

Up to the 1870s most lived in St Peter Port and were occupied as dealers or small artisans, razor grinders, tinners, chair and basket makers and menders or colporteurs.

Following 1871 as numbers began to rise, the stone trade became the foremost employer of French males. In 1881, 1891 and 1901, quarrying and farmwork claimed the majority of French residents, 42% of whom lived in St Peter Port and the others mainly in the northern parishes.

A Strangers’ Register was set up in 1892 to record non-natives in possession of real property or occupying rented apartments on a rental of less than 3/6 weekly. The Register coincided with the States assuming stranger and poor relief – and removal!

In 1895 the Register imposed the obligation to register, on every labourer, worker, or domestic presently in the island and on future arrivals.

21 From March 1893, occupation, birthplace, date of birth, place of last residence, and date of arrival in Guernsey as well as full details of any dependants including the wife’s maiden name.

ON completion, the named person was supplied with a work or a relief permit. Some permits were issued to individuals who had arrived as far back as 1833, but laxity in registration was common. Many of those registered were young adults, aged 20/30 and 40% were accompanied by wives and or children. The building sector accounted for 10% of those registered - 117 masons and 50 carpenters, who at the turn of the century were most likely to be employed on major public projects such as alterations to the Royal Court. Quarrying accounted for 10% of certificate holders of whom three quarters were unskilled stone cutters or quarrymen.

Many arrivals had previous connections with Jersey, although the majority were from Brittany, but 20% came from Normandy and many from quarrying centres.

Between 1872 – 1911 there was a big decline in the population of Brittany and Normandy. Brittany was linked to Normandy in a loose knit migration field with no dominant focus. In many respects the Channel Islands were as much a neighbouring region as was Normandy to Brittany and vice versa. In this particular case, immigration was quite clearly ‘only a rural out-migration that crossed a border. (A Prost and P E Ogier in Migrants in Modern France. Above all quoted form Rose Marie Crossan’s Guernsey 1814-1914)

In the 1881 census we find Desire is simply referred to as John Salmon and he and Emelie were living at 43 Cornet Street, St Peter Port, Guernsey. The couple was described as married, John was a thirty-one-year-old Mason and his wife, Emelie, aged twenty-one, was born in St Helier, Jersey. Their children were John, aged two years, born in St Helier whilst Walter, aged just six months, was born in St Peter Port.

Poverty, prostitution and punch-ups were part of everyday life for Islanders living in Cornet Street a century ago. But it wasn’t the men who were the worst troublemakers – the female Corneteers seemed to be the worst culprits, as Rob Batiste reports.

Cornet Street in the early 1900s was the worst example of Guernsey’s early twentieth century have-nots, ravaged by poverty and living conditions that were a daily nightmare. Hardly a week went by when the Police Court reports were not relating the sorry story of Cornet Street and, a lot of the time their womenfolk arrested on disorderly or assault charges. If it were not their fists or foul mouths getting them into trouble it was parents being taken to task by the Courts for not sending their children to school or failing to dress or feed them adequately, a point the great Victor Hugo had tried to help address years earlier when he fed the grimy faced local kiddies in his own soup kitchen.

As dens of iniquity went, Cornet Street and offshoots like Rosemary Lane had no other Sarnian rival - with the routes to the bays such as Fermain not yet serviced by Le Val des Terres – a day on the south coast beach involved a scary hike through Guernsey’s answer to

22 Albert Square. To look at it these days, you are excused the thought ‘What was all the fuss about?’

It widens agreeably as you near the Island Archives building on the right, the Martel and Maides auction house on the left. And if you go back many centuries it was the place where the fashionable aristocracy lived before they were edged further up the valley into Hauteville.

Cornet Street gets its name from the owner of the whole Hauteville district, Perrota de Cornet. The scene from her windows-apart from the sea, the islands and Castle Cornet, was of the green valley of Le Bordage that was then watered by a stream from the upper part of Fountain Street. If you owned a house in Cornet Street in that period, you were likely to have several acres of land to go with it. But all this was about to change. In 1350, King Edward III of England authorised the building of fortifications around St Peter Port and the owners’ peace was disturbed for ever more. As well as the fortifications, more and more houses went up in the area and by the middle of the 19th century it had been transformed into a narrow-laned eyesore. Squalor ruled. The problem of what to do with this throw back to the 19th century gripped the minds of the States and in the early days of 1927 its decision was to play a big role in the island’s social history over decades and now into the 21st century.

Under the particularly apt headline ‘A Crying Need’ the States report laid out fair and square the extent of the problem that the Homes for Workers Committee had pondered for five years. The old tenements just had to come down but what was to be done with the 61 families in 30 houses that split Cornet and Rosemary Streets and housed 152 adults and 152 children?

The Rector of St Peter Port said that it was hopeless to build houses anywhere. ‘They simply would not appreciate it, they would always herd together’ he said, ‘Arrangements would have to be made to resituate two thirds of the Cornet Streeters and the other third would crowd back into Pedvin Street, Back Street or any other odd corner. Those people preferred to knock about in the neighbourhood and to live uncomfortably in their own way.’ Deputy G Carey was commendably optimistic though. To shouts of ‘Hear, Hear’ from the Chamber he did not believe that Cornet Street people were as bad as they were painted – not the locals anyway. ‘It is so worthy that the Rector should try to reform them (cue: laughter) rather than take a pessimistic view.’ Deputy Carey drew parallels with Rangoon and considered that the families should be spread about in the Bouet and other places giving them a change of environment and the change of heart that the clergy deemed so necessary for them. (More laughter and Hear Hears.) His proposal was that the Bouet site be developed immediately for 21 families and sites sought for the others.

(Guernsey Weekly Press 3 December 2009).

A further quotation from ‘Ebenezer le Page’ by G B Edwards pp 42/43 describes the Cornet Street area at the turn of the 1900s up to WW1:

23 When I went to town, my mother warned me ‘Now mind you boys don’t go up Horn Street, or they’ll throw rotten eggs at you. I wondered what my mother could know about Horn Street. It put ideas into our heads and we went down to the Green Shutters to have a look at the whores. There wasn’t none of them on show. All the shutters were closed so they was all busy. But Mme Hamon herself was standing in the door. She said ‘Bon soir messieurs’ and we replied ‘Bon soir Mme.’ Then we went for a walk along Havelet and up Hauteville and came back the short cut down Horn Street. My mother and father was standing against the railings by the Market, looking over at the fire swallower and the cheap jack and the Salvation Army down below. And the German Band was playing round the corner of the Commercial Arcade. We was following our noses to the French Halles for to buy hot chestnuts we could smell roasting, but my mother spotted us and called us over. Where have you two been? she asked ‘Aw, we’ve just come down Horn Street’ said Jim ’but they didn’t throw no rotten eggs at us.’ My father doubled up laughing and even my mother had to smile.

As a matter of fact, La Rue des Cornets was rough, but there wasn’t many proper whores living there in those days. It wasn’t until the Green shutters was closed down by the States at the begining of the First World War so as the pure English boys who came over for their army training wouldn’t be led in to temptation, that the whorrs went into private business in Cornet Street. They was very well behaved in public, I will say that for them. They used to sit very quietly in the cemetery on the seats facing the Town Church, and wait for customers. There were old tombstones all round against the walls and a lovely big tree growing in the middle. The road have been widened since then, the tombstones are all gone, and so have the old whores. St Peter Port is not St Peter Port without the old whores. ‘

In February and March 1885, John and Emelie’s twins, Henri and Francois, died at an address in Burnt Lane but by October 1885 the family had moved to 10, Hauteville, St Peter Port, a house which was situated on land behind the shop at the junction of Pedvin Street with Hauteville.

This was in canton four, Holy Trinity Parish, St Peter Port. Again, simply referred to as John, the head of the household is now a forty-two-year-old stone mason and surprisingly gives his place of birth as St Martin’s Parish, Jersey. This may well be explained by the fact that he was asked, “where are you from?” His wife, Emelie was aged thirty-two-years-old and the children were John, aged thirteen, a port messenger, born in St Peter’s Jersey; Walter, aged twelve, also a port messenger; William aged five, a scholar; Bertie, aged three, and Emeline is ten months.

The 1891 census shows the family still living at 10 Hauteville and occupying three rooms there. However, standing against the evidence for a liaison between this Frenchman and these two sisters - Rachel and Emelie - is the fact the family acted as godparents for each others’ children, and Rachel Bisson seems to have kept in contact with the Salmon Family when they moved to Guernsey. Whatever the relationship was between John Senateur Salmon and these two sisters it all seemed to be very amicable!

Of the thirteen children who were born in Guernsey between 1880 and 1903 the majority were baptised at either Holy Trinity or its mother church, St Peter Port Parish Church.

Little detail is known about the family probably because of their acute poverty. Cornet Street was an extremely poor area as we read above, in which lived many immigrant workers, particularly of French extraction - perhaps the reason why Desire and Emile first lived there. Most of what we do know about Desire John is to be found in the circumstances concerning his death in 1911.

From 1911 Emelie would have spent her life bringing up a large family. Most of the boys enlisted in the First World War and four of them were to lose their lives.

JOHN WILLIAM WALTER ALBERT JOHN B1879 JERSEY D1956 GUERNSEY b 1880 d 1916 WAR b 1882 d 1885 m Lilian Vance 1899 b 1878 d 1967 m 1903 Rosa Druce

NICHOLAS MAUGER & HENRI FRANCOIS WILLIAM JOHN Twins: born 1884 died 1885 b 1885 d 1970 m 1907 Alice Druce

ALBERT WILLIAM EMILY ADA GEORGE HENRY Aka ALBERT JOHN b 1890 d 1969 b 1892 d 1918 War B 1888 d 1918 War m 1913 Rita Cavey

FRANCIS HENRY FREDERICK CHARLES ALFRED JAMES B 1894 d 1894 b 1896 d 1896 b 1897 d 1916 War

ARTHUR JAMES ALICE BEATRICE B 1899 d 1980 b 1903 d 1993 m 1920 Millie le Conte m 1941 Edward John Torode

Walter Salmon died 1st January 1916, aged thirty-six Alfred James Salmon died on 10th September 1916, aged nineteen George Henry Salmon died on 12th April 1918, aged twenty-five Albert William Salmon died on 13th April 1918, aged thirty-five

‘Guernsey and the Great War,’ Guernsey Museum and Art Galleries 2013. Text David Mosley, Edited by Lynne Ashton:

‘For an Island with a population of 40,000 people Guernsey was as well prepared when war broke out as anywhere else in the British Empire. As the Island was independent it even had its own defence force – The Militia.

25 This was made up of two battalions of about 1,000 men each, one from Town and one from the Country. There were also gunners and engineers as well as a Cadet Company formed by boys from Elizabeth College. In 1914 about 2000 men were serving in the Militia and its reserves. Militia training was compulsory for all fit men between the ages of 16 and 60. The part time soldiers got paid and by 1914 they were as highly trained as any peace-time force could be.

Ancient Guernsey Law did not allow the Militia to be sent overseas, other than to rescue the King or to recapture the British Mainland from enemy invaders. However, it was considered ‘to look after the island’ when the regular Garrison Soldiers stationed at Fort George were called to join the fighting in France.

Nothing was introduced however, to stop individual men volunteering for battle and by the end of 1914 national newspapers reported that 9% of all men eligible for military service in Guernsey, Alderney and Sark, had joined the Army or Navy ‘a proportion unsurpassed anywhere in the British Isles.’ Many former soldiers rejoioned their regiments and many of the French workers who were working as farm labourers or domestic servants left to join the French forces.

In March 1915 the States offered to send some of the Guernsey Militia to the Western Front. The men were to serve together as Companies within existing regiments and as the Royal Irish Regiment and the Royal Irish Fusiliers had been popular garrison regiments on the Island before the war, 246 Guernsey officers and men joined these and the artillery. These men, and others sent to replace those killed and wounded, fought at Loos and the Somme in 1916. The heavy casualties at the Somme included uncles Alfred and Walter Salmon.

By 1916 the Lieutenant Governor peruaded the States to introduce a Rebiment with the name Guernsey in its title. By December 17th 1916 the Guernsey Militia was suspended and offered to the War Office as a service battalion – and the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry came into being. Officers came from the Irish Regiment to join the new Regiment and a group of Guernsey Quarrymen formed a Company in the Royal Engineers. On June 1st 1917 the RGLI set off for England and after more training they were, by October, on their way to the Western Front at Ypres in Belgium. From there the Guernseymen went to a Training Camp at Arras in France before the next big battle at Cambrai in November 1917. The RGLI went into battle with 1200 men and Officers- on December 3rd only 501 remained alive. The RGLI mascot was a donkey - what else? - named Joey.

If a soldier was killed in battle his friends tried to bury him where he’d fallen. But in some places the ground was fought over many times and bodies were churned up and lost in the mess of battle. When the war had ended peaceful cemeteries across Europe and Belgium with rows and rows of white headstones were built to commemorate the fallen.

In January 1918 the RGLI was in the front line at Passchaendaele near Ypres in Belgium. Many of the men killed or wounded at Cambrai had been replaced by others who were not from the island. The RGLI was not involved in a big battle this time but there was still a trickle of casualties from shelling and shooting. As the big German attacks continued the RGLI was moved south to France to the town of Hazebrouck to help defend the important

26 railway junctions there. Firece fighting ensued and the RGLI took terrible casualties. When the fighting had died down, and the survivors regrouped, there were 55 men and two Officers remaining. The RGLI had marched into this battle with 483 men and 20 Officers. This was the death of the Regiment. For the rest of the war, the RGLI with too few men to make a proper fighting force, provided the guard for General Haig’s headquarters at Montreuil.

When the war was over, in May 1919 the survivors of the RGLI sailed home to Guernsey on the SS Lydia, one of the railway steamships that had served the island before the war. 1 in 5 of those who had served did not come back.’

Emelie with her youngest son, Arthur Salmon

The following article was published in the Guernsey Weekly Press, dated Saturday 4th May 1918:

‘Mrs E. Salmon, 2 Tower Hill, St Peter Port, received a letter from Lt. Gordon Hall, R.G.L.I., informing her that her 5th son, Corporal George Salmon, R.G.L.I. was killed in action on April 12th…

Mrs Salmon has 3 other serving sons – William, 3rd son, R.I. Fusiliers; John, eldest son, in a Divisional Ammunitions column; and Albert in the RGLI. Two other sons have been killed in action – Walter, 2nd son, and Fred the youngest RI Fusiliers.’

These newspaper articles seem unaware that Albert William had been dead for three weeks by this time. The Fred referred to is in fact the nineteen-year-old Alfred James who had died in September 1916, of his wounds.

Emelie, herself, died on 15th July 1934 at 11.30pm at 42 Pedvin Street, St Peter Port. Her death was registered on July 16th. The cause of death was given as senile decay and syncope. She is described as widow of John Salmon and aged 78. Her parents are given as John Bisson and Annie Pinel. She was buried after a private funeral at the Foulon Cemetery ‘in her seventy-eighth year’. Infact if she was born in 1861 she was only seventy-three-years- old at the time of her death!

Guernsey Evening Press 17th July 1934:

SALMON- On July 16th 1934 at her residence, 42 Pedvin Street, Emily Salmon in her 78th year. Private funeral.

Walter, the illegitimate son of Emelie Bisson was an infant uncle to Brian Torode:

WALTER JOHN BISSON, my Infant Uncle

There is an entry in the St Helier’s Parish Register of the birth of Walter John Bisson on 17th August 1877 to Emelie Bisson at 14 Journeaux Street, St Helier. Sarah Le Cras was the Informant. This child died aged one week on 25th August and was described as illegitimate.

The children of Desire Jean Baptiste and Emelie Salmon were Aunts and Uncles of Brian Torode:

1. JOHN SALMON, my Uncle

John Salmon

John Salmon was possibly the first of the children of both Desire Jean Baptiste Salmon and Emelie Bisson. It has not been possible to date their marriage but in the 1881 Census Return their first child, John Salmon, then aged two-years, is given as being born in St Helier. In the 1891 census return his place of birth was given as St Peter’s Jersey and his age was then thirteen. According to one of his daughters his date of birth was actually the 13th January 1879 but this has not been corroborated in Jersey or in Guernsey.

At the time of the 1891 census John was working in Guernsey with his younger brother, Walter, as a Port Messenger. Eight years later John married Lilian Vance, who was born on 10th July 1878. She was baptised in August 1878 at Notre Dame, St Peter Port but confirmed

28 on 18th May 1916 at the Town Church. They had three children, Florence who was born in 1900, John who was born in 1907 and Doris in 1910.

John and Lilian Salmon

Marriage Record 1899:

‘John William Salmon, major (ie over 21, full age) Cabinet Maker of 10 Hauteville, St Peter Port, son of John Senateur Salmon. Lily England Vance, major, spinster, domestic servant, witness signed John Senateur Salmon and Herbert Maurice Mauger.

In the 1901 Census the details for John and Lilian are as follows:

13 Hauteville:

Salmon: John William, Head, married, aged 21, Cabinet maker, born Jersey. Lily, Wife, married, aged 21, born Guernsey. Florence, aged 11months, born Guernsey.

The 1911 Census adds the following information:

2, Cliff Terrace, St Peter Port, living in 2 rooms:

John Salmon, aged 32, head, born St Lawrence Jersey, French Polisher, Father born in France Lilian, wife, aged 31, born Guernsey, Les Rouettes Brayes, married 12 years, Three children, all living. Florence, aged 11, at school, born St Peter Port. John, aged 4, at school, born St Peter Port. Doris, aged 1, born St Peter Port.

During the First World War, John Salmon served with the Royal Irish Fusiliers, joining to replace his brother, Walter, who had been killed in 1916. His Army Record provide the following details:

‘John (Jack) Salmon, of 2 Cliff Street Terrace, Guernsey. 9th Jan 1916. Aged 36 years 11 months. 5 feet 6 and a half inches in height. Girth 37 inches. Range of expansion 2 inches. Tattooed on both forearms. Driver and Storeman. Next of Kin: Mrs J Salmon. Married at Register Office Guernsey, on 16th Oct 1899, Lilly England Vance, spinster. Children are: Florence born 1st May 1900; John Henry born 10th January 1907; Doris May born 3rd April 1910. Joined Guernsey 9th Jan 1916. Gunner RA No 912 (?) 2nd Draft. Drawn from men in the Training Reserve and Training Batallions. This consisted of 28 other Ranks, the first 6 of whom were posted to the 1st Battalion with Reinforcements 9 on 19.03.1918.’

Has served previously in KGA&E. Married. Signed name as Jack.

‘I hereby acknowledged receipt of British War Medal 30th Jan 1921.’ First Division of Royal Field Artillery. Received Medal at Woolwich. Aged 36 years 11 months. 27th Sept 1921 at Woolwich. Victory medal awarded in respect of services with the CFA Reg number 91269.

In civilian life he worked for Messrs Luff as a cabinet maker and then as a French Polisher, at which he became a professional. The family later lived at 9, Brock Road, St Peter Port.

On Friday 24th February 1956 John Salmon died at the P.E. Hospital and the following details were published in Guernsey Evening Press:

‘Salmon: Friday 24th Feb. 1956 at PE Hospital, John William, 9, Brock Road, in his 78th year. Funeral at Foulon Chapel, Monday 27th Feb. at 2.30pm. Flowers to le Foulon.’

John Salmon was described in the records of his death as ‘the son of John Senateur Salmon’ and he was buried in his mother’s grave at the Foulon Cemetery.

Grave Stone:

‘In loving memory of John Salmon d. August 5, 1911 aged 67. Also of Emily Bisson, widow of the above, d. July 16, 1934, aged 78 years. Also of John William Salmon, husband of Lillian E. Vance, d. 24 Feb. 1956, aged 77 years. At Peace.

Footstone: Also of Lillian England Salmon, nee Vance, died May 25th 1967 in her 89th year.

Lillian died in P.E. Hospital on 25th January (May?) 1967, after staying for seven or eight years with her daughter, Doris. In her will she stipulated that Norah Radford (Emily Salmon’s daughter) should be given first refusal on the Brock Road House.

Lilian (nee Vance) with Jack, Doris, Florence and Jack Salmon

John’s and Lillian’s children were first cousins of Brian Torode:

Lily, Florrie, Lena, Alice, Beatrice, Lizzie and Rosa Druce

FLORENCE PIPET, cousin

Florence Salmon was born on 1st May 1900 and entered Notre Dame du Rosaire School on 7th Jan 1906, when she was living with her parents at Cliff St Terrace. Florence married Ughtrid Pipet. He was five years older than she was and was born on 22nd April 1895. They had a son who was born in 1924. Florence died on 19th September 1989 at the Catel Hospital, Guernsey.

JOHN (Jack) HENRY SALMON, cousin

John Henry Salmon (Jack) was born on 10th January 1907. He entered Notre Dame du Rosaire School on 10th January 1910, when his parents were living at 3, South Esplanade. He married Mabel Emily Hoskins and they had two children. After Mabel’s death, John married

31 for the second time, Lilian May Eason and had a stepson, Roy. John Salmon died of Cancer on 6th March 1987.

‘Salmon – On 6 March 1987, at his home, 17 Les Palmiers, Grand Bouet, St Peter Port. John Henry, D.S.M., husband of the late Lilian May, loved father of Gordon, Trevor and Roy and loved brother of Florence and Doris, peacefully in his 80th year.’

‘Mr John H. Salmon. The funeral service for Mr. John Henry Salmon, who died at his home, 17, Les Palmiers, Grand Bouet, St Peter Port, in his 80th year, was held at the Salvation Army Hall, Clifton, and was conducted by Major Mrs L. Noyon. The organist Mr C Shone accompanied the singing of The Lord’s My Shepherd (Crimond), The Old Rugged Cross and Eternal Father, Strong to Save. The mourners were Mr and Mrs G Salmon, son and daughter in law (representing Michael, David, Joanne and Lee, grandchildren); Mr Mrs T Salmon, son and daughter in law (representing Mrs Florence Pipet, deceased’s sister) Mr Mrs R Eason, son and daughter in law (representing Neal, Paul and John, grandsons.) Miss A Salmon, granddaughter (representing Jeffrey and Robert, grandsons)

Mrs D Baker, sister, representing Mrs E Ogier; Mr Mrs G Nicholas, brother in law and sister in law, representing Mrs L Brown; Mr Mrs H le Moignan, cousins; Nora and Stan Radford, cousins, representing Jack and Doris Salmon, cousins; Graham and Elizabeth Baker, nephew and niece. John and June Salmon, nephew and niece, representing Gary, Theresa and Lee, great nephews and great niece; Mrs K le Prevost, niece, representing Mr A M le Prevost, nephew and Erica and Tania great nieces; Mrs B Greening, niece.

DORIS BAKER, cousin

Doris Salmon was born on 3rd April 1910. She entered Notre Dame du Rosaire School on 7th April 1913, when her parents lived in Victoria Road. On 20th September 1934 she married Wilfred Baker (born 3-12-1907) at Notre Dame Church, St Peter Port. Wilfred died on 12th December 1978.

Graham Baker, Doris Baker and Wilfred Baker

2. WALTER SALMON, my Uncle

Walter Salmon died in 1916, aged thirty-six

Walter Salmon was the second son of the Salmon children, and he was born on 16th September 1880 at Cornet Street. In the Census Return for 1881 his age was given as six months old, and his place of birth was Guernsey. His birth does not appear to have been registered at the Greffe. In the 1901 Census he is described as a plasterer and was living with his parents at 10 Hauteville.

Walter married Rosa (Roseline) Augusta Druce in 1903/4 and they had six children, of whom a son Walter William John was still alive in 1984. Rosa was the daughter of William Isaac Druce and in 1907 her sister, Alice Beatrice, married Walter’s younger brother, William John Salmon.

The 1911 Census provides the following information:

Sutherland House, Victoria Terrace, living in 4 rooms (same address as brother John). 3 children alive, one died.

Walter John, married 7 years, aged 30, plasterer bricklayer, born St Peter Port, Father born in France. Roseline Augusta, wife, aged 25, born St Peter Port Lilian May, aged 5, scholar, born St Peter Port Walter William John, aged 3, born St Peter Port Cyril Henry, aged 2, born St Peter Port Cecil Henry Druce, aged 14, brother-in-law

The above mentioned son, Walter William was admitted to the Town Hospital in 1910:

22 July 1910 Walter William John Salmon aged 5 years 1 month, son of Walter William Salmon and Rosa Augusta Druce admitted on recommendation of Dr E B Bostock, sanctioned by the Vice President. 8th August 1910. Discharged by sanction of the Vice President.

Walter Salmon

Walter senior was the first of the Salmon brothers to sacrifice his life in WWI.

Walter enlisted in Guernsey in 1915 and during the First World War, served with the ‘B’ company, 9th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, City of London Regiment, as Private 10809. In the Army Lists at St Catherine’s House, London, the following is recorded:

‘Salmon, Walter J. Pte. 10809. Royal Fusiliers, London. Died 1916. Vol.1.18 Page 455’

Walter was wounded in France and died of his wounds on 1st January 1916, aged 35 years, by which time he had been made Lance Corporal. He was awarded the Victory Medal; the British Medal and the 1915 Star.

Liz Walton wrote in 2010:

‘He had been in France barely six months having arrived on 15th June 1915. From September 1915 his Unit, part of the 12th Eastern Division was involved in battles in the Loos area during which period 117 Officers and 3237 men from the Division were killed or wounded. On 21st October the Division had been relieved and moved to Fouquieres-les-Bethune. It took over the Hollenzollern Redoubt front after a very short rest of 5 days and spent a cold, wet and miserable month before being relieved on 15th November by 15th Scottish Division, whereon it moved into reserves at Lillers. On 9th December his Batallion was given the unusual task of assisting in a round-up of spies and other uncertain characters in the streets of Bethune. The next day the Division moved up and relieved 33rd Division in the front line North of the La Basse canal at Givenchy.

Between the 12th December 1915 and 18th January 1918, in a quiet period of trench holding, the Division nonetheless suffered the loss of 102 Officers and 670 men killed, wounded or missing. Walter Salmon was wounded at some time during this period and died of his wounds on 1st January 1916.

He is buried at Bethune Town Cemetery, Pas de Calais in Northern France. For much of the First World War, Bethune was comparatively free from bombardment and remained an

34 important railway and hospital centre as well as a corps and Divisional HQ. The 33rd Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) was in the town until December 1917 and this may well be where he was taken after being wounded, especially since an ‘In Memoriam’ notice in a local newspaper notes that he died in a ‘casualty clearing station’. He earned the 1915 Star, British War Medal, and Victory Medal for his service. Bethune Town Cemetery 16. Area IV Plot G Grave 74.’

After Walter’s death Rosa remarried and subsequently had little to do with most members of the Salmon Family, who were apparently upset at her re-marriage. However, she did remain close to the family of William John Salmon who was married to her sister, Alice Beatrice.

Jack Ozanne, Rosa Druce, John L Ozanne, Beryl Lucas.

On 26th October 1919 Rosa’s second marriage took place at St Saviour’s Parish Church (Folio 85. No 170.):

John Thomas Ozanne, a thirty-eight-year-old bachelor married Rosina (sic) Augusta Salmon, nee Druce, widow of Walter Salmon, of Holy Trinity Parish. She was described as the daughter of William Isaac Druce, a Mariner. They were married by the Recteur, H.M. de Ste Croix.

The children of Walter and Rosa Augusta Salmon were cousins of Brian Torode:

ROSA ALICE BEATRICE SALMON, Infant cousin

Rosa was born on 20th February 1904 and died on 29th August 1904

LILLIAN MAY GUEZO, cousin

Lillian Salmon was born in 29th December 1905 and married Francis Ernest Guezo. She died on 2nd March 1982 at P.E. Hospital, aged seventy-six years.

‘2.3.1982: death of Lillian May Salmon, Widow of Francis Ernest Guezo at the P.E.H. Born St Peter Port. Aged 76, daughter of Walter John Salmon and Rosa Augusta Druce’

Left: Lilian May Salmon & Frank Guezo Right: Lilian with Jack Ozanne, stepfather

WALTER SALMON, cousin

Walter Salmon was born on 30th May 1907. He married his first wife, (?) Le Vailian and they divorced. His second wife was Eva Agnes Le Page, a former hospital sister.

Left: Walter Salmon Junior Right: Walter and Mildred

On 14th April 1983, Eva wrote to me from Touraine, Forest, Guernsey.

Dear Mr Torode,

36 Your letter with its very interesting content received, however I’m afraid that we shall not be of much help to you in your research – we have answered where possible. My husband’s recollection of ‘family’ just goes back to 1913 and he remembers his uncles as follows:

Jack; In Artillery, returned from France. Walter: his father, killed in 1914, in France. Bill? George: killed in 1914 war Bert: killed in 1914 war Fred: killed in 1914 war

The names of the godparents seem to us much like Jersey names with the exception of Lily Salmon and Lydia Bisson, so it would appear there is a Jersey connection.

We have a photograph of my husband’s father and mother but as it is mounted we regret we cannot send it, and regrettably we have no other old photographs.

We are so very sorry not to be of more help, but it was nice to hear of you and will be glad to get any further news from you.

Yours sincerely, Eva Salmon, with kindest regards.

On 17th August 1984 I visited my cousin at Touraine, Les Nouettes, Forest. This was a large house with greenhouses. Walter was not interested in family history but revealed that Desire, his grandfather, had a long white beard. He also claimed that he served in the Crimean War and died with his boots and military uniform on!!

Walter Salmon

In the Notre Dame du Rosaire School Registers there is listed a Walter Salmon, son of Walter, born 29th January 1928 who entered Notre Dame on 25th May 1938, and whose parents were living at the Catel. This is presumably Walter’s (born 1907) son by his first marriage.

CYRIL HENRY SALMON, cousin

Cyril Salmon and Hilda

Cyril Salmon was born on 12th February 1909 and married Hilda Mauger. He died in 1970.

MILDRED SALMON, cousin

Eddie Salmon, Tom Ogier, Mildred and Jack Ozanne

Mildred was born on 19th September 1912.

EDWARD SALMON, cousin

Edward born on 8th March 1914 and married Zena England.

Edward Salmon and Zena England

3. ALBERT JOHN SALMON, my Infant Uncle

Albert John Salmon, not to be confused with ALBERT WILLIAM Salmon his brother, who assumed the name Albert John Salmon in memory of this brother who had died an infant.

Albert John Salmon, the child of Desire Jean and Emelie Salmon, was born on 26th December 1882 at Vauvert, St Peter Port. By now his mother was twenty-one years-old.

The Greffe: Birth Certificate

‘Albert John Salmon, b.26th December 1882 at Vauvert. Father: Mason, John Senateur Salmon and Emelie Bisson’ Registered January 9th 1883’

Details recorded in the Register of Baptism at the Town Church St Peter Port, give the following information:

Albert John, son of Jean Senateur Salmon and of Emily Bisson his wife, born 26th December 1882 and baptised privately, was presented in St Barnabas Church, 23rd January 1884. Sponsors, Victor Diguet and the parents of the child.

Albert did not reach his 5th birthday but died on 1st March 1887

1st March 1887, death of Albert John Salmon, aged 4, son of John Senateur Salmon and Emily Bisson. Died at Hauteville, ‘suite de brulures’

Suite de brulures suggests death by scalding.

Albert’s brother, Albert William, was born just a year later and in adulthood adopted the name Albert John, probably in memory of his deceased brother Albert John.

4. NICHOLAS MAUGER SALMON, my Infant Twin Uncle

Nicholas Mauger Salmon and Henri Francois Salmon were twin brothers who were born to Jean Salmon and Emelie Bisson on 23rd October 1884. ( Greffe Folio 605 No 387) They were baptised at the Town Church in St Peter Port on 5th November 1884. Their godparents were Nicholas Mauger Gavey, Jean Bougeron and godmother, Francoise Jeffrey.

Nicholas Mauger died at Burnt Lane on 16th March 1885 of Bronchitis and his brother Henri Francois died on 8th February 1885 at the same address and of the same complaint.

5. HENRI FRANCOIS SALMON, my Infant Twin Uncle

Henri Francois Salmon and Nicholas Mauger Salmon were twin brothers who were born to Desire and Emelie on 23rd October 1884. (Greffe Folio 605 No 388) They were baptised at the Town Church in St Peter Port on 5th November 1884, sons of Jean Salmon and Emilie Bisson his wife. Their godparents were Nicholas Mauger Gavey, Jean Bougeron and godmother Francoise Jeffrey.

Henri Francois died at Burnt Lane on 8th February 1885 of Bronchitis and his brother Nicholas Mauger died on 16th March 1885 at the same address and of the same complaint.

6. WILLIAM JOHN SALMON, my Uncle

William John Salmon, the sixth son of Desire and Emelie Salmon was born on 16th October 1885 at 10, Hauteville, St Peter Port to where the family had moved. (Greffe Folio 806 No 412) The house was on land behind the shop at the junction of Pedvin Street with Hauteville.

William was baptised at Holy Trinity Church, privately, by Rev N Cathcart, Vicar of Holy Trinity, but the date is not given. However, he was presented at the Town Church on 5th August 1888. His Godparents were his own father, his mother’s niece, Lydia Rachel Bisson, and Thomas Palot. No occupation given of either father nor mother.

William John Salmon, Alice Beatrice Druce, Elsie May dtr and William John, son

William John Salmon, wife Alice Beatrice, dtr Elsie May and son William John died aet 7.

William John Salmon,Alice Beatrice wife, Elsie May dtr and John, son

William John Salmon and his wife, Alice Beatrice Register entry No 388:

Private Baptism in Trinity Church, born 16th October 1885, William John Salmon, son of John Salmon and Emily Bisson. Presented in the Church of St Peter Port, August 5th 1888. G Lee Rector.

William, who was a plasterer, married Alice Beatrice Druce, the daughter of a deceased mariner, on 14th May 1907 at the Ebenezer Chapel and they had two children: Elsie May who was born in 1911 and John who was born in 1919. Alice Beatrice was the sister of Rosa Augusta who had married William’s brother, Walter Salmon, in 1903/4.

The 1911 Census records the following information about this family, living in three rooms. Address: Sutherland House, Victoria Terrace, St Peter Port:

William John, aged 25, married, Plasterer, born St Peter Port, Father born in France. Alice, wife, aged 24, married 4 years, born St Peter Port, 2 children born and still alive. William John, son, aged 3, born St Peter Port. Elsie May, daughter, aged one month, born St Peter Port. Georgina Druce, sister-in-law, aged 11, still at school, born St Peter Port.

Details from the Marriage Certificate:

‘William John Salmon, bachelor, plasterer, 85 Mount Durand, son of John Senateur Salmon, mason Alice Beatrice Druce, spinster, daughter of William Isaac Druce, deceased. According to the rites and ceremonies of the Wesleyan Methodist Church. Witnesses: William Druce, Ethel Guille. Ralph Philipson, Minister’

William was the last of the Salmon brothers to enlist. After the war he returned to Guernsey and took up his trade as a builder, living on the Foulon Road.

42 Salmon, W. Private Royal Irish Fusiliers 22089. 6th Draft. Embarked Southampton 23 January 1918. Joined base depot 24th January, 70 other Ranks mainly from North Staffs Regiment, from Draft 1.

(Book, Dieux Aie). Army Records describe him as ‘Corporal’ 22089. He received the Victory Medal and the British Medal.

Because of his sister-in-law’s break with the Salmon Family after her re-marriage to John Thomas Ozanne in 1919, William and his wife grew away from his family too and there was little contact. He was a religious man and was Warden of Salem Methodist Church.

Figure Alice Beatrice, John, Elsie May and William John Salmon

His wife, Alice Beatrice, died in 1970 and was buried in the Foulon Cemetery New Ground. William was a retired builder and he died on 14th July 1970 at his home, ‘Windermere’ on Route Isabelle. He was then eighty-four-years-old and was described as the ‘son of John Senateur and Emily Salmon.’ His remains were laid to rest in the Foulon Cemetery.

William John Salmon and his wife Alice Beatrice

Guernsey Evening Press;

‘On 14. July 1970 at his home Windermere, Route Isabel William John in his 85th year. Funeral will meet at Salem Methodist Church on Friday at 2.30. No flowers by request. Donations to St John’s Ambulance Transport’

Their children were cousins of Brian Torode:

WILLIAM JOHN SALMON, cousin

William John Salmon was born on 28th November 1907. Entered Notre Dame du Rosaire School 12th October 1910 when parents were living at 85 Mount Durand. Left to go to Vauvert School and he died in 1914 of typhoid at their new home in Lower Vauvert.

ELSIE MAY POMEROY, cousin Elsie May Salmon was born on 9th November 1911 and she married Ted Pomeroy. She had a son, John Pomeroy. Elsie died on 27th September 1983.

JOHN SALMON, cousin

John Salmon was born on 13th November 1919. He married Doris Elsbury and they had a daughter.

7. ALBERT WILLIAM (JOHN) SALMON, my Uncle

Albert William Salmon died on 13th April 1918, aged thirty-five In all his military records, and newspaper reports, Albert William is referred to as Albert John. In fact he seems to have adopted the second name John in memory of his late brother Albert John who was born 26th December 1882, baptised privately, and died 1st March 1887.

44 The entry below uses the name Albert John where published as such, but in fact all the information is in fact relating to Albert William.

Albert William (John) Salmon

From the Greffe Folio 2287 No 10, we learn that Albert William Salmon was born on 15th February 1888 at Hauteville. His father was described as a mason, John Salmon and his mother is given as Emilie Bisson. His borth was registered on 24th February that year.

He was baptised by Rev G E Lee Rector, at the Town Church on August 5th 1888 son of John Salmon and Emily Bisson. His Godparents were his father, and Thomas Palot and Mary Bisson. (Baptism Certificate)

Albert became a copper smith when he started work, in the Trinity Square area. Albert married Reta Cavey who came from a Jersey family, but who was born in Guernsey, and they had two daughters, Beatrice May Emily and Reta.

Marriage Record from the Greffe:

17 May 1913: Marriage:

Albert John Salmon, major, bachelor, tin smith, 26 Pedvin Street, son of Senateur Desire Jean Baptiste Salmon, mason. Rita May Cavey, minor, daughter of Elias (?) Mathew Cavey, Carter, Cornet Street. Winesses: Emely Salmon, Frank (?) Cavey, father of Reta. (?)

45 During the First World War Albert (Bertie) served with the Royal Irish Regiment then he transferred to the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry serving as 145 Pte A J Salmon. He appears to have joined directly, not via another regiment.

He had not only suffered the experiences of Cambrai but also the loss of three brothers before he himself was killed in action on 13th April 1918 on the Lys. Albert John Salmon was the fourth of the Salmon children to die in battle. He died at the Battle of the Somme on 13th April 1918. He is buried at Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck in Northern France. The Guernsey Evening Press reporting Albert’s death noted that he was the fourth son to have been killed out of seven in service.

In the Army Records the following information is given:

‘SALMON, Albert J. Private 145; Channel Islands Militia Battalion, 1st R.G.L.I. Killed in Action 13th April 1918, aged 35 - vol M.6 Page 496.

He was awarded the following medals: RGLI/101B Victory Medal; and the British Medal.

His grave is at Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, France Nord, Area II, Plot 0, Grave No 28 (Dieu Aix Book)

The Globe Newspaper, London, of May 21st 1918, contained the following:

‘The following N.C.O. and men of the R.G.L.I. OFFICIAL

Death: Private A.J. Salmon, wife, Mrs Salmon, of 2, Tower Hill, St Peter Port.’

His daughter Reta has a large bronze medallion on which his name is inscribed:

‘He died for Freedom and Honour – Albert John Salmon.’

Reta Cavey moved to Plymouth after Albert’s death, where she had relatives, and there she married Cecil Burdett, for whom she had twelve children – Gladys Enid, Winifred Beatrice,

46 Cecil Edward, Emily Grace, Daniel Elias, Gerald Victor, Barbara Jane Rosalie, Doreen and four who died as infants. Cecil Burdett died in 1936. Reta then married Percy Walter Wilson Hendy, born 1883 whose first wife was May Hubbard, born 1889.

Albert and Reta Salmon’s daughter, Reta, married Percy Hendy in Plymouth in 1934, by which time Reta Cavey was again a widow, and she met and later married her daughter Reta’s husband’s father who was a widower, Percy Walter Wilson Hendy. They had two children – Kenneth and Doris, so Reta Cavey in fact mothered sixteen children in all, for three husbands.

Right: Albert John, Reta and baby Reta Left: Albert John and Reta Salmon

Albert John and Reta Salmon had sons and daughters who were cousins of Brian Torode:

BEATRICE MARY EMILY SALMON, cousin

Beatrice was born on December 25th 1913 and who died two years later on 11th March 1915

Beatrice with her mother Reta (left) and another

RETA M HENDY, cousin

Reta was born on 20th March 1916 and died in September 1986

Left: Percy, Alice Torode, Reta and Edward Torode Right: Reta with her mother and daughter

Reta Salmon married Percy Hendy on 6th August 1934 and they lived in Plymouth. They had five children.

Reta wrote to me in the 1980s as follows from 187, Blandford Road, Efford, Plymouth, Devon PL3 6JZ

Dear Brian,

48 I have just received our letter on 21st January. It has been to three different places as you had the wrong name and address and I never received the letter from aunty about uncle Eddie for I would have certainly answered it.

Well my dear cousin, I don’t think I can help you a lot. I was 2 years old when my mother brought me to Plymouth where she married again and had a large family so she couldn’t give me a lot of her time. When I was 10 years old I went to an orphanage in Broadstairs, Archbishop Tait School for Girls. I stayed there until I was 16 years old. I married at 18, and started my own family – four boys, 3 girls, only one girl lived.’

‘Gran and granddad lived at 42 Pedvin Street. I was born there. I also had a sister Beatrice 2 years older than me. I think all the family lived there at one time, they did when I was at school. Have you written to Somerset house, London as you may get some knowledge from them.’

8. EMILY ADA SALMON, my Aunt

Left Emily Salmon Right Nora, Millie (Arthur’s wife) and Emily

Emily Ada Salmon was the elder daughter of Desire Jean and Emelie Salmon. She was born on 20th May 1890 at 10 Hauteville. (Greffe Fol 57 No 225)

She was baptised by the curate, Thomas Lewis, at the Town Church on 29th June 1890, and her Godparents were her mother and father, John Senateur Salmon, together with Marion Colledge. Her father’s occupation is not given. Emily did not marry but had six children. As a girl, Emily was much admired for her lovely auburn hair.

Walter Salmon junior, related a story that the father of his Aunt Emily’s first child, Percy Allan Salmon, was a soldier in the Middlesex Regiment who was stationed at Fort George. Her father, Desire Jean Salmon, was furious and he refused to allow the couple to marry. A violent argument is said to have broken out and as a result Emily’s father was placed in the

49 Asylum. Percy Allan Salmon was born in February 1910 so these events probably took place during the previous year.

Emily died in 1969, and is buried at the Foulon Cemetery. The death certificate read that she was the daughter of John Senateur Salmon and Emily Ada Bisson.

The Guernsey Evening Press reported:

‘April 27 1969 at P.E.H. Emily Ada Salmon of 30, Millbrook, La Vrangue, aged 78. Funeral at Foulon Chapel, Wednesday April 30th at 2 o’clock. Flowers to the Chapel.’

Alice Torode, Nora Salmon, Pamela, Gerry Pols, Emily, Millie and Stan Radford

Emily Ada’s children were cousins of Brian Torode:

PERCY ALLEN SALMON, cousin

Percy Allen Salmon was born 8th February 1910. He was a natural child of Emily Salmon and was born at No 8 Hauteville. His birth was registered 26th January that year and he was baptised on 19th February 1910. He was enrolled at Notre Dame du Rosaire School, St Peter Port on 10th February 1920.

NORAH RADFORD, cousin

Left: Emily Salmon with Norah Radford (on right) Right and Centre: Nora

Norah Salmon was born on 19th December 1917. She was enrolled at Notre Dame du Rosaire School, St Peter Port on 3rd September 1923, her address being Pedvin Street. She married Stanley Radford, from Bridgewater, Somerset. No issue.

Wedding of Nora and Stan Radford

Guernsey Weekly Press Friday 6th October 1989:

The last troops to leave Guernsey before the Germans occupied the Island in 1940 were men of the 341 Machine Gun Training Unit of the Cheshire Regiment. Little has been recorded about them but one man in their ranks has recalled those early days of the war. This is his story recounted by Herbert Winterflood, of his wartime adventures and close association with Guernsey, to which he returned after the war to marry a local girl.

A man who was left for dead after being ambushed by 12 Germans during the Second World War, who was one of the large group of soldiers to leave Guernsey just prior to the Occupation, is still alive and well.

51 He is Stan Radford of St Anora, Brock Road, St Peter Port who first came to Guernsey with 341 Machine Gun Training Unit of the Cheshire Regiment. He later took part in the D Day Landings and finished his army career looking after German prisoners – including two form Guernsey – in the UK.

The Machine Gun Training Unit served in Alderney and Guernsey during the final stages of the war, but records seem to have been buried in a filing cabinet somewhere in England.

Stan was living in Bridgewater when he was conscripted and crossed to Guernsey form Southampton on 15th December 1939. The fare was £1.11s.7d. and his pay was 10 shillings a week because of his ‘overseas’ posting. If he had remained in the UK it would have been just 4sh.

He then went to Alderney on the Courier, experiencing a frightful passage and celebrated Christmas there. Training was carried out at Fort Albert and Fort Tourgis the areas around these fortifications being ideal for military exercises. After completion of training Stan was among the troops who returned to Guernsey where they were stationed at Fort George and Les Beaucamps. They were able to take advantage of facilities provided for the Royal Guernsey Militia who were involved in guarding key points on the island. The men form the Cheshire Regiment also did their share of guard duty. The water tower at Forest Road was one of their responsibilities and they also had a sandbag post outside the Telephone Exchange in the Grange. ‘I remember our Bren Gun carriers being parked in Upland Road,’ says Stan.

Withdrawl:

As Hitler’s troops swept across Europe towards the Channel ports, arrangements were made for British troops still stationed in the island to withdraw to the UK. Just before the evacuation Stan remembers orders to leave Guernsey. For him it was a sad occasion for he had become friendly with a Guernsey girl, who was later to be his wife. Through the five years of the occupation he kept in touch with her through the Red Cross messages and married her in England after the Island was freed.

He recalls his hurried departure form the island in 1940. Equipment was taken to St peter Port Harbour on the evening prior to departure. The troops then returned to Les Beaucamps, filled their pockets with spare ammunition and marched to the White Rock during the early hours of the next morning. Marching

‘It was a lovely trip across to Southampton and on landing we marched to a wooded area and from there to Wiltshire where I was transferred to the 8th Battalion Middlesex Regiment’, recalls Stan. This was the time for promotion and soon he was wearing the three stripes of a sergeant. He took a curse in handling a 20mm Hispano anti-aircraft gun, in aircraft recognition and a third in physical training. During the early years of the war he remained in the UK being moved to various defence points. Then came the massive build up of forces for D-Day with a landing by Stan’s 43rd Wessex Division at Avranches. A report published as the men battled on recorded that the Germans knew the 43rd Wessex as the SS

52 Panzer Division of the British Army. The troops were known to the Germans as the ‘dragon men or yellow devils’.

It was stated that the 43rd had been a spectacular success in the vanguard role of every important Second Army operation. But for the swift establishment of the bridgehead over the Seine at Vernon, over which the Armour was able to pass Brussels and Antwerp, a large part of Holland would not have been liberated.

Ambush

The spectacular advance by the Allied Forces into Germany ended for Sergeant Radford when he was trapped in an ambush on a dark Sunday night in the Fatherland. He remembers driving with a private up to the front line with supplies for his infantry platoon. On the way back Stan stood on the running board of the vehicle to guide the driver to the base. Suddenly out of the blackness of the night a German patrol of 12 men who had infiltrated behind the British lines opened fire. The driver was captured but Stan who had sustained leg injures fell into the mud and was left for dead.

Eternity

For what seemed like an eternity he struggled to move towards base but his injuries prevented him. Then he heard squelching in the mud and tried to call out for help hoping the passers-by were friendly. But his voice had no strength. He felt the need to act quickly as the troops would soon be lost in the blackness of night.

His sergeant’s torch was the answer. Quickly he fumbled for it and switched it on. The officer in charge of the marching troops spotted the light and Stan was soon being taken to safety. Unfortunately the stretcher bearers stumbled into a shell hole as they made for a clearance station, one injuring himself. However Sergeant Radford was brought to safety. One of the bearers on leaving the base was shot by mistake by one of his own men and found himself being sent back with Stan for medical treatment.

Stan was moved from one hospital to another and eventually arrived back in England for more treatment.

Captions to photographs: (i) One of Stan pictured recently in his neat garden in Brock Road St Peter Port. (ii) One of uniformed Stan as he looked in 1940. The picture was taken by Happy Snaps at the slipway opposite Woolworth’s with the Old Harbour as a backcloth. (iii) Bren Gun Carriers were used by the British Army in Guernsey just prior to the Occupation. This one is leaving White Rock and approaching the Weighbridge.

MILLIE FRANCIS SALMON, cousin

Millie Francis was born on 13th December 1920. She was enrolled at Notre Dame du Rosaire School, St Peter Port on 27th April 1926. Her mother was living in Pedvin Street at the time. Millie died in 1975.

Nora and Millie

ELSIE OGIER, cousin

Elsie Salmon was born in 1927. She married Basil Ogier and they had two children. Elsie died in 1958.

Wedding of Elsie and Basil Ogier

Arthur Salmon, Basil Ogier, Percy Salmon, Peter Salmon, Edward Torode

ALFRED GEORGE SALMON, cousin (Known as Peter)

Alfred George Salmon was born in 1931. He married Marion de Carteret who was born in 1937. They had two sons.

Left: Peter and Marion. Right: Peter Salmon

PAMELA POLS, cousin

Pamela Salmon was born in 1936. She married Gerhardus Pols who was born in Holland in the same year. They had two sons.

Left: Gerry Pols Right: Gerry and Pamela Pols

Left: Wedding of Pam and Gerry Pols. Right: Millie Salmon, Pam & Gerry, Percy back, Roy Finch, Arthur Salmon, Peter & Shirley Ogier.

9. GEORGE HENRY SALMON, my Uncle

George Henry Salmon died on 12th April 1918, aged twenty-five

Albert John and George Henry Salmon

George Henry Salmon was the ninth child of John Senateur Salmon and Emelie Bisson. His birth certificate shows that he was born on 5th July 1892 at 10 Hauteville, St Peter Port. (Greffe Folio 99 No 294)

A copy of his birth certificate, issued 10th August 1918, is as follows:

No 294; date of birth July 5th 1892; sex mas; name of Father and mother before marriage; John Senateur Salmon and Emily Bisson; where born, Hauteville; occupation of father; mason. Birth registered July 27th 1892.

He was baptised by Robert Jones, Curate, at St Barnabas Church in St Peter Port on 2nd August 1892, and John Salmon, Walter Salmon and Lydia Rachel Bisson were his godparents.

In the Town Church Registers 15 July 1911 we read:

George Henry Salmon aged 19 years, son of John (Henry) Salmon and Emily Bisson, admitted on recommendation of Dr Bisson, sanctioned by the Vice President. Again, 30th August 1911 Discharged by sanction of the Vice President.

George Henry did not marry but worked for Luff & Co as a grocer in the commercial Arcade. He enlisted in the Royal Irish Regiment for service during the First World War and was given the number Private 3/7904. He later transferred to the R.G.L.I. as Private 2516, and was later promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal. On enlisting, he was living with mum at 2 Rue des Pres.

Guernsey Service Company attached to RI Regt. 22 yrs 9 months. 5 foot 4 and three quarters, Girth 35 inches – 2 inch expansion range. Shop Assistant. Unmarried. Previously served in Royal Guernsey militia. Enlisted 9th April 1915. Posted 1st May, transferred to R I Fusiliers 7th Division. 17th Feb 1916 France.

At the time of his death on 12th April 1918 at the age of 25, his mother, Emelie Salmon was a widow and she was living at 2, Tower Hill, St Peter Port. His death is listed at St Catherine’s

57 House in volume M6. Page 486. A letter was sent to his mother from his commanding officer which read as follows:

‘I regret exceedingly to inform you that your son, L/Cpl George Salmon, was killed in action. He was a keen soldier, a very good N.C.O. and a very good man. We shall miss him and we all deplore his loss. Please accept the sincere sympathy of his Company and myself. Signed, Lt. Gordon Hall’

Liz Walton wrote in 2010:

‘George was the third of the Salmon brothers to sacrifice his life in the cause of peace and died only 18months after his brother Alfred, on April 12th 1918 aged 22. George was a single man living at home when war broke out. He served with the 1st Service Battalion of the RGLI as 2516 Pte George H Salmon. He had previously served with the 3rd Royal Irish Regiment (7904) and the 87th Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers (21856).

George was a shop assistant living at home with his parents in St Peter Port, when he signed up on 9th April 1915. He transferred to the RIF on 4th October the same year, and 6 months later was tried for allegedly wounding / shooting himself in the right hand. Tried- 42 days detention. However, he must have recovered and remained with the Unit until he was transferred to the RGLI on its formation at the end of 1916. 18th March 1917. Awarded Parchment Certificate for Gallantry and devotion to duty. On leave Sept – Oct 1917. He survived the Battle of Cambrai but was killed in action at the Lys on 12th April 1918. Acting Corporal. Like most of the men who fell there, he has no known grave, but is commemorated on the Ploegstreet Memorial near Ielper in Belgium. 1718.’

There is no known grave, but George is remembered at Ploegsteert. Hainhault, in Belgium and an illustrated Roll of Honour in my possession contains the following memorial:

‘1914-1918: For King and Country to the Glory of God and in Everlasting Memory of SALMON, Pte George 2516, 1st Bn Royal Guernsey Light Infantry. 12th April 1918, Age 25. Son of Mrs Emily Salmon, 40, Pedvin St. St Peter Port, Guernsey. Who gave his life in the Great War that we might live, and whose name is carved in stone at Ploegsteert War Memorial, Belgium.’ (Panel 11.)

The following article was published in the Guernsey Weekly Press dated Saturday 4th May 1918:

‘Mrs E. Salmon, 2 Tower Hill, St Peter Port, received a letter from Lt. Gordon Hall, R.G.L.I., informing her that her 5th son, Corporal George Salmon, R.G.L.I. was killed in action on April 12th. Lt Hall wrote:

He was a keen soldier, a very capable NCO and a good man. We all miss him and deeply deplore his loss. Please accept the sincerest sympathy of his Company and myself in your sad bereavement.

58 Cpl Salmon left here 3 years ago with the Guernsey Company R. Irish Fusiliers and was drafted into the RGLI about a month ago. He was slightly wounded in the hand over a year ago. Cpl. Salmon was formerly employed by Mr Luff, Arcade, as a grocer. He came home on furlough last September.

George Henry Salmon (right)

The Guernsey Star of the 1st May 1918 reported further:

‘L/Cpl. George Salmon, was killed in action, on 12.4.1918. He is the son of Mrs Salmon of 2, Tower Hill, and was in the R.G.L.I. He volunteered three years ago for the Royal Irish Fusiliers and was only lately transferred to the R.G.L.I. with the remains of the Guernseymen who were serving with the R.I.F. He was formerly employed by Luff and Co, Commercial Arcade. Two other brothers have already been killed in action, Walter and Frederick, while John, William and Albert are serving in the Army, the latter in the R.G.L.I.’

The official War records read as follows:

‘Salmon G. Pte Royal Irish Regiment 3/7904. RIF 21856 and RGLI 2516 2nd Draft RGLI 02.03.1918. Killed 12.04.1918 Ex RIR.

2nd Draft RGLI 02-03-18. Killed in action 12-04-18 France and Flanders. 2nd Draft were drawn from men in the Training Reserve and Training Batallions. Consisted of 28 other ranks, the first of which was posted to the 1st Batallion with reinforcement 9 on 19- 03-1918. 2516 Pte Salmon G. killed in action 12.04.1918. Ex R.I.F. Memorial at Ploegsteert, Belgium.

Medals: P9 – meaning those who qualified for the use of the WW(i) medals before serving in the RGLI, are noted as P9 – their medals are named to their previous unit (Dieux Aie Book): Victory medal and British Medal, Reg no 21900 and 2516.

George Henry Salmon

10. FRANCIS HENRY SALMON, my Infant Uncle

Francis Henry Salmon, tenth child of Desire Jean and Emelie Salmon was born on 10th May 1894 at 10 Hauteville (Greffe Folio 135 No 191) His mother was thirty-three-years-old. He was baptised privately on 4th July 1894, by G C M Evans, Curate, and presented at the Town Church on 15th July 1894. His Godparents were his father, John William Salmon and Marie Augustine le Monnier.

Francis Henry Salmon died of bronchitis, at the age of six months, on 18th November 1894, at 10. Hauteville.

11. FREDERICK CHARLES SALMON, my Infant Uncle

Frederick Charles Salmon born 1896, died 1896

Frederic (sic) Charles Salmon, eleventh child of Desire Jean and Emelie Salmon, was born on 17th January 1896 at 10, Hauteville. (Greffe Folio 1168 No 40). His father’s occupation is given as mason. His birth was registered on 3rd February that same year.

He was baptised privately on 18th February by the Curate, H Swinburne of St Peter Port. Private baptism was carried out when the child was not expected to live. His father is named John Senateur Salmon and Emily Bisson is his mother.

60 Frederick (sic) Charles died at home in Hauteville, on 25th February 1896 at the age of five weeks, the cause of death being acute bronchitis. His death was registered the following day. His parents were given as John Senateur Salmon and Emily Bisson

12. ALFRED JAMES SALMON, my Uncle

Alfred James Salmon, the twelfth child of Desire Jean and Emelie Salmon was born on 8th May 1897. (Greffe Folio 11 No 1179). A copy of his birth certificate issued on 16th July 1924, gives the following information:

No 179. date of birth May 8th 1897; Alfred James; sex mas; name of father and mother before marriage, John Senateur Salmon and Emilie Bisson; born 10 Hauteville; occupation of father, mason; date registered May 19th 1897.

He was baptised at the Town Church on 13th June 1897 by the Rector, G E Lee. His godparents were Walter Salmon, William Salmon and Mary Ann Talbot, his mother’s sister. His father is named John Senateur Salmon, his mother Emily Bisson.

He attended school at Notre Dame du Rosaire from 29th October 1906 until 23rd May 1910, when he left to start work. He was a gardener by trade. He enlisted in Guernsey in the First World War and is recorded in the Army Lists at St Catherine’s house, London:

‘SALMON, Alfred J. Pte Regimental number 21901, Rank Private, Princess Victoria Royal Irish Fusiliers, died of wounds France 10th September 1916, vol 1.76 Page 127.’ Formerly 8881, Royal Irish Regiment. Born St Peter Port Guernsey.

Liz Walton wrote in 2010:

‘Alfred was the second of the Salmon brothers to sacrifice his life for peace. Like many Guernseymen he served first with the 3rd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment as Private 8881 A. Salmon, then with D Company of 7th Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers, with the Service Number 21901. His Service record shows that he signed up in Guernsey in June 1915 when he was a 19-year-old gardener living with his parents at Rue des Pres, St Peter Port. He went to England in 1915 for training at Purbright Camp in Surrey, before crossing to France for further training. By April 1916 the Unit was considered to be fully trained and went into the front line near Loos, where they lost several men to gas attacks. At the end of August 1916, they were moved to the Somme. Alfred Salmon received gunshot wounds to his back there and died of these wounds at 5th CCS at Corbie in Picardy a few miles east of Amiens on 10th September 1916. Unfortunately, the telegram notifying his family was initially delivered to the wrong address. Then there was some confusion as to whether it was Alfred or George who had died. It must have been very distressing for the family, with telegrams travelling back and forth between France, Ireland and Guernsey, until Alfred’s death was confirmed. He is buried at Corbie Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, Ploegsteert Memorial and Cemetery, Plot 2 Row C Grave No 60’

We also find more details in Dieux Aie Appendix 13 Page 60:

‘D Company, Royal Irish Fusiliers, 7th Btn Salmon A J Pte. R. Irish Regt 8881, Royal Irish Fusiliers 21901. Died of wounds 10.09.1916. aged 19 years.

He was awarded the Victory Medal and the British Medal.

13. ARTHUR JAMES SALMON, my Uncle

Arthur James Salmon. Centre photo: He is seated

Arthur James Salmon was the youngest son of Desire Jean and Emelie Salmon. He was born on 29th December 1899 at 10, Hauteville, St Peter Port. (Greffe Folio 61 No 12) He was baptised privately on 7th February 1900 by James Cairus, Curate, and presented at the Town Church on 22nd April 1900. His godparents were Walter Salmon, William John Salmon and Lillian England (John’s wife). His father is named John Senateur Salmon and mother, Emily Bisson.

Arthur attended school at Notre Dame de Rosaire starting on 21st November 1907 and he left there for work on 13th January 1913.

He served in the Army during World War I, just old enough to serve with the RGLI, going over to France just before the Armistice and after four of his brothers had died.

R.G.L.I. records:

Pte A J Salmon No 3782, St Peter Port, R17 Dt Bn. (which means remained in France with the Details Battalion after the main Body of the R.G.L.I. had returned to Guernsey.)

He was awarded the Victory medal. Living at 2 Tower Hill aged 18 years 5 months. Mum next of kin. Unmarried Embarked Guernsey 15th Oct 1918. Awarded 14 days FPNo2 for neglecting to obey an order.

62 Joined up 25th May 1918. 5 feet 5. Girth 34.5 – range 4.5 inches. 118 lbs. Development fair. 2 marks on left arm. Address for pay, 42 Pedvin Street. Born 1899. Demobbed 31st March 1920. Pension given. Offence – neglecting to obey an order 20th February 1919- 12 days FP, No 2. 1922 Awarded British War Medal. First joined 18th May 1918. No disability claim on demobilisation.

Home from 18th May 1918 until 16th October. France form 17th Oct 1918 – 20th Sept 1919. Home 21st Sept 1919 until 21st Oct.

Millie, nee le Conte, James Arthur, Robert Francis, Joan, Arthur, Edward (Teddy)

After discharge he worked for Messrs Luff and Company.

On 23rd June 1920 Arthur James Salmon married Millie Le Conte, the daughter of Laurier Francois Le Conte. Millie was born on 21st April 1903 and was baptised at Notre Dame Church on 23rd April 1903. Her father died before her marriage and her stepfather legally adopted her. She attended Notre Dame du Rosaire School from 28th February 1908. Her address at the time was 13 Cornet Street.

The Marriage Certificate reads as follows:

23rd June 1920 Book 21, Folio 347, No 137.

Arthur James Salmon, 21, Porter, of 40 Pedvin Street, son of John Desire Salmon, plasterer, deceased. Milly Le Conte, 18, spinster of 5 Burnt Lane, daughter of Etienne Le Conte, Labourer, deceased. Witnesses – Anna Le Conte, mother, Havelock Meidell.

Their married address was 19 Vauvert.

All of Arthur and Millie’s five children were baptised at Notre Dame Church, St Peter Port.

63 Arthur Salmon died on 2nd November 1980 at PEH, aged eighty years, and he was described as the ‘son of John Senateur Salmon and Emilie Bisson’, born St Peter Port.

Their children were cousins of Brian Torode:

JOAN BLACKWOOD, cousin

Joan Margaret Francisca Salmon was born on 14th August 1921 and baptised at Notre Dame on 11th September 1921. She attended Notre Dame School. She married John Blackwood and had five children.

JAMES ARTHUR SALMON, cousin

James Arthur Salmon was born on 27th March 1923 and was baptised at Notre Dame on 29th April 1923. He entered Notre Dame du Rosaire School on 13th September 1926. He died on 27th March 1937 aged fourteen-years and his funeral took place at Notre Dame Church.

Arthur Salmon seated, James Arthur died aet 14.

ROBERT FRANCOIS SALMON, cousin (Frankie)

Robert Francois Salmon was born on 17th April 1924 and he was baptised at Notre Dame. He entered Notre Dame School on 3rd September 1928 when his parents’ adxdress is given as Vauvert. He married Christine Priaulx and they had three children.

Left: Frankie Salmon. Right: with his father

EDWARD SALMON, cousin (Teddy)

Edward Salmon was born on 16th June 1926 and baptised at Notre Dame. He entered Notre Dame School 5th January 1931 when his parents were living in Mansell Street. He married Ruth Williams–Hall and they had a daughter.

Guernsey Evening Press:

Edward George ‘Ted’ Salmon died aged 80, suddenly but peacefully on 5th November 2006 at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital. Loved husband of Ann and of the late Ruth, much loved father and father in law of Jane and Keith, dearly loved papa of Jackie, Garry and Louisa, great grandfather of Taome, Reece, Charlie, Brandon, Marni, Pierce, Chezzie, Lunaka and TC. Loved brother of Joan and the late Arthur, Robert and Ann. Funeral Service, prior to cremation, at St Joseph’s Church, on Tuesday 14th November 2008 at 11 am. Family flowers only but donations may be sent to Guernsey Jumbulance Holidays.

ANN TOSTEVIN, cousin

Ann Salmon was born on 10th March 1939. She married Brian Tostevin who was born on 22nd October 1935.

14. ALICE BEATRICE TORODE, my Mother

Alice Beatrice Salmon was the youngest child and second daughter of Desire Jean and Emelie Salmon. She was born on 25th September 1903 at 10, Hauteville, St Peter Port. (Greffe Folio 127 No 318) She was baptised at the Town Church by the Curate A B Crane, on 1st November 1903, and her godparents were John William Salmon, Alice Beatrice Druce and Lily England Salmon. Her mother was forty-two-years-old at the time of her birth and her father, John Senateur Salmon, was fifty-three.

65 Alice attended Notre Dame du Rosaire School from 1st December 1908 until 26th March 1915 when she left to go to Vauvert.

Left: Nora and Pamela Salmon with Alice Torode Right: Alice with Michael Wiseman

She started work at Falla’s, the Florist, and in 1941 she married Edward John Torode at the Greffe, on 8th February, at the age of thirty-eight years. They had only one child – Brian Edward Torode who was born on 4th July 1941.

Edward and Alice lived variously at 19 Saumarez Street with Edward’s sister Florence; at Uxbridge, Les Croutes, just below St Stephen’s Church; and at 2, Emma Place, Victoria Road, St Peter Port from where Edward died and Alice moved to her Nursing home at Les Capelles.

Edward John Torode died on 15th January 1981 leaving her a widow. Alice bought a grave space for her and her husband details of which are as follows:

General Cemetery, Foulon Vale, St Peter Port:

In consideration of the sum of seven pounds, received from Mrs Alice Torode, the exclusive right of burial in Section AR Grave Space 169, in the General Cemetery, Foulon Vale, is reserved to the aforesaid Mrs Alice Torode, 2, Emma Place, Victoria Road, St Peter Port and her heirs in perpetuity; the same to be held subject to the Regulations herein endorsed, and to such Regulations as may hereafter be adopted with respect to interments in the said Cemetery. Signed for and on behalf of the States Board of Administration. St Julian’s Emplacement, Guernsey. 23rd January 1981.

After the death of her husband Alice deteriorated rapidly both physically and mentally. The house became in dire need of repair. Eventually Alice was admitted to a private nursing home at Les Capelles. She was very happy there and dearly loved by the staff.

Her son Brian corresponded with his mother frequently and below is a selection of correspondence sent to her at Coolderry House and found with her belongings at the time of her death.

Alice died peacefully on 22nd January 1993 at Coolderry House.

Date and hour of death 22nd January 1993 at 8.05 pm. Alice Beatrice Salmon widow of Edward John Torode; age 89; father and mother’s maiden name, John Senateur Salmon and Emilie Bisson; died at Coolderry House Residential Home, La Marette Road, Route des Capelles, St Sampson’s, Guernsey. Born, St Peter Port, Guernsey; cause of death – rupture of aortic aneurysm, certified Dr D S Brand. Registered Jan 26th 1993.

At the beginning of August 2003, Brian visited Guernsey with a view to attending his parents grave. The stone was missing and he contacted the stonemasons as to its whereabouts. On 13th August, 2003, Alice’s son Brian wrote to the stonemason seeking further information as to the stone’s whereabouts. Beckford’s the funeral directors knew nothing about it. After extensive enquiries and searches, the stone was eventually discovered at Messrs Adams Memorials, Mare Perelle, Vale, Guernsey, where it had been taken and ‘forgotten about’ Brian ordered it to be immediately engraved to include Alice and to be repositioned as soon as possible afterwards.

The requested inscription was to be:

To the Memory of Edward John Torode 1913-1981. At Peace. (Already inscribed after Edward’s burial)

And to be added:

Also of Alice Beatrice, (nee Salmon) His Dear Wife, 1903-1993. Much loved parents of Brian.

Their only child was:

BRIAN EDWARD TORODE