The origins of time in Jersey

By Mary Phillips Jersey Historian

Clocks around the island had to be changed in line with GMT

Time changed for the people of Jersey on 10 February 1898 when the Attorney General confirmed the Law adopting Greenwich Time in the island.

The Bailiff said he had to notify the island that from that afternoon, Jersey time would have to be advanced from eight to 10 minutes.

The law would be read out in the Royal square that same afternoon.

Advocate Baudins flippantly asked what time should they go to Church and attend the States Chamber on Monday?

Why was it necessary for Jersey to have the same time as Greenwich and accept that meridian as the controller of local clocks and watches?

There was no radio, but there was the Post Office and Mail boats.

As you'll read elsewhere in this section, most counties in Britain had accepted uniform time, particularly because of the railways.

Post Office confusion

So the church clock followed the station clock, and everybody, including Jersey in 1898, followed suit.

That got rid of the confusion which previously saw the Post Office clock pointing to two o'clock, yet the Town Church said ten to two.

Not everybody was supportive of the move to GMT

Not everybody approved the change. The leader column in the Jersey Times that Saturday announced the law was 'preposterous, in direct opposition to the solar system and contravenes natural law.'

But after denigrating all politicians and their arrogance, the editor did have one good thing to say about the change.

"It may teach the gun at Elizabeth Castle better manners, for that piece of ordnance is at times sadly erratic" he wrote.

In Guernsey, GMT had already been in use for 30 years. Jersey was the only country where the system had not been adopted.

The present method caused great inconvenience to passengers and to the Post Office.

The War Years

During the First World War, a system was used to start and end Summer Time in the island in 1916, to cover the period from Saturday 20 May to Sunday 30 September.

Curiously they chose midnight for the changes, rather than 2am as the rest of Britain.

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Sadly Mary passed away in September 2009. She was of BBC Jersey's longest serving contributors and all at the BBC send their condolences to her family and friends.