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The Royal Peculiars of the Deaneries of Jersey and Guernsey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2012

Extract

Royal Peculiars are an oddity of the Church of England. Churches and chapels that would normally come under the jurisdiction of the local bishop are in fact ‘peculiar’ when they have an ordinary who is not the local bishop but someone appointed by the Crown – and in some cases the Queen herself. In the Channel Islands, the whole deaneries of Jersey and Guernsey rather than individual churches claim to be Royal Peculiars. Whether this claim is valid is not easy to determine. While together with the Isle of Man, but excluding Ireland, they form part of the British Islands, they are not part of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom government is responsible for the defence and international relations of the Channel Islands, but the Crown is ultimately responsible for their good government, and Acts of the British Parliament do not apply to the Channel Islands.

Type
Comment
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical Law Society 2012

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References

1 The expression ‘British Islands’ was defined in the Interpretation Act 1978 Sch 1 as meaning the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

2 The Dean of Guernsey, on behalf of the Guernsey Deanery, made a presentation to the Deanery Synod in October 2005, and this short history is taken from that address.

3 Channel Islands (Church Legislation) Measure 1931, s 2.

4 Jersey Order in Council 16/1999 (11 May 1999).

5 For instance, the Faculty Jurisdiction Measure 1964 concludes ‘This Measure shall extend to the whole Provinces of Canterbury and York, except the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man’.

6 Archbishops' Council, The Church of England Yearbook 2012 (London, 2011), p 245Google Scholar. Unless otherwise stated, facts are drawn from the website of the Diocese of Winchester, <http://www.winchester.anglican.org>, accessed 15 June 2012.

7 The Very Revd Robert Key, Dean of Jersey, e-mail to the author, 7 August 2011.

8 The Church of England Yearbook 2012, p 245.

9 Crockford's Clerical Directory (2010–2011 edition, London, 2009), p 991Google Scholar.

10 Duncan, J, The History of Guernsey (London, 1841), ch 4Google Scholar.

11 Marr, J, A History of the Bailiwick of Guernsey (London, 1982)Google Scholar.

12 Duncan, The History of Guernsey, ch 4.

13 Wainewright, J, ‘Coutances, Winchester, and the Channel Islands’, (1904) 30 Notes & Queries 68Google Scholar; he quotes T Rymer (ed), Foedera, vol 12, p 740.

14 Duncan, ch 4.

15 Crockford's Clerical Directory, p 1002.

16 Michael Scott-Joynt, former Bishop of Winchester, e-mail to the author, 2 August 2011.

17 Halsbury's Laws of England, vol 14 (1957) p 33.

18 Halsbury's Laws of England, vol 34 (2011), para 25.

19 Calendar of the Manuscripts Preserved at Hatfield House, vol 13, entry 315, p 93, provided by Dr Katy Mair, The National Archives, 19 March 2012.

20 Timothy Briden, Vicar-General of the Province of Canterbury, e-mail to the author, 15 November 2011.

21 Burn, R, The Ecclesiastical Law, vol 3 (eighth edition corrected, London, 1824), p 72Google Scholar.