A people with an immigrant background
In the 1st century, as the Romans settled on the mainland, the Gauls found refuge on the islands. Later, it was the turn of the Cornish Britons to flee the Anglo-Saxon invasion.
In 911, Charles the Simple ceded Normandy, of which the Channel Islands were a part, to Rollon, a Viking chieftain, by signing the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. It was then that the Normans came to settle. They were nomads, pirates and pagans, and when they came to the islands, they became farmers and converts. Between the 17th and 19th centuries, many Huguenot exiles came to the islands from France to escape the Wars of Religion, followed by others fleeing the French Revolution. Immigration soon took on a more economic character. Around 1840, Bretons arrived en masse each season to work on the land. They were the source of many of the French-sounding surnames still found on the island. In Saint-Hélier, today's High Grove Street was once known as French Lane, and was considered the meeting place of Jersey's Bretons.
It wasn't until the abolition of income tax and steam navigation in 1820 that the English began to settle here. The archipelago, hitherto oriented towards the French coast, now sought to maintain close ties with London. The French language was dying out, the pound sterling was adopted, as was the English system of weights and measures, and most trade was with Great Britain.
The new migrations
Today, the natives are moving away from manual labor and the hotel trade, and are looking for better-paid jobs in banking and insurance. Many of them also stay in England, where they can work after completing their higher education. However, it is essential to provide the services that are essential to island life, so today's workforce in agriculture, gastronomy and the hotel trade comes mainly from Eastern Europe. In the past, they came from Portugal. This is why the Portuguese make up such a large proportion of the local population. They mainly come from the island of Madeira. They have replaced the Bretons and Italians who were once employed here, but have now returned to their home regions. This explains the curious direct Jersey-Madeira charter flights. It also explains the dual English-Portuguese signage in certain administrations, bars with sunny names, signs where the owners' names are Da Silva, Da Cunha, a Portuguese soccer team, clubs, and those lively Saturday morning meetings near the Saint-Hélier market. It's a fairly well-integrated population that has found its place in the local economy.
The number of Jersey-born children of Portuguese parents or mixed couples is growing, creating a multicultural generation. More recently, hotel and restaurant owners have turned to Polish workers. Poles are appreciated here for their often high level of education and fluency in English. Many of them have substantial university degrees, but prefer to work here as receptionists or cooks because it's more profitable. These newcomers naturally feel the need to get together. So you'll see a number of establishments (restaurants, bars, shops) offering Polish food, Polish newspapers, Polish karaoke nights and so on. Other immigrant workers complete the local population: Latvians and Kenyans, for example. As for the English, Italians and French, they are mainly employed as managers or chefs. Finally, the horticultural sector is largely in Dutch hands.
The meeting of billionaires
But immigration to the Anglo-Norman archipelago isn't just about manual workers, it's also about billionaires attracted by heavenly tax rates. It is becoming increasingly difficult to establish a tax domicile in Jersey. Applicants must prove that they have a bank account of several million US$, to be deposited in a Jersey bank of course, and that their annual income is in the region of 1 million US$. To settle in Guernsey, you don't need to be that wealthy. All you need is a minimum of £200,000 to buy a beautiful home on the open market, and the ability to prove that you have enough to live on. Alderney and Sark do not have the same real estate regulations as the larger islands, and the only obstacle to buying a home is the limited number of properties on the market.
The fight against illegal immigration
With a booming economy and tax haven status, the islands attract many would-be immigrants from a wide variety of backgrounds. In Jersey - where only half the population was born locally - hostilities are open against so-called "illegal immigrants. That's why the requirements for becoming a citizen of the islands are draconian. An obscure past is an obstacle, while special skills are welcome. The problem with such a high demand for naturalization is that life is expensive, especially the real estate market. For both natives and emigrants, it is difficult for young people to settle there, although the laws that apply to them are different. Therefore, the bailiwicks spend most of their budget on housing, nurseries, schools, hospitals..
English and local dialects
English is spoken, of course, but not exclusively. Local dialects still (somewhat) exist.
French and Jèrriais. French, initially in its Norman form - the islanders long spoke a medieval French dialect known in English as Norman French, or Jersiais/Jèrriais - ruled the islands for a long time. Words in this dialect generally come from Low Latin, but there are also Gallic, Breton and Scandinavian origins. In the 19th century, while Anglicans demanded services in English, many Huguenot emigrants, whether anti-Republican or revolutionary, spoke French. Education was provided in part in this language, by tutors of French origin, often clerics. At the time, French was the most sought-after language in Europe among monarchs, diplomats, literati and intellectuals. Francophonie, to use a modern term, extended as far as Russia and Poland, and as far as Scotland, but not to the Anglo-Saxon countries that were enemies of France.
In the 19th century, the language of science was still Latin, more universal but not very modern. After the First World War, English made inroads into the business and scientific worlds as an international language, while in France, at the turn of the century, the organization of education aimed to eliminate regional languages in favor of French. In other words, even in Normandy, Norman has declined sharply, except perhaps in the northern Cotentin region. Since the beginning of this century, English has become widely spoken on the islands. Today, learned societies and associations (the Société jersiaise, for example) are trying to revive this language, remnants of which remain on the islands and in Normandy, where it has its own journals. It is still found in local stories and tales, in survey measurements and official titles, in popular language and in street and family names. In everyday life, Jèrriais is used in official documents, which are generally written in Old Norman or French, and lawyers can study Old Norman law at the faculty of Caen. At elementary school, or later, some children choose the patois as an option. Jèrriais even gets a weekly page in the local daily newspaper, but English is well established in the business world. For those interested in this ancient language, we recommend Franck Le Maistre's Dictionnaire jersiais-français, published by Don Baleine Trust, Jersey, alas, 1966, not available in bookshops.
A little Jersey lexicon. Here are a few local words and expressions still in use, especially among the older generation. Bailliff: chief magistrate and president of the States (first appointed by the governor, then directly by the King of England); boulevard: palisade of tree trunks to protect from the sea; cauchie: port, road, causeway; clios: enclosed field, surrounded by hedges; connétable: in each parish, at once chief of police, legislator and president of the town council; fief: lands given by the sovereign to men he wished to reward; mais wai, mais nonnain: obviously; mess: sir; mon Dou: my God; mon viow: my old man; par il lo: that way; perquage: 8-m-wide path leading from each church to the sea, by which any criminal had the right to escape from Jersey without being bothered by soldiers; pourchay: pig; rat: parish taxes; seigneur : fiefdom owner; villais: inhabitants of Saint-Hélier.
Guernesiais. This dialect is now only spoken by a few families in the south-west of the island, particularly in Torteval. It is not compulsorily taught and is not widely spoken. However, Radio Guernsey (BBC), the island's official radio station, ensures that Guernsey dialect does not disappear completely from the airwaves.
