Lord Coutanche

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Bailiff of Jersey 1935-1961
Lord Coutanche


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Alexander Moncrieff Coutanche, Baron Coutanche, was Bailiff of Jersey from 1935 to 1961, including the German Occupation years

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Early life and education

Coutanche was born in Saint Saviour, the younger son and third child of Adolphus Arnold Coutanche (1856-1921) and Jane Alexandrina Finlayson ( -1909). His Christian names were chosen in honour of his mother's Scottish ancestry.

He was educated at La Chasse preparatory school, Jersey High School and Victoria College before going to study law at the University of Caen. He then attended Carlisle and Gregson's London Academy with the intention of entering the Indian Civil Service. However, although he passed the entrance examination he was rejected on health grounds due to the discovery of a systolic heart murmur.

Early career

Having studied law before attempting to enter the civil service, Coutanche entered the chambers of John Beaumont at the Middle Temple in 1912. He aimed to practise at the Chancery bar, but was instead called to the Jersey bar in 1913. On the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Coutanche served as an assistant to a government secretary in Jersey. He was ineligible to join the Inns of Court regiment due to his previously discovered heart murmur, so went to work at a munitions factory, rising from a worker through to management level. He was called to the English bar in 1915.

In 1917 he volunteered for work with the War Claims Commission and was posted to Belgium with the rank of Lieutenant. During his time in Belgium he won the Belgian Croix de Guerre and was appointed chevalier of the Order of the Crown. He left the army in 1920 with the rank of Captain. He returned to his chambers in London, but then had to return to work at the Jersey chambers due to the illness of his father.

He was elected a Deputy of Saint Helier in 1922, and married Ruth Sophia Joan Gore in 1924. Their son John Alexander was born the following year.

Public Service

In 1925 Coutanche was appointed Solicitor-General, and went on to reform the Law Officers Department and the States Greffe. He was promoted to Attorney-General in 1931. He did much to reform and update court proceedings, including the introduction of English as the court language. He was the first Attorney-General to make an address for the prosecution in English. In 1935, the Bailiff, Charles de Carteret, retired and Coutanche succeeded him. He was the last Bailiff appointed for life and the last under the sole prerogative of the Crown without the obligation to consult the States of Jersey.

Coutanche took on the additional role of Governor when the island was demilitarised in 1940. He was knighted in 1946.He was made a life peer in the Birthday Honours of 1961 taking the title of Baron Coutanche, of St Brelade in the Island of Jersey and of the City of Westminster. He retired as Bailiff in 1961. During the period when he was simultaneously a member of the legislatures of Jersey and the United Kingdom he sat as a cross-bencher in the House of Lords; upon his retirement as Bailiff he took the Conservative whip.

Lord Coutanche in 1961

Occupation

Before the German Occupation the importance of the Bailiff in legislative and administrative matters had been gradually diminishing as the States of Jersey began to exercise greater control. However, the need for centralised administration during the Occupation from 1940 to 1945 made the Bailiff a commanding figure in the circumstances of trying to maintain the life of the island.

Although he continued in his role for another 16 years after the war ended, the constitutional reforms of 1948 which removed the Jurats from the States, replacing them with Senators, separated more clearly legislature and judiciary. Political leadership now rested more clearly with the Senators as purely political senior elected representatives.

He was an honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple and Doctor of Laws of the University of Caen.

Links

A maquette for a sculpture of a horse, by Edmund Blampied, owned by Lord Coutanche and sold at auction by his family in 2022
A page from Coutanche's photograph album, recording the first visit of the Red Cross ship Vega to Jersey

1945 letter from Chamber of Commerce president

Edwin Hettich was president of the Jersey Chamber of Commerce when he wrote this letter to the Bailiff, Alexander Coutanche, thanking him for his role during the German Occupation

Gallery

Click on any image to see a full-size version

During his time in office Coutanche welcomed many members of the Royal Family and other dignitaries to the island. He is pictured here in about 1960, on the left, next the Home Secretary, R A Butler, Lieut-Governor General Sir George Erskine, and Frank Le Boutillier
In the States Chamber in 1954

Notes and references


Bailiffs of Jersey
Predecessor Successor
Charles Malet de Carteret
1931-1935
Lord Coutanche
1935-1961
Cecil Stanley Harrison
1961-1962
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