4. PHILIPPE GEORGE JOLIN
his trial and execution for the murder of his father in 1829
Philippe George Jolin was the son of Philippe Jolin, who had been baptised 18th March 1778 in St Helier, the youngest child of Jacques Jolin and Anne Le Bailly - The second generation on Jersey.htm Philippe, snr, married Elizabeth/Betsy Turner on 2nd March 1807 in St Helier and had two children, both baptised in St Helier: Philippe George on 5th February 1808 and Betsy Mary on 20th January 1812. Betsy Mary died only two years later and was buried on 11th April 1814. Philippe, snr, was a blacksmith, but his son went away to sea and was a member of the brig 'Pelican' at age 15. At the time of his attack on his father, Philippe, jnr, was due to begin work at the shop of Philippe Binet.
The trial -Monday. 28th September. 1829 - The trial of Philippe Jolin, jnr, took place at the Royal Court before a Grand Jury. The Court assembled at 10.15 am and present were the Bailiff and the Jurats, whose names were: St Ouen, Pipon, Benest, Rozel, Poingdestre, De Ste Croix, De Carteret, Nicolle, D'Auvergne, Bertram, De Vuelle
After the prisoner had been brought in the Greffier read out the accusation whereby Philippe Jolin was accused by HM Attorney General of the crime of parricide and murder of Philippe Jolin, his father, during the day of 7th September 1829, by throwing a piece of brick which struck his head.
The jury, composed of eight principals of each of the parishes of St Helier, St Saviour and St Laurens, was then summoned. The names of the jury were:
FOR ST HELIER: Messrs: Philippe Le Vavasseur Dit Durell, Edouard Nicolle, Jean Matthews, jnr, Clement De Quetteville, Edouard Marett, Daniel Janvrin, Charles De La Garde, Jean Benest.
FOR ST SAVIOUR: Messrs: Jean Pelgue, James Hammond, Isaac Gosset, Abraham Aubin, Jean Mourant, Jacques Perchard, Daniel Le Geyt, Jean Perchard.
FOR ST LAURENS: Messrs: Jean Langlois, Françoise Payn, Edouard-Lenhard Bisson, Tom Dupre, Pierre Marett, Pierre Clement, James Luce, Jean Godfrey.
After the Bailiff had administered the oath to the jury, the Attorney General read out the report of Centenier Nicolle of the parish of St Helier:
"Monday, the 7th instant at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon I was informed that Mr Philippe Jolin had died a short while earlier from wounds and injuries inflicted by his son, Philippe Jolin, jnr. The latter, having entered his father's house between 1 and 2 in the afternoon and left soon afterwards in a rather brusque manner followed by the deceased who invited him to come in; he declined the invitation tom do so saying that it might result in either the father or the son killing the other. Shortly afterwards (the father then being
afterwards (the father then being in the lane leading to his home), the son returned, carrying two bricks or pieces of brick which he threw at his father one after the other, despite the protests of a woman standing nearby. The dead man was struck on the head by the last missile and caused him grievous harm and to fall to the ground, being unable to pick himself up. As a result of the fatality, I deemed it my duty to arrest the said Philippe Jolin, jnr, and to make this report.”
Witnesses for the prosecution
EDOUARD THOMPSON DICKSON, aged 37, surgeon, had treated the deceased for several years for irregular attacks of gout and had been called to attend the deceased following the incident.
WILLIAM MCDOUGAL, aged 40, surgeon in the Royal Navy, had accompanied Dr Dickson at the inquest. He confirmed that the cause of death was a ruptured blood vessel caused by a blow to the head.
MARIE LE RICHE, aged 28, had witnessed the argument between father and son, from a window at Philippe Nicolle's house.
THOMAS BERTRAM, aged 15, had witnessed the argument and had also seen the prisoner pick up a brick, break it in two and throw a piece at his father.
JEANNE LE MAISTRE, wife of Philippe Aubin, aged 20, had spoken with the father after the argument at about 1.30 in the afternoon and afterwards advised the prisoner not to throw the brick.
EDOUARD LE FEUVRE, aged 28, a first cousin to the prisoner, gave evidence about the prisoner being drunk in his shop before and after the incident.
THOMAS THORNTON, aged 35, had been sitting at a window of the house opposite to that of Jurat Nicolle land had witnessed the prisoner fetching the pieces of brick and leaving afterwards without them.
PHILIPPE WINTER NICOLLE, aged 28, one of the Centeniers of the parish of St Helier, had been informed at about 4 in the afternoon by Dr Dickson about the killing. He had shortly afterwards met the prisoner at the quay, arrested him, and taken him to prison.
THOMAS HINCHCLIFFE, aged 35, had found the deceased bleeding profusely on the ground and helped Jean Valpy to pick him up and carry him home.
JAMES CLARK, a stone cutter employed in the workshop of Thomas Hinchcliffe, helped to lift the deceased.
Witnesses for the defence
PHILIPPE AUBIN, aged 32, said that in 1823 he had been a crew member together with the prisoner on the brig 'Pelican'. He gave evidence of seeing the prisoner deranged on board ship.
PHILIPPE JEUNE, aged 32, had lodged in the deceased's home for seven years, before leaving there five years ago. He had often seen the prisoner deranged, and once had seen him threatening with a gun, but added that he may have been provoked by his father who had bad health because he drank too much.
MARGUERITE COLLAS, wife of Huard, aged 60, a neighbour of the deceased. A year ago she had answered the prisoner's mother's call for help and had found the father striking his son with an iron bar. Often the prisoner had not been given food and had asked the witness for food.
PHILIPPE MAUAL, aged 37, captain of the 'Pelican' in 1823. Said that the prisoner had behaved properly on board. He had seen marks and scars of beatings on the head of the accused, had witnessed the prisoner being kicked by his father and about 14 months ago had seen the father attack his son with an iron bar.
JOHN CUNNING, aged 39, crew member of the’ Pelican' in 1823, said the prisoner had been well- behaved and friendly with all the crew.
PHILIPPE BINET, aged 42, said the prisoner had appeared in his shop drunk before breakfast on the day of the killing, and had .returned after lunch and wept after telling what he had done to his father.
JOHN CASE, aged 45, blacksmith for the deceased, had often seen the deceased beat his son with a hammer.
Counsel for the defence - advocate Hammond then spoke on Philippe Jolin’ behalf in an attempt to have him found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter. He then defined the difference between murder and manslaughter and went on to consider the character of the prisoner and the extenuating circumstances. In particular he
mentioned an incident that took place on 7 January 1825 when the prisoner, along with five other young men, risked death by bravely setting out in a small boat to rescue survivors from the cutter 'Fanny' which had been fatally shipwrecked on the I'Les Bui ts'l rocks near Elizabeth Castle, whilst coming from St Malo under Captain Destaunches. These young men were later commended for bravery on 2 May 1825 by the Greffier. He then spoke about the brick throwing incident in detail, maintaining that it had happened on impulse and without premeditation. He mentioned the fact that the prisoner had wept and said that he was sorry afterwards and insisted that the attack had been committed in self-defence following the quarrel. He then quoted other cases of manslaughter in support of his argument.
Speech for the prosecution - HM Attorney General addressed the Court. He outlined the details of the incident and played down the defence's previous remarks about provocation, suggesting that the evidence about violence and brutality at home had been exaggerated. He said that there was doubt as to whether the prisoner had been drunk when he threw the brick, but in any case he thought the prisoner had known what he was doing. He dismissed the manslaughter cases cited by the defence as irrelevant because in those cases the actions had been committed immediately on being provoked, and provocation was not proved in this case. Also, acts between strangers were different than similar acts between father and son. He finished by saying: "A son must respect the authority of a father, even a blow cannot be considered as sufficient provocation for a son to engage in reprisals, especially when the father is aged, feeble and in bad health".
The Bailiff then briefly addressed the jury and said: "It seems to me that the indictment has been proved by the evidence and that the prisoner is guilty".
The verdict – the jury retired for 55 minutes to consider its verdict, and when the Bailiff asked the foreman of the jury, Mr Durell, for the result, he replied: "The unanimous opinion of the jury is that Philippe Jolin, the prisoner at the bar, is more so guilty than innocent of the crime of which he is indicated".
The counsel for the defence then addressed the Court on behalf of the prisoner. He mentioned the prisoner's young age, read again the Act of States praising Jolin's bravery in 1825, cited other cases in support of his plea, and finally, he read out a note written by the prisoner. In this note Philippe Jolin was remorseful and said that he should have left home and never returned, thus avoiding being made a scapegoat for his parents' quarrels and witnessing the bad example of habitual drunkenness. Visits from the clergy during his imprisonment had made him appreciate his duty towards God and mankind and he was now ready to accept the Court's judgement without a murmur.
Sentence of death -The Bailiff pronounced sentence: the prisoner was to be delivered into the hands of the public executioner, taken to the place of execution and hanged and strangled until death, and all his effects to be confiscated.
Philippe Jolin's last days - During his detention before the trial both friends and relatives visited him and were said to have found him sad and depressed. He spoke of the killing to Nicolas Babot, son of the turnkey. The first clergyman to visit was the Revd Falle, followed by Revd. M. Hall and Revd. M. Perrot. The chaplains of the Bishop of Winchester, the Revds. Filleul, Hornsby, Durell, Cunningham and Gallichan, also in turn visited him and prayed for him. These visits by the clergy appeared to comfort Philippe and by the day of his trial he had become calm and composed and resigned to his fate. During the week before the execution he asked to see some members of his family and spoke to them about the Bible and read hymns. The day before Philippe's execution the Dean and other clergyman visited him and administered Holy Communion. The Revd. M. Gallichan remained with him overnight.
The execution -Saturday. 3 October. 1829 - The Deputy-Viscount and Denunciators Aubin and Godfray went to the prison at about 12.15. The Revds. Gallichan and Hall appeared with the prisoner, who appeared serene. At 1.15, escorted by about 200 halberdiers, they left the prison and walked to Gallows Hill (Mont Patibulaire/ Westmount), followed by a large crowd. Philippe Jolin's hanging was watched by a crowd estimated at being over 6,000 strong. He had first made a speech in a firm voice which included a reading from the Bible and a plea to the crowd for families to be tolerant of each other and to make efforts to learn their duty towards God and mankind. At 4 o'clock the corpse was taken down from the gallows.
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