In speaking of the resident English population of Jersey it is natural to enquire what are the attractions which Jersey presents; and what are the advantages over England which it possesses? For when we see it so extensively colonised, we may conclude that it possesses some that are exclusive.
The foremost of these is unquestionably the greater cheapness of living.
Meat
The beef and mutton with which the Jersey market is supplied is almost wholly French, and although in general it is not to be compared with the best beef and mutton in the English markets, neither is it to be complained of. I have seen, about Christmas time, beef that would not have disgraced any market. Veal and lamb, but especially veal, are to be found occasionally quite equal to the same articles in the English markets. The supply, however, of the best meat is always (excepting about Christmas) moderate.
The average price of all kinds of butcher’s meat may be stated at 6d per pound of 17½ ounces. The best cuts of veal may perhaps average a half-penny more. Pork is excellent, and in the best season decidedly superior to any I have tasted in England. There is an immense consumption of it during the winter months in Jersey, and it generally sells about 5d per lb.
The poultry market is pretty well supplied, especially with geese. Fowls are sold at about 2s 6d a couple; a well-sized turkey may be bought for from 3s to 5s; a good goose for 2s 6d, and ducks at about 1s 6d a pair. So far, it will be observed, Jersey has very little the advantage over very many of the English provincial towns, and but a moderate advantage over the metropolis.
Butter
Let us now come to what is usually called country farm produce. Jersey butter has the reputation of being excellent. This character, however, is not without exceptions, and I do not, for my own part, look upon it as at all superior to that produced from the best English dairies. In the price of butter Jersey has a decided advantage over London, and some advantage over most parts of England.
This is sufficiently proved by the large export of butter, which can bear the expense of carriage, and compete in the hands of the dealer with the dairies of Hampshire and Dorsetshire. The average price of butter during the summer months – that is from April to October – may be stated at 10d, and during the rest of the year it is about 3d higher. Eggs during the summer months are 5d per dozen, and during winter months from 7d to 1s. Milk is 2d per quart and it is generally excellent.
Let it be kept in mind that all these prices are calculated in Jersey currency – one shilling English is 13d Jersey. For example, if you purchase one pound of meat at 6½d, the sixpence-halfpenny is paid by an English sixpence; or if the price be 6d, you receive a halfpenny back.
During the winter season there is a separate poultry market which is entirely stocked with French produce. Capons are then often very plentiful, and excellent, and may be bought of a very large size at 2s 3d. Those of my readers who know what a fine French capon is will not think this an exorbitant price.
At this season also there are abundance of French partridges, woodcocks, snipes and hares. Partridges are sold at about 2s 6d a brace; woodcocks generally a little higher; a fine hare costs from 2s6d to 3s. The supply of game, however, is very irregular. A continuance of strong northerly winds may keep the market empty for weeks, and if then the wind suddenl shifts to the south, capons and game may be had for half nothing. Moor game is never seen in the Jersey market.
Fruit and veg
The vegetable and fruit market is most varied and abundant. With the exception of the market of Toulouse, which I take to be the very best for country produce in Europe, I do not remember to have seen a better one than that of Jersey. It is difficult to particularise the prices of vegetables. I should say, however, generally, that they are not greatly lower than in the most abundant English markets.
In the fruit market all the English outdoor fruits are found, with some that belong to more southern countries. The common fruits, such as apples, pears, plums and the berry tribe, are scarcely cheaper than they can be bought in Covent Garden, and some of them are not so cheap as in the best fruit counties in England.
Strawberries are certainly dearer. Peaches, however, I think are more abundant and cheaper than they are in any part of England. But those fruits which are not forced in Jersey, as they are in England, are of course cheaper. Good outdoor grapes, which if the season be good are very palatable, are sold at about 6d per lb; and the finest hothouse grapes are not more than 1s.
Melons of the best species, and of a size that would cost 5s or 6s in Covent Garden, may be purchased for from 8d to 1s 6d. French fruit is sometimes to be had very cheap, particularly cherries, but as the excellence of a cherry depends altogether upon its freshness, those which have been gathered in France are worth little.
Fish
The fish market of Jersey is very inferior to what might be expected; it is neither regularly abundant, nor remarkable for its cheapness. The Jersey fishermen are not fishermen solely; they have generally some property adjoining the sea and do not always find it convenient to launch their boats. The consequence is that the market is neither regularly nor abundantly supplied.
The fish commonly brought to market are whiting, sole, plaice, bass, grey and red mullet, john dorey, mackerel, gar – a fish resembling an eel – and several inferior kinds of fish which are not worth naming.
The conger eel is also very common, and most kinds of shellfish are very abundant and good. Turbot is rarely seen, salmon still more rarely; haddock never; cod very unfrequently, and fresh herring scarcely ever in a palatable state.
The price of fish varies so greatly that it is difficult to state any average price. I may say, however, that excepting the shell fish, none of them are so chneap as the same, or equally good fish cost in the fishy English seaports. Mullet and bass are, perhaps, cheaper in Jersey, but then the haddock, cod and herring of the English markiets are more than an equivalent. The largest and finest lobsters may be bought for a shilling and one may have as many fine prawns for breakfast as one can eat, for 2d.
Excisable commodities
So far it will be seen that Jersey has no advantage over any of the more abundant English counties, and that excepting in the article of butter, the advantage over even the metropolis is small. It is to excisable commodities we must look for the advantage which Jersey possesses in point of cheapness.
Tea that in England would cost from 6s to 8s may be purchased in Jersey at from 3s 4d to 4s or 4s 4d. The best gunpowder tea costs 6s 6d. Loaf sugar, such as would cost in London 10d, and in the country 11d, may be bought in Jersey for 6d. Raw sugars are scarcely more than half their price in England. Coffee is not more than two-thirds of its price in England. Rice is 3d per pound, currants 4d, raisins for puddings about the same.
These are the articles of foreign and colonial produce the most in use; but in all others of less consumption, such as spices, oil, olives, dried fruits, etc, the price is proportionately low. In this large class of articles then, the produce of foreign countries, which may now be almost all classed among the necessaries of life, Jersey has a decided advantage. And from this enumeration we have a direct illustration of the effects of taxation, and of the extent to which it operates in depressing the condition of a people.
Wines and spirits
But it yet remains to notice that large class of taxed commoditios which are more properly termed luxuries: I mean wines and spirit. In the pow price of these, Jersey will compete with any place in the world. For, although in the wine countries the superior wines may be drunk for next to nothing in the districts which produce them, Jersey has the command of all wines duty free; and consequently the vintages of France, Spain and Portugal are all proportionably low-priced.
That there is a great deal of bad wine in Jersey is true; but so thereis in England; and so there is in the countries which produce wines.
Port, from two to eight years old, and of good quality, is from 22s 6d to 25s per dozen; and inferior port may be purchased at 15s. Sherries, the same prices as port. Bucellas 14s. Marsala 12s to 14s. Vidonia 20s. East India madeira 24s. Vin ordinaire 6s to 10s. Light clarets from 20s to 30s. First growths of best clarets 45s to 50s. Cote Rotie 45s to 48s. St George 12s. Burgundy, Chambertin 60s. Macon 25s. Vin de Grave, Barsac and Sauterne from 15s to 25s. Champagne 50s to 60s. Rhenish 17s 6d. Hocks 40s to 50s. All of these prices are stated in Jersey currency. Consequently 1s 8d must be deducted from every £1.
The catalogue of spirits is even more imposing. Cognac, such as is rarely to be met with in England, costs 7s per gallon. Hollands, from 3s 6d per gallon to 1s a bottle. Jamaica rum 1s to 1s 4d a bottle. Spirits of inferior quality, but not inferior to what is usually retailed in England, may be had at greatly lower prices.
One may, therefore, enjoy a glass of rum and water, sugar included, for one penny. And I am not sure that a few drops of lemon juice might be squeezed into the bargain. A man may comfort himself with a pint of old port for 11d, or drain his bottle of St George – rather a racy wine – for the same money; or of marsala, better than it is found in England, for one shilling.
I have omitted in my enumeration the important article of bread, the best quality of which sells at 2d per pound, and common household bread of an excellent quality at 1½ d.
House rents
There still remains to be noticed one important item of expenditure – house rent; and here Jersey must suffer considerably in a comparison with England. A house such as in most parts of England (of course excluding the metropolis and the best situations in the large towns) would be let for £30, would certainly cost £40 in Jersey. And there are scarcely, in Jersey, any of those small, though comfortable cottages with gardens, which in the cheaper and more remote English counties are usually rented from £18 to £25.
A comfortable and respectable and moderate sized house, in a good situation, and with a little garden ground, cannot be had in Jersey under from £35 to £40. The rent of a house furnished is generally nearly double the rent unfurnished.
It must be recollected that when rent is paid in Jersey, all is paid. There are no taxes and scarcely any rates. This, however, is but a trifling advantage over the smaller description of houses in England, not situated in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, or any of the large towns. In any comparison between Jersey and England as residences, it is evident that the metropolis must be excluded, because if expenses there are greater, so are the agremens. And no one whose object is economy thinks of pitching upon the metropolis as a residence.
In one respect Jersey has an advantage over any part of England, to those who mean to reside permanently in it, and to furnish a house. Furniture may be purchased greatly cheaper. Jersey made furniture can of course be sold at a low rate comparatively with England, since neither mahogany, nor any other foreign timber, pays any duty; and since also, labour is considerably cheaper. Other more ornamental articles of furniture are also cheaper than in England, owing to the same causes, such as mirrors, French papers and metals.
Servants’ wages are about the same in Jersey as in England, and wearing apparel is, generally speaking, dearer than it is in England.
