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Alexander Moncrieff Coutanche, Baron Coutanche (9 May 1892 – 18 December 1973) was a former
Bailiff of Jersey and member of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
Early life and education
Coutanche was born in
Saint Saviour, Jersey
St Saviour (Jèrriais: ; ) is a parish of Jersey in the Channel Islands. It is located directly east of St Helier. It has a population of 13,580. It has a land surface area of 3.6 square miles (9.3 km2) and has a very small coastline at Le Dicq.
...
; the younger son and third child to Adolphus Arnold Coutanche (1856–1921) and Jane Alexandrina Finlayson (d. 1909). He was educated at Jersey High School and
Victoria College before going to study law at the
University of Caen
The University of Caen Normandy (French: ''Université de Caen Normandie''), also known as Unicaen, is a public university in Caen, France.
History
The institution was founded in 1432 by John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, the first rector ...
. He then attended Carlisle and Gregson's London Academy with the intention of entering the
Indian Civil Service
The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947.
Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...
. However, although he passed the entrance examination for the Indian Civil Service, 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
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...
in 1912. He aimed to practise at the Chancery bar, but was instead called to the Jersey bar in 1913. Upon 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. Therefore, he 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
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
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 (Belgium). He left the army in 1920 with the rank of captain. He returned to his chambers in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, 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.
Attorney-General and Bailiff of Jersey
In 1925, Coutanche was appointed
Solicitor-General, and went on to reform the department of the law officers and reorganised the States Greffe of the
States of Jersey. He was promoted to
Attorney-General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
in 1931. In 1935, the bailiff of Jersey, Charles de Carteret, retired. Coutanche was promoted to this office. As the last bailiff appointed before the passage of a law on the Bailiff in 1936, 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.
As the bailiff of Jersey also fulfills the function of Deputy Governor, Coutanche took on the additional role of
Governor of Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...
when the island was demilitarised in 1940 by King
George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...
.
During the German Occupation of Jersey 1940–1945
The UK Home Office instructed the Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey that the Bailiff of Jersey should take over his responsibilities, and that the Bailiff and Crown Officers should remain at their posts. The Lieutenant-Governor discussed with the Bailiff the matter of being required to carry on administration under German orders. Coutanche considered that this would be contrary to his oath of allegiance, but he was instructed otherwise.
[Cruickshank, Charles G. (1975) ''The German Occupation of the Channel Islands'', The Guernsey Press, ]
The States of Jersey passed the Defence (Transfer of Powers) (Jersey) Regulation 1940 on 27 June 1940 to amalgamate the various executive committees into 8 departments each under the presidency of a States Member. The presidents along with the
Crown Officers made up the Superior Council under the presidency of the Bailiff.
Coutanche's remarks to Professor Karl Heinz Pfeffer, head of the Great Britain department at the Institute for Foreign Affairs (Berlin) during the latter's visit to Jersey in 1941 were reported by Pfeffer. Coutanche's explanation of "decent" co-existence between Jewish and Christian traditions and people in Jersey can, according to Sanders, be interpreted as disapproval of anti-Jewish policy.
Coutanche refused to ratify the registration of the eighth order requiring the wearing of a yellow star as a "measure too far"
After the Liberation
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
crossbencher in the House of Lords; upon his retirement as bailiff he took the Conservative whip.
He was an honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple and Doctor of Laws of the University of Caen.
Arms
Footnotes
References
*''Memoirs of Lord Coutanche''
*''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'', obituary 19 December 1973
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coutanche, Alexander
1892 births
1973 deaths
Bailiffs of Jersey
Conservative Party (UK) life peers
Crossbench life peers
Knights Bachelor
Knights of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)
Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium)
People educated at Victoria College, Jersey
Jersey law
World War II political leaders
Life peers created by Elizabeth II