Sir Robert Pipon Marett (20 November 1820 – 10 November 1884, pseudonym ''Laelius'') was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, politician, and

Bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...

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 Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

from 1880 until his death.

Life and career

He was born in St. Peter on 20 November 1820 and studied 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 ...

and the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

. He was admitted to the Bar of Jersey as advocate in 1845, but in 1846 the family moved to

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

as a result of his mother's ill health. Returning to Jersey, he entered the political scene and was elected

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

of St. Helier in 1856. During his short term in municipal office, he laid out the Parade as an urban promenade. The death of the Bailiff, Sir Thomas Le Breton, created a vacancy among the Crown Officers and on 6 March 1858 Robert Pipon Marett was appointed Solicitor-General. He rose through the legal hierarchy, becoming

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 1866, and Bailiff in 1880. He was knighted in 1880. He was one of the founders of the Société Jersiaise and a patron of education for girls. He was the father of

Robert Ranulph Marett Robert Ranulph Marett (13 June 1866 – 18 February 1943) was a British ethnologist and a proponent of the British Evolutionary School of cultural anthropology. Founded by Marett's older colleague, Edward Burnett Tylor, it asserted that mo ...

. He died on the 10 November 1884 at his home, La Haule Manor in St. Brelade, after a long illness.

Literature

On his return from Blois, Robert Pipon Marett was one of the founders of the newspaper ''La Patrie'' in which his poetry in

Jèrriais (french: Jersiais, also known as the Jersey Language, Jersey French and Jersey Norman French in English) is a Romance language and the traditional language of the Jersey people. It is a form of the Norman language spoken in Jersey, an island i ...

appeared from 1849 under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

''Laelius''. His ''La Fille Malade'' was widely admired and François-Victor Hugo reproduced it in his ''La Normandie inconnue''. It has been suggested that his ''Lé R'tou du Terre-Neuvi oprès san prumi viage'' influenced

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's ''Les Pauvres gens'' written in Jersey in 1854. He corresponded publicly in verse form with

George Métivier George Métivier (29 January 1790 – 23 March 1881) was a Guernsey poet dubbed the "Guernsey Burns", and sometimes considered the island's national poet. He wrote in Guernésiais, which is the indigenous language of the island. Among his poetic ...

, the

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

poet. His comparatively small poetic output belies its continuing influence. His poetry is generally social rather than political, but ''La Bouonne Femme et ses Cotillons'' satirises conservative resistance to constitutional reform. He took a philological interest in Jèrriais and through his prestige did much to standardise Jèrriais

orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...

on the pattern of French orthography. On being appointed to high office he stopped publishing poetry, and a fire at his home, Blanc Pignon, in St. Brelade in 1874 destroyed his papers – a loss to

Jèrriais literature Jèrriais literature is literature in Jèrriais, the Norman dialect of Jersey in the Channel Islands. The literary tradition in Jersey is traced back to Wace, the 12th century Jersey-born poet, although there is little surviving literature in ...

Note

# ''Des Filles, une sorcière, Dame Toumasse et quelques autres'' R.-J. Lebarbenchon, 1980, Azeville

References

*''Bulletîn d'Quart d'An'' Vol. I, L'Assembliée d'Jèrriais *Obituary, ''La Nouvelle Chronique de Jersey'', 12 November 1884 *Obituary, ''La Chronique de Jersey'', 12 November 1884

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marett, Robert Pipon 1820 births 1884 deaths Bailiffs of Jersey Norman-language poets University of Paris alumni University of Caen Normandy alumni Jersey writers People from Saint Helier Jersey journalists Constables of Jersey Jersey lawyers Lawyers awarded knighthoods 19th-century British journalists British male journalists British male poets 19th-century British poets 19th-century British male writers