Friday 20 April 2012

Chair Borne To Heaven Borne (A Guest Posting)

My name is Jean and I am a survivor of the Jersey Child Abuse. The Abuse that I, members of my family, and friends suffered took place in an institution many of you won't have heard of.


After coming across a publication by VFC which was a guest posting from TOM PERRY I have made contact with VFC and he has agreed to publish a short guest posting from myself which I hope will bring attention to, or make people aware of, the abuse and suffering concerning those who were in other Jersey Institutions not reported in the media.

I have written a book about the trials and abuse that happened in the "Grouville Girl`s Home" in Jersey. It appears some people that live in Jersey say that they did not know of this Girls Home existing. I can assure you it did, as I was in that home from the age of 6years old until I was 15. My older sisters were in the same home. The staff would routinely beat us with a number of different implements, objects or weapons these would include "stinging nettles". This would happen if we wet the bed or any similar "crime." The staff also put us in ice cold baths of water and would keep our heads under the water until we gasped for breath. There was also sexual abuse.

This kind of Abuse and Paedophilia gets described as HISTORIC as mentioned in the Tom Perry submission. How can people talk about these things being historical, utter rubbish, these things stay with you and affect you for the rest of your life specially when someone brings up these subjects, It all comes back to mind as if it were today, it has a big effect on you for the rest of your life. These things do not go away over night, in fact I have had to have counselling only recently because of the effect it had on me. I have NOT seen a psychiatrist over the abuse and have no reason to see one, as it seems some people think you, or all Abuse Survivors, do if they want compensation. I wonder how they would deal with such abuse if they went through it and then told they needed to see such a person. It seems to me the decades of abuse was covered up over the years by those who should have been protecting us and I for one am glad it has come out and made public.

Asked why we did not report it at the time we were threatened we would have our tongues cut out or our throats cut with a pair of scissors if we did, we lived in fear of the staff the whole time. My book is called Chair borne To Heaven Borne and goes on to happier times as I got married and left Jersey for the UK. I suffered lots of illnesses even a broken spine ending up in a wheelchair. Then a healing miracle takes place in my life I go around now helping other people. This does not take away the memories of my childhood and the abuse I suffered in fact the older you get the harder it gets to erase it from your mind.

The Jersey homes I was in still stay in my memory, I could do a complete drawing of both buildings even to this day. Was the Girls Home demolished to hide another Haut de la Garenne scenario? What secrets lay buried with the Girls Home? I will be signing and selling my book at the Christian book shop in the Central Market St Helier on Wednesday from 10am  12. 30. I hope the book will help people to come forward and talk about it rather than suppress it as some have done for so long.

What was done to us as children was done by a small minority of people. I do not blame everyone in Jersey and I regard jersey as a nice place to holiday.


42 comments:

  1. Where was this home?
    We need some facts in case the nay-sayers dispute the case and try to make out it's just an attempt to sell a book which could be fiction.

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  2. Thank you for your brave posting Jean. I think that this shows that there are still many, many stories out there still to be heard, and that need to be told.

    Indeed I also had never heard of the Grouville Home which obviously also had it's tales of horror to tell.

    The very best of luck with your book, and I hope you meet people who have had similar experiences to you and have a common purpose - to expose all that has been, and is rotten with this system of cover-up.

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  3. Oh here we go - the doubting Thomases come out again. Why not go along and meet this lady on Wednesday.

    You will then find out the undisputed facts from the author herself.

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  4. As our readers would expect we researched before posting. The Jersey Home for girls did exist, indeed when it was knocked down inmates (for want of a better word) were transferred to the Home for Boys (Haut de la Garenne), our research tells us.

    Here is documented proof of the girl's home's EXISTENCE

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  5. Photograph of the building
    http://jerseyeveningpost.newsprints.co.uk/view/14141276/00003868_jpg

    Also the Jersey Archive holds the admission registers for the Jersey Home for Girls/Jersey Female Orphans Home from 1862 - 1959 and the Jersey Home for Boys/Jersey Industrial School from 1867 - 1984

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  6. The girls orphanage opened at Clos de L'Eglise in 1862. It was originally for girls and also for boys under the age of 7, Haut de la Garenne being the facility for boys aged 7 and over. I know this to be the case having seen the records of transfers from the Jersey Hospital to the Orphanage in the 1870s at the Archive.

    I do not know at what point it went single-sex, but I think it closed in the middle 1960s, at which point the girls were moved up to HdlG.

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  7. what a brave lady i wish her all the best for her book,its such a shame its come about from such bad experiences.

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  8. I don't remember this building but I was abused at HDLG (in the 70s, 80s and early 90s) - being taken there as a kid by my family - and I was taken to other places too and abused there by people in my family and others as well as at my family home. I have no reason to doubt that, unfortunately, abuse took place here as it has done in other places. Well done for this lady for speaking up publicly she is braver than I am.

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  9. I applaud this lady and yes Grouville Girls Home did exist, as my Mum was put their when her Mum passed away.

    There are pictures of this home on the Internet. Order items/
    more details D/AP1 States Greffe D/AP1/A1060/17(1) Correspondence concerning the use of the former Jersey Home for Girls as a building for the Public Health Committee (Grouville Annexe) includes a plan of the Grouville Annexe passed by an Act of the States 03/11/1959 - 16/09/1969
    THIS INFOR IS FOROM JERSEY ARCHIVE AND IS READLY AVAILABLE.


    PLEASE FIND BELOW INFO I FOUND ON THE GIRLS GROUVILLE ORPHANAGE WHEN MY MUM ASKED ME TO RESEARCH IT.

    There was an orphanage for girls at Grouville, founded by the then rector, Abraham Le Sueur, in 1862. Take a look at http://www.grouvillechurch.org.je/abraham_grouville.htm - you need to go to the paragraph headed "parallel actions".

    In 1862 he asked for the Jersey Young Women's orphanage to be located in Grouville

    Abraham Le Sueur - Grouville Parish Church

    Abraham Le Sueur – A Rector for His Time
    Reflections on a Remarkable Man
    It opened in what is now Clos de L'Eglise in 1864 and he became Chairman of that, as well as chairing the Grouville Central School

    Subject: 1881 British Census - Institution: "ORPHANS HOME" GROUVILLE, JERSEY, ENG
    Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 23:12:20 -0400

    Name, Age, - All are girls except for 3, all listed as scholars, relationship is Boarder, all born in Jersey, Channel Islands, except as noted.

    Mary LAURENS - 12
    Clara E. HART - 13
    Jane ROBERTS - 15
    Mary L. ROLSTONE - 12
    Charlotte A. LAW - 12
    Emily COLVILLE - 14
    Elizabeth COLVILLE - 13
    Louisa DUBREUIL - 11
    Mary DUBREUIL - 10
    Elvina LE GROS - 15
    Alice MAUGER - 13
    Louisa J. PARROT - 9
    Thersa BROWN - 12
    Marie E. ROCHENARD - 10
    Amelia L. PINWELL - 10
    Emma SMITH - 10
    Mary Ann JONES - 10
    Helena COUTANCHE - 9
    Caroline GILMAN - 10
    Esther O BRIEN - 7
    Florence DOOLEY - 6 - England
    George J. LEAT - 5 - Male
    Emile RENAUT - 6 - Male
    Mary Jane DOWLING - 4
    Walter W. COOMEY - 3 - Male

    JDA

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  10. You have to be brave to speak out against institutional child abuse. You really have to have some guts to do that, believe me.

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  11. Well Jean, HERE is one of the criminals who covered it all up!

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  12. Its only changed its name in the last 5 years.
    Before changing its name to Clos De L'Eglise it was called Grouville Flats.
    Then and now its used as nurses accommidation.
    In the late 70s and early 80s it was an old peoples home.

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  13. The old peoples home was demolished in the mid to late 80s.

    Then rebuilt and renamed Grouville Flats

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  14. The popularization of descriptive terms can hold persuasive power. Instead of using the terms "resident", "inmate", "charge" or ward", how about "captive"? I would defer to those who lived in official "uncaring" homes, but however they ended up in these dreadful institutions, utterly "captive" they were, through no choice of their own.

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  15. So many large crowded institutions for holding children, for such a small island population. What's up with that?

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  16. I have been following the Jersey child abuse investigation from the start.I left there in 1961,the year,I think,that it became haut de la Garenne,and just before the Girls Home decamped to HdlG.To my astonishment I had completely forgotten about the Girls Home until reading the above account.
    This raises the question,was the Girls Home included in the Harper/Power investigation?
    There was a third childrens home operating at the same time as these other two.Having closed in 1927 it is most unlikely that any of those residents are still with us. http://www.theislandwiki.org/index.
    php?title=Teighmore

    exJHB

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  17. Teighmore may have closed 1938 !
    http://www.barnardos.org.uk/what_we_do/who_we_are/history/barnardos_homes/barnardos_homes_sw/barnardos_homes_sw_teighmore.htm

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  18. Teighmore

    1881 census

    http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/BRITISHHOMECHILDREN/2005-02/1107983293

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  19. Gouray church and its connection with the boys homes

    http://www.gouraychurch.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55&Itemid=150

    In 1900 it was granted ‘designated district’ status. It was given spiritual and pastoral responsibility for the village of Gorey and its immediate hinterland. Its precise boundaries were carved out of the parishes of St Martin and Grouville with their goodwill. Its oversight included the Jersey Home for Boys at Haut de la Garenne and a Barnardo’s Home at Teighmore. The boys were a basic part of the congregation for many years – for example singing in the choir and pumping the organ.

    During the German occupation of the Island the church building was used every other Sunday by the German troops. The parishioners had to wait patiently for the service to end before they could start theirs. The steps leading down to the Village were mined as part of the tight security which surrounded the whole area.
    In the post-war period the institutions which had been an important part of the ministry of the church were gradually shut down – Haut de la Garenne being the last one to be closed in 1987.

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  20. Even Barnados used questionable discipline

    www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary.../Senate_Committees?url...


    2 (Teighmore Home, Barnardo’s, Jersey) ‘Only one boy attempted to run away. When he was brought back we were all assembled in the yard and the boy (Fisher) was placed naked in the centre with his arms outstretched. The Captain whacked him as hard as he could with a cane on the buttocks. Afterwards Fisher had to jump into a cold back with iodine because he was bleeding so badly.’ Rose, J, For the sake of the children, Futura, London, 1989, p. 175

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  21. Sexual,physical and psychological abuse also happened to boys in De La Salle College,St Helier,Jersey.
    One brave victim has made a report to police and local lawyers but has heard no more.

    Lawyer did say it might be possible to take legal action if enough victims would tell their stories.

    Anyone with info.can contact Jersey Exposed http://jsyexposed.blogspot.com

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  22. VFC

    Is rico sorda still doing a live broadcast on sunday about the jersey child abuse and related matters?

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  23. And there was a boys home in Clarendon Road that shut down only a few years ago.

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  24. Its good that this is being uncovered at last - I think it will take time unfortunately for the situation to change and for the Illuminati to fall but they will whatever they think to the contrary. Where there are lax laws nasty criminals will come and take advantage of the vulnerable - unfortunately - time to demand a democracy and justice!

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  25. Historic; not to confuse it with anything that might be happening currently and for which the States are not responsible.

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  26. "Is rico sorda still doing a live broadcast on sunday about the jersey child abuse and related matters?"

    Yes Rico will be doing a live, and interactive, broadcast tomorrow Sunday 22nd at 6pm. viewers can watch/take part HERE

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  27. I hope this lady gets the justice that she is entitled to however at least she is able to talk in full about what has happened to her for which I have a great deal of respect for her doing so

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  28. http://onedaysooninjersey.blogspot.com/2009/01/group-from-home-for-girls-1959.html

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  29. One Day.

    Thank you for that photograph which has just been sent to Jean.

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  30. http://po4ep.s3.amazonaws.com/1114/l/14141276.jpg"

    1936 (girls orphanage and later jersey home for girls grouville)

    In 1862 he asked for the Jersey Young Women's orphanage to be located in Grouville

    It opened in what is now Clos de L'Eglise in 1864 and he became Chairman of that, as well as chairing the Grouville Central School

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  31. Just to remind readers of Rico's live and interactive broadcast tonight Sunday 22nd April 2012 at 6pm HERE

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  32. One Day.

    Jean has contacted me asking if you could e-mail me the names of the girls in the photograph so I can give them to her?

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  33. Yes no problem, I will ask my mum tomorrow for the names as I can't remember them offhand! I will email them to you.

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  34. One Day.

    Thank you and thanks to those who have submitted photo's and documentation.

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  35. I am so glad you have written this Jean. Good luck to you with the book. I was always aware there was a girls home because from a very young age my mother was always threatening to put me there when I played up. She sent me to HDLG in 1962 where there were only a few girls at the time but I have a feeling there was still a girls home for a while after that as well. I seem to remember there was a place where young girls went if they had babies and the babies were adopted.Was that Grouville girls home as well?Does anyone know?

    Lorna

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  36. Mum says.......

    James said - Now called Clos de L'eglise prior to that an old people's home and before that Home for Girls from 1862 - 1959. In 1959 the Girls Home amalgamated with the Boy's Home, then name was changed from the boys home to Haute de la Garenne. The Girls home was single sex in the 50's. Mary Rubens had the dubious pleasure of being the first girl there as she would not conform to the standard pudding basin haircut and o she was locked up and sent on her own as punishment at the age of 12. The other girls went on holiday to Lancashire whilst the transition took place.

    Lorna - young girls were sent to Elizabeth House from the girls home after the age of 14/15 when they had no live in job or nowhere else to go. Also it was for the homeless and homeless women. In the early 60's it became a mostly a unmarried mother's home. Any mother's choosing to give their babies up had to stay at Elizabeth House for 6 weeks with the baby before their adoption.

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  37. Of course - Elizabeth House - I remember now but can't place where it was. Thank you for jogging my memory One Day and your Mum. I suspect a few girls from HDLG ended up in there!

    Lorna

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  38. Well, I was in the Home for Girls, Grouville from 1950, so I can vouch for the fact that abuse did take place. I remember constantly been beaten by a woman named Jackie, who was an ex Girl, and stayed on to become nurse Jackie. The Matron at that time was Irish and a very hard person. I remember a girl called Betty who committed suicide by jumping out of the window.

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