Guernsey ferry suspect disappears
Suspect disappears from Guernsey ferry
Company director James "Maurice" Pitt disappeared from a ship on its way to Guernsey, this week in 1949. He was on the run from the police and left a note in his cabin implying that he’d killed himself. He hoped, he said, "to find peace by quietly dropping overboard". But, as we now know, that was far from the truth. It seems more likely that he'd boarded the boat, dumped his bag and jumped off. He wasn't found until February the following year, when at last he could stand trial.
Sir Charles Hayward bought the lease of Jethou this week in 1971 for £91,000. He lived there with his wife until his death in 1983. After he had passed away, she put it back on the market for considerably more: it was listed at £500,000.
Guernsey Monopoly went on sale this week in 2013. The famed board game included local landmarks like Guernsey Airport, Hauteville House and St Peter Port Harbour. Victor Hugo’s house was the second most expensive property on the board, beaten only by Castle Cornet, which tipped the scales at 400 Monopoly currency units. The Old Quarter was cheapest at just 60 units.
Guernsey Press was snapped up by the Express & Star this week in 2003, having already had several owners in the close-to two centuries since its founding. More recently, Guernsey Press Company was sold by owners Guiton Media Group to the Channel Islands Media Group Limited.
Sibyl Hathaway picked her favourite records on the BBC's long-running interview programme Desert Island Discs, this week in 1971. The Dame of Sark was one of the only guests who was able to say that she lived on an island of about the size envisaged by the programme. Her selection was mainly classical, but there was one surprise: a record by Noel Coward.
Charles Mahon, one of the brave founders of GUNS, the Guernsey Underground News Sheet, died on this day in 1944. He and his colleagues had been betrayed to the German authorities for publishing BBC stories when listening to the radio was forbidden. They were sent to prison in mainland Europe. Mahon was 51 when he died, officially as the result of a stomach ulcer.
Bailiff Sir Peter de Havilland was born in St Peter Port this week in 1747. He made his fortune privateering – effectively waging war on behalf of the crown – before becoming a jurat. He invested his money in property, constructing, not surprisingly, Havilland Street, along with Allez Street, Sausmarez Street, Union Street and St John Street, all on his own land.
From Guernsey to...
Remus Carey has questions.
What really had happened to him in the dark, back streets of Venice? How had he got himself tangled up in a seemingly bungled mission – and who were the agents who’d almost cost him his life?
Miles Bichard has the answers.
When he shows up unannounced and the two head out from Guernsey on Carey’s boat, it’s not only fish he’s hoping to catch. Forced below decks by a raging storm, the two must piece together an explanation more treacherous than Carey had ever thought possible… and one that leads to an offer which, should he accept, will change his life forever.
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