- Robert Pipon Marett
Sir Robert Pipon Marett (
1820 -1884 , pseudonym "Laelius") was alawyer ,journalist ,poet , politician, and Bailiff ofJersey from 1880 until his death.He was born in St. Peter on
20 November 1820 and studied at theUniversity of Caen and the Sorbonne. He was admitted to the Bar of Jersey as advocate in1845 , but in1846 the family moved toBlois inFrance as a result of his mother's ill health. Returning to Jersey, he entered the political scene and was electedConstable of St. Helier in1856 . 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 on6 March 1858 Robert Pipon Marett was appointed Solicitor-General. He rose through the legal hierarchy, becomingAttorney-General 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 ofRobert Ranulph Marett .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 appeared from1849 under thepseudonym "Laelius".His "La Fille Malade" was widely admired and
François-Victor Hugo reproduced it in his "La Normandie inconnue". It has been suggested ref|Lebarbenchon that his "Lé R'tou du Terre-Neuvi oprès san prumi viage" influencedVictor Hugo 's "Les Pauvres gens" written in Jersey in 1854. He corresponded publicly in verse form withGeorge Métivier , theGuernsey 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 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 toJèrriais literature .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
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