No 64 King Street

64 King Street

We were originally uncertain as to whether this was 64 or 66 King Street? The numbers appeared to be 64 in the original copy of the photograph, but after a long period of uncertainty we settled for 66, where Mrs Boielle was known to have been in business in 1903. We subsequently established that she moved to No 64 by 1905 and traded there for about ten years, and the emergence of a better quality photograph in 2018 confirmed that this is, after all, the shopfront of No 64

The Gruchy sisters, Mary Ann, Julie and Alice had their millinery business at No 64 at the end of the 19th century

Early occupants

From 1837 through into the 1840s boot and shoe maker John de Gruchy was trading at No 64, but by 1851 it had been taken over by James Metivier, as part of his extensive drapery business. The census shows him there with his family and employing eight staff.

By 1861 the occupant was baker Francois Gruchy (1824- ), the son of Jean and Elizabeth Sorel, with his wife Mary Ann, nee Wilkes (1825- ) and children Francis Sorel (1852- ), Julia Elizabeth (1854- ), John (1856- ) and Walter (1860- ). Two further children, Mary Ann (1850- ) and William Henry (1859- ) appear not to have survived, and the couple's final child, Alice Mary, was not born until 1863.

Francis and family were still shown at No 64 in 1871, as well as a number of other households.

By 1881 three of his daughters have established a millinery business at No 64, and they were to remain there until past the turn of the century.

In 1903 the property was taken over by chemist John Anley. He was only there for two years because in 1905 and 1910 almanacs the occupant is shown as E C Boielle, who started out in business next door at No 66, but soon moved here to No 64.

Boielle family

Mrs E C Boielle, a draper, is shown in a 1903 almanac as occupying the shop at 66 King Street, in succession to Mesdames Falle and Luce. This is Jane Greenaway Boielle, nee Le Masurier, the wife of Jean Boielle, a descendant of a Huguenot refugee, Jean Boielle, who arrived in Jersey in the first half of the 18th century. Edward Clarence was a journalist and the family lived, not in King Street, but in Grosvenor Terrace, a fashionable address in Grosvenor Street at the eastern end of St Helier.

In 1930 No 64 was occupied by Household Bazaar until 1949. This was followed by Jersey House in 1955, Carole from 1960 into the '70s, King Street Newsagents until the 1990s, followed by Super Deals.

Chronology

• 1833 - John de Gruchy, boot and shoe maker
• 1841 - John de Gruchy
• 1851 - James Metivier, draper
• 1861-71 - Francis Gruchy, baker
• 1880-1900 - Mesdames Gruchy, milliners; Mary Ann, Julie E and Alice M
• 1903 - John Anley, chemist
• 1930-1949 - Household Bazaar
• 1955 - Jersey House
• 1960-1970 - Carole
• 1980-1990 - King Street Newsagents
• 2000 - Pickwicks
• 2010 - Super Deals