Custos insularum. Gardien des iles
Two officials
Surviving documents which refer to appointments or activities of Wardens are rarely available and do not always indicate the exact status of the office holder, but it is believed that although some Wardens were appointed by the Lord of the time, most were probably appointed directly by the King.
The Wardens would be expected to answer directly to the King, through his Privy Council, for the security and stability of the islands and the Lord may not have been involved in this process at all. For long periods no Lord was appointed, but Otto de Grandison, a boyhood friend of King Edward I, who appointed him, held office for over 50 years. Although he only visited Jersey once, he appointed a succession of friends and trusted retainers to represent him and squeeze as much money out of the islands as possible, leading to regular complaints by the insular authorities to the King.
Because letters of appointment were made in Latin the title custos insularum which is also frequently found in old French as gardien des iles has been variously translated over the years as warden, keeper and governor. Other documents refer to ballivus, but this is sometimes taken to indicate a Warden rather than a Bailiff. In the early years the distinction was of no great relevance because one man would have had ultimate authority for eveything which happened in the islands and would, himself, have made subordinate appointments. But the Bailiffs of Jersey and Guernsey, almost invariably islanders, came increasingly to have much greater powers over the affairs of their islands, with the exception of military matters, and clashed with either the Warden who had appointed them, or, in the absence of the Warden, with those sub-wardens who had been ordered to control the islands on the Warden's behalf.
Brief appointments
Some of those mentioned below in the 13th and 14th centuries may not officially have held the title Warden. Sometimes an appointment was very brief, and the same person may have held office on a number of occasions with others intervening. This can often be explained by the political situation of England and France. Although King John lost most of his French territory in 1204, England later held greater or lesser areas of France, depending on the ebb and flow of war between the two countries, including Aquitaine in the south-west. Military commanders sent from England to Aquitaine by the English king would often be required to spend a short time in one or more of the Channel Islands en route south, or on their return, carrying out the responsibilities of Warden.
There is a large gap in published lists of Wardens for Jersey from 1396, when Sir John Golafre died, until 1470 when Sir Richard Harliston was appointed the first Governor. This list, the most detailed yet published, fills that gap, and others. Lords of the Isles are listed separately and this list, too, fills big gaps in the 15th century.
Sometimes records only exist in relation to a Warden's responsibilities in Guernsey, but that individual is believed to have held a Royal warrant for the whole of the Channel Islands. Where there is any doubt whether an office holder had responsibility for Jersey as well as the other islands this is mentioned in their individual biographies.
Holders of office
13th century
- Hasculf du Suligny 1206-1212 (Jersey)
- Philippe d'Aubigné 1207-1212 Guernsey) 1212–1214 (Jersey and Guernsey), 1214-1215 (Jersey, Guernsey and Sark) 1217-1221 (Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark), 1232-1234
- Philippe d'Aubigné - nephew 1219-1224, 1232
- Geoffrey de Lucy 1224-1226
- Hugues de Saint Philibert 1226
- Richard de Gray 1226-1227, 1229-1230, 1252-1254
- William de St Jean 1227-1229, 1232
- Henri de Trubleville 1230-1232, 1234-1239
- Arnaud de St Amand and others 1232-1234
- Nicholas de Meules 1234-1235
- Gerard de Lambersard, Guillaume de Dampierre and Guillaume Blom 1235
- Drouet de Barentin 1235-1239, 1241-1252, 1258
- Guillaume de Bouelles 1240 - see Drouet de Barentin
- Guillaume de Barentin 1267-1268
- Raoul de Broughton 1274
- Arnaud Jean 1271 - 1275
- Philippe Burnel 1276-1278 - see Guillaume de Barentin
- Guillaume de St Remi and Denis de Tilbury 1278 - see Guillaume de Barentin
- Sir William Grandison and Henri de Bouvillars 1294
- Sir Henry de Cobham 1294 - 1297
- Sir Nicholas de Cheney 1297
- Henry, Prior of Wenlock 1299
14th century
- Jean de Newent 1304
- Jean de Ditton 1306
- Drew de Barentin 1309-1319
- Thomas de Hamptonne 1313
- Henri de Sully 1323
- Gérard Derous 1323-1326
- Jean de Clyvedon 1324-1325
- Jean de Roches, Robert de Norton and Raoul Basset 1326 - 1331
- Pierre Bernard de Pynsole and Laurens de Gaillard 1330-1331
- Guillaume de Cheyny 1330-1331
- Thomas Wake of Liddell 1331-1333
- Guillaume de Montagu + Henry de Ferriers 1334 - 1337
- Thomas de Ferriers 1337 – 1341, 1343 - 1347
- Thomas de Hampton 1341-1342
- Gautier de Weston 1336, 1338, 1343
- Robert Wyvill and Thomas de Clifford 1348
- Jean Mautravers 1349 - 1354
- Guillaume Stury 1354 – 1357
- Thomas de Holland 1357
- Edmond de Cheyny 1359-1366
- Gautier Hewet 1367-1373
- Guillaume d'Asthorp and Jean Coke 1373
- Edmond Rose 1373-1374
- Hugh Calvilegh 1376 - 1393
- Sir John Golafre 1393 - 1396
An 1826 book A Brief Description and Historical Notices of the Island of Jersey also shows Sire Peter Cornet appointed Warden in 1312 and John Cockerell, who is known to have been Bailiff as "Keeper and Bailiff" in 1357
15th Century
- Jean Perraunt and Thomas Pykworth 1405
- Richard, Earl of Cambridge 1409-1412
- Henry Muslow 1416
- Sir John Bernard 1436-1442, 1444
- John, Viscount Beaumont 1447
- Ralph Boteler 1447
- William de la Pole 1448
- William Bertram 1448
- Jean Nanfan 1452-1457 1460-1461
From 1471 onwards separate Governors were appointed for Jersey and Guernsey
