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©Troy Family publications 2001-24

Jersey

March 24

The contract with the Jersey Gas Company was a very big one as all the Gas in Jersey was produced from coal. Not only did the coal have to be imported and transported from the harbour in large quantities but the byproducts had to be shipped back to the UK. These byproducts were coke, tar and slack (small coal for use in power stations). Ten lorries driving back and forth through St Helier with large tar tanks in the tourist season was not popular. Conway St and New St were two way and in certain parts of New St two lorries could not pass each other without one mounting the pavement. On one occasion I saw two lorries locked together with wheels jammed against the road gutters. It was two new drivers and it took some time to separate the lorries, they had to jack one of them up. The loose coke transported to the ship at low tide for export had to be tipped down a chute. Reversing the lorry to the very edge of the harbour was difficult and many drivers could not do the job.

E. Troy Ltd continued to prosper even after my father (Richard) had a scare in 1958 when he was rushed to hospital with a coronary thrombosis attack. He was soon back but took a lighter role. He was 59 at the time.

In April 1964 he was taken in to hospital with stomach and chest pains with the same problem suspected but after tests they decided to open him for an exploratory operation. They immediately closed him as they discovered cancer and he died within a fortnight of being omitted on the 22/04/1964. After a postmortem it was found he had cancer of the pancreas. It was a strange coincidence but his brother Robert (Bob) went to England for tests around the same time and died a fortnight after my father. It was very sad as they were both asking and concerned about each other.

Life moved on and soon all the coal merchants amalgamated in the Island and merged to became a consortium called Jersey Coal Distributors Ltd of which E.Troy Ltd were major share holders. The freehold property (including houses) belonging to E.Troy Ltd were now leased out and the lorries and equipment sold.

In July 1981 my Uncle Frank Troy died aged 78 and in that November my youngest daughter Marianne was born. It was around this time that my cousin Patrick, son of Frank, took over from his father with Dennis my brother who acted for us.

Quite a few years later the Co-operative Society bought the coal consortium for a considerable sum, then again later a subsidiary company of E.Troy Ltd called Franchard Ltd (named after Frank and Richard) was formed to demolish and develop properties owned by E.Troy Ltd.

It was seventeen years after my father died that Frank Troy died in July 1981.and it was 33 years after my father Richard died that E. Troy Ltd was dissolved three months before my mother died in 1997.

By then all the stores and properties of E.Troy Ltd had been developed and had been sold.

E.Troy ran from 1888 till 1997, 109 years.

I am very proud to have been a little involved in this part of our history.

Website administrator Maurice R. Troy

E.Troy Ltd sold coke ( steamed coal) but because of the lightness of coke the 1 cwt bags were very large to carry on your back and difficult to load/unload the lorries as you can see opposite let alone deliveries in confined places

E. Troy Ltd Continued…….

My late brother Dick used to bring his lorry home because he started so early in the mornings on his water delivery rounds when working at E. Troy in the 1950’s and this gave me the opportunity to play in the lorry with my friends. He is thirteen years older than me and I can still remember this and things like sitting on the tank in front of him on his ex army Royal Enfield motorbike, which was side valve, while he gave me a slow ride on it.

My father brought lorries home when I was little and I often asked him to try to bring my favorites like the old Fordson V7 with the big engine in the cab when ever he could, he used to buy a lot of ex-army lorries which were imported into the Island by Mr. Ozouf from Scots Motors, mostly Bedford's and Austin's, some still had working turrets in their roofs. No wonder I have always loved motorbikes, cars and lorries all my life and played for hours with my Dinky and Corgi cars.

If you have any comments you would like to add about anything on this website please contact the website administrator.

maurice@troyfamily.co.uk

Coke stored outside the Jersey Gas Company in St Helier. It is now demolished.

Advert from the 75th anniversary of the Jersey Evening Post. E. Troy were celebrating their 77th anniversary that year in 1965

Note:

My new troyfamily co.nz

web site has started .

Jersey Dockers at work in 1946 with I believe my uncle Bob Troy who ran the stevedore business with his brother George.

Jersey cows being loaded into a Bedford lorry at the Springfield spring show in 1938

My father’s obituary as it appeared on the front page of the Jersey Evening Post on 22nd April 1964 ( he died in the early hours on the same day).

OBITUARY

Mr. Richard Troy

We regret to record the death, which occurred early this morning, of Mr. Richard Troy, of Samarès Avenue, St. Clement, senior partner of E. Troy, coal merchants and haulage contractors, of Albert Street.

Mr. Troy, who was in his 65th year, entered hospital a month ago following a severe heart spasm, and was apparently recovering from treatment, but complications developed and, despite every care, his death followed.

Returning from service in the First World War in the Royal Naval Air Service, Mr. Troy joined his father in the family firm and, following the latter’s death in 1924, took over the business in which he was joined as a partner by his younger brother, Frank. This partnership was carried on successfully for the past 40 years, the business being turned into a limited company a few years ago.

Mr. Troy leaves a widow, three sons and two daughters to all of whom we offer our sincere sympathies.

Left: My Dad not long before he died, taken by me in the kitchen of our home 28 Samares Avenue, St Clement.

Richard Troy

R.I.P

31-08-1899——22-04-1964

Out of the stress of the doing into the peace of the done.

( he liked that saying)

Completely different subject.( in the Troy family history).

Below is one of many documents I have in my possession which I thought would be of interest to the Troy’s here in Jersey. If you look at paragraph (f) you will see my father’s brother Maurice is treated as an honorary member. This was because he had upset his father Edward but this was resolved before Edward’s death (will explain later), however Maurice snr refused his share of his father’s will because of this, in honour of his father. He gave his share of the family inheritance equally to his brothers and sisters and his brother’s never forgot that gesture. It is also interesting to note how the females of the family were treated, section (i)).

“The Brae” later known as “Silver Springs Hotel” was the home of Senator George Troy. I actually walked around it and the beautiful grounds behind it with my father Richard and my uncle George just before he bought it. He wanted my father’s advice and although my father was a little worried, as it was in the region of £50,000 a huge sum in the fifties, he advised him to go ahead.

Troy Investments Ltd.

Minutes of a meeting held. at ‘The Brae’, St. Brelade on Friday the 11th day of July 1958.

************************************

Present Senator George Troy, Deputy William Troy and Messrs. John Troy Snr., Robert Troy Snr., Richard Troy Snr., Frank Troy, Terence Troy, Edward Troy, Michael Troy, John Troy Jnr., Adrian Troy, Anthony Troy, Colin Troy, Brian Troy and. Dermott Troy.

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It was decided that,

(a) A Company to be formed, the shares which to be held by the male members of the Troy family being; direct descendants of Edward and Sarah Troy.

(b) In addition to those present, Messrs. Patrick Troy, Kevin Troy, Richard Troy Jnr., Robert Troy jnr., Dennis Troy and Maurice Troy Jnr., should be members of the new Company.

(d) The shares of the following minors: Messrs. Brian Troy, Dermott Troy and Maurice Troy Jnr., should be held by their respective fathers until their coming of age.

(e) The minors to attend shareholders meetings, with permission and right to speak freely but to have no vote either persona1ly or through their respective fathers.

(f) Mr Maurice Troy Snr. to be treated as an honorary member.

(g) The name of the Company to be Troy Investments Ltd., the Bankers to be Barclays Bank Ltd. and the 1egal representatives to be Advocate P. Cubitt Sowden.

(h) A Board of Directors representing the Company should consist of Senator George Troy, Deputy William Troy, Messrs. Richard Troy Snr., John Troy Snr,

John Troy Jnr. and that Edward Troy act as Secretary protem.

(i) Female members of the Troy family would not be admitted as shareholders but every help for themselves and their husbands would always be a first consideration.

(j) Mr. John Troy Snr., should purchase a plot at building land at Petit Port with money advanced by the shareholders and. that all proceeds from the resale of this land should be paid to the Company.

(k) The proposed Directors and acting Secretary should meet at an early date.

The meeting then listened with interest to a short discourse on the family history given by Major Terence Troy.

***************************************

Buddhist quote.

“Do not dwell on the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment”

Original document.

Updated every 3 months .

Last update Jan 2024

In Jersey all imported goods were handled manually as McLean’s patent for containerized shipping in 1956 did not make much of a change in Jersey until about 1968 so it remained very intensive labour oriented. An example is I delivered a five ton shipment of salt to Orviss Ltd (John.W Orviss which became Le Riches Store) in Beresford Street from the ship with two helpers loading the packs then they sat on the load as I drove through town to unload at the shop. Took about three hours and would not be done like that these days.

Pictures of the lorries and the men I worked with in the sixties.

More details later with names on page 3

Go to page 3 to see lots more about the lorries and drivers at E.Troy

Here

E.Troy page 3

One incident that comes to mind is one Saturday during my coal rounds on my own I went back to get a second load of coal. My Uncle Frank asked if I had delivered five bags of coal to a certain property in Clearview Street and I said yes. He said they had a phone call to say the man had only given them four bags but I told him I was absolutely certain I gave five. When I delivered to a bunker I always left the empty bags till I had finished the delivery then got paid and picked up the empty bags. I was a bit angry and told him the bunker had been empty so he told me not to go back and he took Bob Carylon, the coal scales and empty bags with him to the property. I later learned they weighed five cwt in front of the customer then made them pay for their time for going around and doing that. He did not tell her I was actually his nephew but that he trusted all of his staff. The customer was sorry and said she counted the bags drop but I was too quick for her.

When I delivered coal the price at that time it was 11/- a cwt.

There was a time when four of our tippers were hired for two weeks at the draining of Rue Des Pres site. I believe a company named Rees Williams Ltd were preparing the drainage for the original marsh land for the new development in the sixties. We were being loaded with very wet soil then driving through mud to dump it getting stuck and having to be pulled out by heavy machines which upset Percy in his new Morris. Percy called me over asked me what I thought of it all and said I should call my uncle Frank to tell him what we were being asked to do by the quite bossy manager. I slipped away in my lorry to the phone box by the little shop in Plat Douet road and phoned my uncle at the office. Within thirty minutes I saw him watching us then talking to the manager. He soon began waving his arms for us all to leave immediately. We drove back in convoy and had to check and wash all the lorries down.

Within a week we were back there again but this time proper gravel tracks were laid for the loaded lorries to travel on.

E. Troy also sold paraffin to the public but only from our store in Albert St and I was usually the server Always busy after six on a Friday/Saturday night and I have some sad stories about the people I served. Dangerous Paraffin heaters were popular in those days.

E. Troy not only sold paraffin they also sold logs. In the fifties their huge tree trunks were stored at various places and one was at the top of Samares and Marina avenues next to our home. These avenues were private land belonging to Jack and Bob Troy ( my dad’s brothers) where they had built the housing estate. At the top end adjacent to Le Masurier’s fields was a large area of land that made the connecting road between the two avenues. My father stored a large amount of uncut logs there which as a child my friends and I played on. They were stacked high and nowadays it would not be allowed but we had great fun. At one of the stores 22 Albert Street was a powerful saw that was used to cut the logs and I still remember the high pitch whine when the saw was running. It was in that store that the two Castrol engine oil dispensers were for topping the lorries up each morning before we started. It was a difficult store to reverse in to especially if cars were parked in the road as there was less than one foot each side of the lorry at the entrance. Later the back wall was knocked through so a secure yard could be accessed which gave us more room.

I must mention the coal shutes of each high rise flat I delivered to as they pulled open from outside on the balconies and the cwt of open bag coal had to be tipped through the one foot square opening to the bunker in the flat. It was quite an art which I mastered without spilling any coal. Delivering two or three bags to each flat on the top floors of these high rise flats was tough especially Elysee estate where the stairs were circular and that’s when my saying “to rest is not to conquer” was on my mind while carrying each bag up. Some kind people used to offer me water which was appreciated.

Driving up and down (we were allowed to then) King and Queen Street, La Motte street, Colomberie etc. with shipping containers we had to take care of the shop blinds over hanging the pavements in those days. Many were damaged because of the camber of the road.