Victor Carey
| Sir Victor Gosselin Carey | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1871 Guernsey, Channel Islands |
| Died | 1957 (aged 85–86) Guernsey, Channel Islands |
| Bailiff of Guernsey | |
|
In office 1935–1946 |
|
| Preceded by | Arthur William Bell |
| Succeeded by | Ambrose Sherwill |
Sir Victor Gosselin Carey was born in 1871 and was held the post of Bailiff of Guernsey from 1935 to 1946. Carey was a leading member of one of Guernsey's oldest families. In 1935, when incumbent Baliff Arthur William Bell died, Carey, who had been Receiver General from 1912 to 1935, replaced him because Procurer Ambrose Sherwill, to whom the role would have normally fallen, had only been in office a few weeks.
From 1935 until the Germans landed at Guernsey airport, he fulfilled the duties of Bailiff, both as head of the Courts of Guernsey and as head of the States of Guernsey.
The civil authorities of Guernsey represented by their Bailiff, the elected members of the island parliaments, civil servants and emergency services, had of necessity to work in a professional manner with the occupiers for the benefit of the civil population. They had been ordered to do this by the Secretary of State in letters dated 19 June 1940.
The Bailiff oversaw the evacuation of 17,000 children and adults to England in June 1940.
During the Nazi German occupation of the Channel Islands, which began on 30 June 1940, German authorities seized control of the Bailiwick. Age 69 at the beginning of the Occupation, Carey was considered too old to be able to function as the executive of the Island Authorities on his own. Therefore, in contrast to the situation in Jersey, which had a 48 year old Bailiff, Alexander Coutanche, the Bailiff of Guernsey's powers were actually reduced during the Occupation as day-to-day running of Island affairs became the responsibility of a Controlling Committee made up of a small number of members of the States of Guernsey, chaired at first by Ambrose Sherwill, and after Sherwill's imprisonment for aiding British soldiers trapped on the Island, by Jurat John Leale.
The Bailiff remained a higher authority, only entering into the political foray when the actions of the Controlling Committee had yielded an unsatisfactory outcome. Carey and the Controlling Committee cooperated with the German commander in the interest of the civil population under their care.
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Wikipedia