He helped to shape our Island

Former Senator John Le Marquand, who has died at the age of 96, was one of the leading lights of Island politics from his election to the newly reformed States Assembly of 1948 until his retirement in 1987. It is no exaggeration to say that he and his cousin, the late Senator Cyril Le Marquand, were instrumental in shaping Island society as we know it today.

However, whereas Senator Cyril can be regarded as the father of our finance industry, John Le Marquand’s formidable reputation rests largely — but by no means exclusively — on his passion for education. After his election as a Deputy in 1948, he joined what was then the Public Instruction Committee and became involved in a programme of educational reform.

As a member of the short-lived Jersey Progressive Party, which was disbanded after landslide success in 1948, the new Deputy was opposed to the left-wing agenda of the Jersey Democratic Movement, but he could nevertheless be described as a radical. Living up to the ‘progressive’ label under which he had campaigned, he pressed through a series of projects which vastly extended educational opportunities for talented children whose parents could not afford to pay for schooling.

Although Hautlieu School was already in the planning stage when John Le Marquand began his political career, he enthusiastically supported the view — which ultimately prevailed — that the new establishment should be an academic grammar school rather than a training college for artisans.

With a mixture of wisdom, acumen, fervour and energy that was entirely characteristic of his approach to life in general, he did much to ensure that high-level education was available to anyone with the talent to prosper. He also realised that this was an essential condition if Jersey was to prosper in the second half of the 20th century.

As a committee member and then as a forceful president, John Le Marquand blazed an educational trail that served as a model of achievement for other senior States Members, but his talents were employed in other areas too. He will also be remembered, for instance, for his effective, socially aware presidencies of Housing and Public Health.

It would be hard to think of any public figure in our recent history who has been held in such high esteem and, indeed, been so widely loved. Thousands of Islanders, many of whom never met him, owe him a personal debt of gratitude for the quality of their lives and the opportunities they have enjoyed.

Those who knew him will also gladly attest that his qualities extended far beyond the confines of the House and States departments. With the passing of John Le Marquand the Island has lost a kind, erudite and deeply caring man as well as a political giant.