Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

1st Royal Guernsey Light Infantry shooting medal, 18 ct. gold, with dated bars for ‘1884’, ‘1885’, ‘1886’ and ‘1888’, these also in gold and the last of them fitted with reverse brooch-pin for wearing, obverse, central regimental bugle with abbreviated title around and ‘1882’ below, reverse engraved, ‘Regimental Club / Presented by / Lt. Col. / A. H. Collings / Won by / Pte. W. de P. Crousaz / 1882’, 27.5mm., in original fitted leather case, extremely fine, rare £600-800

Ex Ian Monins collection, Jersey, November 1997 and A. L. T. McCammon collection, Baldwins, October 1999.

The following extract was taken from an article that appeared in the Guernsey Weekly Press on 16 May 1914, in which W. de P. Crousaz was interviewed on his appointment as the island’s Jurat:

“Oh, yes, my family. Well, my great grandfather Isaac Crousaz de Prelaz came to Guernsey sometime about the middle of the 18th century, but he was not a Huguenot. He was married in the Town Church in 1787 and both my grandparents lie buried in the old cemetery which is being altered for the new Church-hill improvement, and on the tombstone the inscription states that he was a native of Lausanne. My grandfather was George Crousaz - the family had then dropped the surname de Prelaz, and my father’s name was William Crousaz. He was the organist at the Town Church at the time when the Rev. P. Stevens Dobree was Garrison Chaplain. My father by the way was the last parish organist, and I acted for him occasionally, generally taking the evening service. As a matter of fact, I have never really been appointed organist at the Town Church. I seemed to follow on automatically and have been organist for 46 years!

Yes, I have three sons. My eldest, H. W. Crousaz, is a grower at St. Peter’s; my second, A. G. Crousaz, is Engineer Lieutenant on H.M.S. St. Vincent - he served for three and a half years at the Admiralty previous to this - and my third son, C. F. Crousaz, is a Lieutenant in the South Staffordshire Regiment, and is now at Maritzburg, South Africa. My eldest son, like myself, is fond of shooting, and has fired in the Brigade team and was a member last year. I have fired at Bisley for the Guernsey team and managed to make top score ...”

His eldest son, H. W. Crousaz, like his father a member of the Guernsey Militia Brigade team at Bisley, was commissioned in the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry in the Great War; while his third son, C. F. Crousaz, having returned from South Africa, was killed in action on 31 October 1914, while serving as a Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment.