6th March 1902

Social Security pioneer Cyril Le Marquand is born

The imposing Cyril Le Marquand House, in Union Street, is the home of Jersey’s civil service, and with good reason: the man it was named after was elected to the States Assembly in 1948 and is responsible for setting up the island’s social security system to provide hospital treatment and pensions.

Le Marquand was born in 1902 and spent the Second World War on the mainland where he worked for the Ministry of Food. Upon his return to Jersey, after several years serving in the States, he was given responsibility for the island’s overall finances. He also argued to preserve the island’s autonomy when Britain joined the European Community – later the European Union – and was remembered through the creation of a scholarship upon his death on 27 February 1980.